Company Profile
Abbe Museum
Company Overview
The Abbe has grown from a small trailside museum, privately operated within Acadia National Park, to an exciting contemporary museum in the heart of downtown Bar Harbor. In 2013, the Museum became the first and only Smithsonian Affiliate in the state of Maine.
At the Abbe's downtown museum, visitors find dynamic and stimulating exhibitions and activities interspersed with spaces for quiet reflection. The history and cultures of the Native people in Maine, the Wabanaki, are showcased through changing exhibitions, special events, teacher workshops, archaeology field schools, and workshops for children and adults.
From spring through fall, the Abbe's historic trailside museum at Sieur de Monts Spring continues to offer visitors a step back in time to early 20th century presentations of Native American archaeology in Maine.
Company History
The Abbe Museum was founded in 1926 and first opened to the public in 1928. The museum is named for its founder, Dr. Robert Abbe (1851-1928), an eminent New York physician known for his pioneering use of radiation therapy. A beloved summer resident of Bar Harbor, during the 1920s Dr. Abbe assembled a collection of early Native American artifacts found in the Frenchman Bay area. He persuaded others with similar collections to join him in establishing a museum that would protect these objects and display them for public education and enjoyment. Early supporters included George B. Dorr, "the father of Acadia," and John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
From the initial focus on archaeology, the Abbe soon expanded its scope to include ethnographic materials from the 17th through 20th centuries. In 1931, Mary Cabot Wheelwright, founder of the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian in Santa Fe, donated an important collection of Native American baskets and other objects. Other major basket collections have been given to the Museum, and as a result, it holds the largest and best documented collection of Maine Indian basketry. The Museum also has acquired an extensive contemporary collection documenting the continuing Wabanaki craft tradition in Maine. The Abbe's collections now represent 12,000 years of Native American culture and history in Maine, and its conservation program has been recognized nationally as a model for museums.
As the collections grew, the Museum also expanded its educational role. Small exhibits on subjects such as basketmaking and the Museum's founding complemented the displays of archaeological artifacts. The Abbe also developed publications to share its scholarship with a broader audience. The Museum began collaborating with Native people and, during the 1980s and 1990s, mounted exhibitions on themes such as the birchbark art of Tomah Joseph, the role of Wabanaki basketmakers in the local tourist economy and the archaeology of the Ruth Moore site. The 70th anniversary exhibition Beads, Bones, and Ancient Stones was favorably noted in The New York Times. During recent decades, Native Americans have become increasingly involved in all aspects of the Museum, including policy-making as members of the Board of Trustees.