Wilson Museum Collection
The Wilson Museum’s early collections reflect the interests of the founder Dr. John Howard Wilson and his family—geology, anthropology, archaeology, and local and maritime history. Started from the personal collections of Wilson family members, they have grown over the past century through donations and purchases from local families and Dr. Wilson’s colleagues. All seven continents are represented in the collection, and the time span encompassed includes not just the European Paleolithic to current day Castine, but reaches back hundreds of millions of years to the early Paleozoic. The collection also includes a significant archive of local history material.
Exhibits are spread throughout the campus. The main exhibit spaces are in the brick Wilson Museum building and the Perkins Gallery. Regular tours are scheduled for the fully furnished historic John & Phebe Perkins House. There are small exhibits in several of our outbuildings, including The Village Blacksmith, Antique Boat Shed, and the Bagaduce Engine Company House. The Hutchins Education Center sometimes hosts temporary exhibits. Also on the grounds is the sculpture for Castine from the Schoodic International Sculpture Symposium.
If you have an inquiry regarding NAGPRA or other repatriation questions, please contact repatriation@wilsonmuseum.org.
For inquiries about the collection, information on how to make a collections donation, or to schedule a research visit, please contact Abby at collections@wilsonmuseum.org.
The Wilson Museum is a work in progress. We acknowledge that the history of our organization is rooted in colonialism, extractive collecting, and privilege. With humility and openness, we are committed to becoming an organization that reflects and supports values and actions essential to an equitable and sustainable shared future. We are committed to decolonizing our collection, our relationships, our content, and the way we work. To learn more >
Our institution is committed to the development of new modes of collaboration, engagement, and partnership with Indigenous Peoples for the care and stewardship of past and future heritage collections.
For more information, visit Local Contexts and the Wilson Museum’s institutional account.
Collections and items in our institution have incomplete, inaccurate, and/or missing attribution. We are using this Notice to clearly identify this material so that it can be updated, or corrected by communities of origin. Our institution is committed to collaboration and partnerships to address this problem of incorrect or missing attribution.
The TK (Traditional Knowledge) Notice is a visible notification that there are accompanying cultural rights and responsibilities that need further attention for any future sharing and use of this material. The TK Notice may indicate that TK Labels are in development and their implementation is being negotiated.