Collection + Exhibits
Object of the Month
Get a glimpse of the past with highlighted artifacts from the museum’s collection.
With more than 10,00 artifacts in our collection, there’s a lot to learn about. Come along with us as we unearth one item a month and take a deep dive into its use, significance, and any community stories connected to its history, meaning, or purpose.
From archival photographs to awards, manufacturing tools and inventions to locally made holiday ornaments from a once renown manufacturer—get a glimpse into the past, right now.
April 2026: Health and Safety in the Mill
April 24th is National Workers Memorial Day in which the US Department of Labor honors fallen workers. OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is the regulatory agency that oversees the safety and health of all workers in the United States.
A 1990 document, pictured here, records a variety of accidents at a mill or factory in Lewiston, Maine. The documented workplace injuries range from a hand caught in an elevator door to being bitten by leather fleas. Chemical exposure was a notable hazard, evidenced by one case of injury resulting from the inhalation of diphenyl methane diisocyanate (methylene diphenyl diisocyanate). This chemical is commonly found in industrial spray foam sealants, adhesives, and coatings. Given the history of shoe manufacturing in the area, this exposure may have been connected to adhesives used during production.
Did you miss a past Object of The Month?
We’ve gone through a treasure trove of items from our collection over the years. Scroll through and see what you may have missed.
April 2022: Photograph of a Brick Maker
This undated photograph shows a man standing on a brick cart in front of an impressive pile of bricks. The worker puffs a cigarette while laboring in the Dennis Brickyard. On his hands, you can see large white gloves. Without these special gloves, the skin on a...
March 2022: Photograph of Female Workers
Happy Women’s History Month. Female weavers played a huge part in the successful operation of the Bates Mills, working to create bedspreads, sheets, and other beautiful textile pieces. This month, we are highlighting a photograph circa 1910 of three female employees....
February 2022: Whitin-Schweiter Automatic Filling Winder
This automatic filling winder made sure that bobbins were fully wound with yarn in preparation for weaving on a jacquard loom. Work on this machine involved placing cones of yarn on reels or spindles of the machine; threading yarn through the various guides;...
January 2022: Piano Punching Machine
The creation of Jacquard cards to control the weave sequence on a textile loom was a multi-step process. A crucial piece of this process involved the use of the Piano Punching Machine, which is our object of the month. It encoded the fabric design into stacks of cards...
Help preserve Maine MILL artifacts
Antique and vintage items need a lot of maintenance to prolong their lifetime. Help us to preserve and care for these historical items and representations of our community’s history by donating today.