Members: Jay Rogers and Gary Massanek co-chairs
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The Mac Mahan History Committee
All of us share an interest in Mac Mahan’s history, and over the years many on the island have taken various actions toward preserving it. Believing that a more coordinated effort is needed now to provide a more complete, coherent and accessible resource for all cottagers, a group of community members have formed the Mac Mahan History Committee. Our interests are wide-ranging, from creating an accessible archive and searchable database of historical materials, to mounting exhibits of historical interest at our own Mac Mahan Museum, to researching various aspects of Mac Mahan’s history for individual monographs or an eventual book. The committee is currently chaired by Gary Massanek, with Jay Rogers as vice-chair, and is open to new members at any time. Current subcommittees include a tech subcommittee to come up with recommendations for the best platform for our database, a collections committee to coordinate cataloguing of current and future archivable materials, and a museum working group to address the creation of a Mac Mahan museum and the designing of exhibits. Below please see our mission statement, our request to the community for materials of possible historical interest, and our guidelines for accessions.
Mission Statement – Mac Mahan Island History Committee
The purpose of the Mac Mahan History Committee is to promote understanding and appreciation of the history of Mac Mahan Island, the Sheepscot Island Company and surrounding areas as they may pertain to Mac Mahan. It shall do so by augmenting, maintaining and curating its collections, providing access to those collections and conducting programs of research, display, publication and education for the Mac Mahan community, visitors and all other interested persons.
Mac Mahan History Committee – Accession Guidelines
Purposes of Collection
The Committee will collect items for the purposes of preserving and interpreting the history and culture of Mac Mahan, or materials that represent important themes or episodes in the community’s past. Written materials about Maine history that relate to, or provide context for, Mac Mahan’s history are also appropriate, as are published writings of Mac Mahan community members.
The Committee archives are also a research resource. It is therefore the Committee’s intention that all materials in its collections be fully available to the public. Restrictions on access to donated materials are strongly discouraged. In some cases, in order to protect individual privacy, clearly stated restrictions of limited duration can be imposed.
Materials we are prepared to accept either as a gift or a loan:
- Manuscripts, records, books, diaries, memoirs, speeches, newsletters, pamphlets, brochures, flyers, broadsides, maps, charts, and other written, and printed and digital materials.
- Photographic materials, such as negatives, prints, and movie film) ; tapes, recordings, CDs, DVDs and other electronic versions of oral histories, talks, programs;; and small three-dimensional artifacts suitable for exhibition in cabinets or on walls.
- Signs, posters, prints, paintings, postcards, and other visual materials
- Books related to Mac Mahan or by Mac Mahan authors.
- Small three-dimensional artifacts suitable for exhibition in cabinets or on walls.
Materials we are not prepared to accept, though exceptions may be made:
- Furniture or large three dimensional objects
- Fabrics or clothing
The MHC may choose not to accept items which are in poor condition, which duplicate similar items in the collection, or which are not contemporary with the time period they depict or lack a clear relationship to Mac Mahan or its community. Donated items that the committee has decided not to accept or retain will be returned the donor.
Donations that necessitate excessive requirements such as special housing, unreasonable processing or insuring, or any other excessive demands on the MHC’s resources cannot be accepted.
Loans are accepted only for a limited time period and only for the purposes of cataloguing, exhibition, or research.
The Collections Committee is authorized to approve temporary receipt of items and recommend to the full MHC their acceptance for the cataloged collection.
The donor/lender will fill out a form to be signed also by the person accepting the material on behalf of the MHC, and each material will immediately be assigned an accession number starting with the year of acquisition and followed by a serial number. The accession number will be on a label affixed to the material and will be recorded.
The person accepting the material on behalf of the MHC will go over with the donor/lender any conditions for the gift or loan, and, if a loan, when and how the material will be returned, and will note these on the form.
History Committee Reports
Museum Committee Reports