You might think you’re entering an austere space as you approach the front door to the Vinalhaven Historical Society on High Street. After all, the building served as a church when it was built in 1838 in Rockland.
The building was transported in 1875 to Vinalhaven, and islanders converted it to a multitude of secular uses including Town Hall, basketball court, roller skating rink and dance hall. In 1967 it became a museum showcasing Vinalhaven’s past.
It could have become austere again. After all, museums are sacred spaces of a sort: we expect to experience a kind of awe and respect in them, paying homage to artifacts in glass cases, behind swags of rope, hung on walls – seen but not touched.
But Vinalhaven is different, and the museum bespeaks the island’s quirky persona. The collection is eclectic and heartfelt, with funky labels, a hodgepodge of items and lots of albums and scrapbooks to browse. Standing in some of the spaces, you feel as if you’ve been transported back through time. A bedroom of a house is recreated from the Victorian period. The adjacent display of cookware, utensils and dishes looks like the family pantry. Then there’s the area where items displayed replicate the shelves of the Bodwell Granite Company store at the turn of the last century.
Other exhibits rely less on immersion and more on arranged displays of preserved fragments, such as those describing Vinalhaven’s participation in the Civil War, the marine-based livelihoods including fishing and boatbuilding, the quarrying of granite or the island’s farms and dairies.
Some interesting stories are partially told, such as those of the many artists who have lived here and reflect the island’s influence in their work. On display are a few pieces by Eliot Elisofon, Andre Racz, Robert Indiana as well as children’s books by Margaret Wise Brown. The art of the stone carvers who worked at the quarries is alluded to; on one wall are impressive plaster models of two of the granite heads that adorn the U.S Custom House in Manhattan. (Just down from the museum is Carver’s Cemetery, with other beautiful examples of the stone carvers’ fine work).
Left largely untold is the story of the Native Americans who first lived on the island. Some shards of pottery and arrowheads, dating back 2,000-4,000 years, are displayed but with little description of their epoch.
The museum welcomes between two and three thousand visitors per summer, who come to learn more about the island through this very personable introduction to its history.
The island’s school students tour and interact with materials for various projects. That opportunity will increase next year as a special area is created to give kids the opportunity to experience the past on their own terms.
Islanders play a special role in the museum’s mission of describing, collecting and preserving Vinalhaven history. Many have donated family items. When houses or businesses change hands, people often call the Historical Society before holding a tag sale. Islanders also donate their time working as volunteers; the institution’s services depend on their efforts. Memberships help underwrite expenses (admission fees are not charged).
Heading the Historical Society as co-directors since 1991 until their retirement last June were Roy Heisler and Esther Bissell, the husband-and-wife team that also collaborated on another successful island institution, The Haven restaurant. Sue Dyer Radley, recently appointed as the new director, was born on Vinalhaven, the daughter of a lobsterman. She headed off to the mainland to earn a college degree and teach elementary school, but then returned. She proudly refers to one of Vinalhaven’s many prevalent patterns as true for her own family: her two grown sons are both lobstermen.
As an educator of children, Radley looks forward to expanding services for them. She also appreciates the treasure of memories the elders on the island represent and hopes to offer more programming and social events to bring them in to share reminiscences. Two publications anticipated in the next year are a second volume of oral histories by the island’s senior citizens and a second book of photographs from Arcadia Publishing documenting island life in the 1930s, 40s and 50s.
The Vinalhaven Historical Society is located in town at the top of the hill on High Street, a short walk from the ferry terminal. Although it doesn’t schedule regular hours for visits after mid-October until May, one can call the office at (207) 863-4410, email vhhissoc@midcoast.com, or write to P.O Box 339, Vinalhaven ME 04863.