I hope to use this blog as a way to communicate a little more immediately with Maine Maritime Museum members and fans. I’ll try to submit posts on a weekly basis, to give folks some idea of what I have found during the week; treasures that have been acquired by the Museum; exhibits, publication, or collection projects that we are working on; research that is being done; exciting new books or websites that I have found; important symposia or conferences held or attended; and whatever else is keeping the curatorial department of the Museum busy. Other members of the curatorial staff may contribute to the blog, also.
Nathan Lipfert in 1984
My name is Nathan R. Lipfert, and I started here as a volunteer, aged 15, in 1966. The name of the organization then was the Marine Research Society of Bath, doing business as the Bath Marine Museum – the name was changed in the 1970s. I was hired in 1971 for a temporary summer staff position, and have not left since. I have held several different positions in the curatorial department, and first became a full curator in 1984. Since 2007, my title has been Senior Curator.
In modern museums, a curator is responsible for the historical collections and everything that is done with them. Here, that includes an extensive research library, a historic shipyard, a shipyard owner’s home, over 100 small boats, about 20,000 historic objects, and 40,000 square feet of exhibits. So the curatorial department also has a Curator of Exhibits, Chris Hall, and a Registrar, Kelly Page. For more info on them and what they do, see the Staff page.