October 8
6pm
Free, registration required

In the early days of interior commercial logging, passage by river was the sole means of moving timber from stump to sawmill. By the time photojournalist Kosti Ruohomaa photographed a series of Maine log drives in the 1950s, river driving was only used on remote stretches of water where roads had not yet been built or improved for large trucks. It was labor intensive: skilled crews ushered logs downstream with hand tools, relying on strength, agility, mettle, and “keeping your head in the game”. The work was a spectacle and made for dynamic photographs; this was good fodder for Ruohomaa's camera.

Using a selection of these images, PMM Digital Collections Curator Matt Wheeler will give us a glimpse of a lost enterprise; the subculture that grew up around it has made a lasting image in our historical mind’s eye. Register

Monday, October 5
Noon and lasts around 20 minutes
FREE, Members Only

Join Penobscot Marine Museum Curatorial Staff for live lunchtime Zoom presentations. Rotating between Curator Cipperly Good, Photo Archivist Kevin Johnson, and Digital Collections Curator Matt Wheeler, each week a different staff member will focus on one of their favorite artifacts or collections. Enjoy close up views and interesting stories, plus an opportunity to ask your own questions and chat with PMM staff!

October 1
6pm
Free, registration required

Wish you were here! PMM Photo Archivist Kevin Johnson will explore one of the earliest forms of social media, the picture postcard, tapping several of the museum's photo collections to illustrate. He will also examine the cameras and glass plate negatives they used. Register

Monday, August 31
Noon and lasts around 20 minutes
FREE, Members Only

Join Penobscot Marine Museum Curatorial Staff for live lunchtime Zoom presentations. Rotating between Curator Cipperly Good, Photo Archivist Kevin Johnson, and Digital Collections Curator Matt Wheeler, each week a different staff member will focus on one of their favorite artifacts or collections. Enjoy close up views and interesting stories, plus an opportunity to ask your own questions and chat with PMM staff!

Monday, August 24
Noon and lasts around 20 minutes
FREE, Members Only

Join Penobscot Marine Museum Curatorial Staff for live lunchtime Zoom presentations. Rotating between Curator Cipperly Good, Photo Archivist Kevin Johnson, and Digital Collections Curator Matt Wheeler, each week a different staff member will focus on one of their favorite artifacts or collections. Enjoy close up views and interesting stories, plus an opportunity to ask your own questions and chat with PMM staff!

Monday, August 17
Noon and lasts around 20 minutes
FREE, Members Only

Join Penobscot Marine Museum Curatorial Staff for live lunchtime Zoom presentations. Rotating between Curator Cipperly Good, Photo Archivist Kevin Johnson, and Digital Collections Curator Matt Wheeler, each week a different staff member will focus on one of their favorite artifacts or collections. Enjoy close up views and interesting stories, plus an opportunity to ask your own questions and chat with PMM staff!

Monday, August 10
Noon and lasts around 20 minutes
FREE, Members Only

Join Penobscot Marine Museum Curatorial Staff for live lunchtime Zoom presentations. Rotating between Curator Cipperly Good, Photo Archivist Kevin Johnson, and Digital Collections Curator Matt Wheeler, each week a different staff member will focus on one of their favorite artifacts or collections. Enjoy close up views and interesting stories, plus an opportunity to ask your own questions and chat with PMM staff!

Thursday, August 6th, 6pm-8pm
Ages 21+, $30/person

Sailors’ Valentines are a form of sea shell art, popular in the 1800s, when sailors brought them home to their wives, girlfriends, mothers, or sisters. Most Sailors’ Valentines were made in the West Indies, on the island of Barbados, between 1830 and 1880, but production continued into the early 20th century. In this workshop, you can make your own Sailors’ Valentine to take home. Participants can pick up their supply package beginning Monday, July 27th and must return the included tools and unused materials by August 12th. Participants can work on the projects throughout the week or wait and join us on Zoom on the 6th. BYOB! For questions, contact Jeana at [email protected]. Register here or call 207-548-2529 between 8 and noon on Monday through Wednesday. Registration deadline is Noon on August 5.

Monday, August 3
Noon and lasts around 20 minutes
FREE, Members Only

Join Penobscot Marine Museum Curatorial Staff for live lunchtime Zoom presentations. Rotating between Curator Cipperly Good, Photo Archivist Kevin Johnson, and Digital Collections Curator Matt Wheeler, each week a different staff member will focus on one of their favorite artifacts or collections. Enjoy close up views and interesting stories, plus an opportunity to ask your own questions and chat with PMM staff!

July 30
6pm
Free

Richard M. Ames, guest curator and author, will give a talk on his research into ships built at Castine and their voyages that highlight the people and the risks involved in Castine’s 19th century global trade. As a youngster, Ames spent summers in Castine at the Whitney House, built in 1810 by his direct ancestors, Captain Henry and Lucy Perkins Whitney. During these visits he became fascinated by his family’s deep ties to the period of maritime trade which brought Castine considerable prosperity. For the last decade, Ames has researched Castine shipbuilding and international trade. His work provided the foundation for the Historical Society’s 2019 exhibit, Risky Business: Square-Rigged Ships and Salted Fish. Ames wrote a companion book, Risky Business: A Maine Village Goes Global, to accompany the exhibit. The book is available for sale online at castinehistoricalsociety.org.