Other Temporary Exhibits

Several of the museum's smaller temporary exhibits spotlight new collections or important historical events. These exhibits include:

Popham Colony: Maine's First English Settlement on view through 2011

Organized to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Popham Colony, the exhibit features artifacts excavated during ten years of research on the colony's site in Phippsburg, Maine. The archaeology of Popham Colony provided important details on the construction and use of Fort St. George, the colony's central structure. The exhibit shows evidence of Fort St. George's location, as well as the lifestyle and activities of Popham Colony's residents. Had the colony survived, it would have joined Jamestown as one of nation's earliest year-round English settlements. But Popham Colony's residents, which included only about 100 men, returned to England after a year of difficulties in a harsh, inhospitable environment.

To the Highest Standard on view through May 2011

With a focus on Civil War flags, this groundbreaking exhibit presents fragile, original flags carried by Maine soldiers. The flags' careful exhibition in a controlled museum environment ensures their long-term preservation. Other artifacts featured include the famous pistol captured by Joshua Chamberlain during the bayonet charge on Little Round Top, medals of honor, and items showing everyday life of the Civil War soldier.

The 20th Maine flag is always on view in the exhibit. Other flags are rotated every six months and no more than three are on view at any one time. Check the flag rotation schedule for information about which flags are on view now. For more information about the Maine State Museum's historic flag collection, follow this link to the museum's on-line collections database Explore the Collections.

Profiles of His Time: The Silhouettes of Galen Jerome Brewer on view through 2012

When the museum acquired a wonderful collection of over 300 silhouettes cut by Maine resident Galen Jerome Brewer during the 1840s and 1850s, the idea for this exhibit blossomed. It features about 100 of Brewer's silhouettes, each identified by name, location, and year. Brewer traveled within Maine to Mt. Desert, Deer Isle, and Isle au Haut where he created silhouette portraits of residents and visitors. He also traveled to Suriname in South America and created important silhouette images of seamen, Dutch landowners, and slaves working on the colony's coffee and sugar plantations.