Marblehead Snapshots
Marblehead Snapshots: The World of Fred Litchman 2023-2024 Exhibit Do you enjoy the museum’s #FredFriday feature, where we post a historic photo of Marblehead? You’ll love our newest exhibit, Marblehead Snapshots: The World of Fred Litchman! This exhibit features 50 photographs taken by Fred Litchman from the 1890s to World War I. Fred documents Marblehead at a pivotal time in its history, as ’Headers created a vacation mecca from the ashes of two devastating fires. Fred took relaxed photos of friends and family that would look right at home on your Facebook feed. The exhibit also has interactive features, including a scavenger hunt and videos that make the photos come alive. Visitors can also sit at a recreation of Fred Litchman’s desk, where you can flip through his photos, read his mail, and discover the man behind the camera. You can see the exhibit inside our museum at 170 Washington Street, Tuesdays-Saturdays from 10am-4pm.
Growing Up in the Shipyard
2022- June 2023 Growing Up in the Shipyard, guest curated by Kristen Nyberg, profiles one of Marblehead’s most interesting neighborhoods as seen through the eyes of the Nybergs, a family of Swedish immigrants who first came to America from 1906 to 1925. Visitors can follow their story through the 20th Century and see how life changed along with the Shipyard. This exhibit is supported in part by a grant from the Marblehead Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.
Great Thinkers Exhibit
An Exhibit in the Jeremiah Lee Mansion Garden with Sculptures by Jonathan Sherman JUNE 16 – JULY 31, 2022 The Jeremiah Lee Mansion Garden 161 Washington Street Marblehead, Massachusetts 01945 ADMISSION TO THE GREAT THINKERS EXHIBIT IS FREE & OPEN FROM SUNRISE TO SUNSET Jonathan Sherman will be exhibiting three figures from his “Great Thinkers” series at the Jeremiah Lee Mansion this summer. The sculptures will be on view in the upper garden from June 16 – July 31. The Lee Mansion, one of the most important examples of Georgian architecture in the country, is a natural venue for Jonathan’s work, as they both stand for and embody the Renaissance ideals of beauty and harmony. The sculptures, cast in bronze, are life-size portrait busts of Leonardo da Vinci, Confucius and Jonathan’s newest addition to the series: Hypatia of Alexandria – a fabled philosopher, astronomer and the first recorded female mathematician. Jonathan created this sculpture series to spread appreciation for our innate opportunity to think and to inspire the cultivation of one’s own relationship to thought, as these individuals had, for personal and collective betterment. This exhibit is supported in part by a grant from the Marblehead Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.
Treasures of the Deep: The Ray Bates Collection
On Display March 21-September 15, 2022 170 Washington Street Admission by Donation Discover lost pieces of local history in Treasures From the Deep. This exhibit features artifacts recovered from Marblehead and Salem Harbors over 50 years, by local diver and maritime historian Ray Bates. The exhibit includes pieces from ten shipwrecks, as well as crocks, pipes, bottles, peacocks, and a cannon ball or two. This collection is on public display for the first time. Visitors can also watch Ray Bates describe the shipwrecks in a series of videos throughout the gallery. Watch the videos on YouTube HERE.
Mourning Matters Exhibit
Mourning Matters: Honoring the Dead in Victorian America October 5 – November 12, 2021 170 Washington Street Just in time for Halloween, visit the Marblehead Museum for a new exhibition on the history of Victorian funerary practices. In the 1800s, death visited often, thanks to disease, war, and four pandemics in 60 years. See how the Victorians honored their dead and managed their grief through elaborate artifacts, art, poetry, photographs, clothing, jewelry, and more. This exhibition includes artifacts never before exhibited at the museum, including treasures made and used in Marblehead. The museum at 170 Washington Street is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10am to 4pm.
Marblehead Handprints Exhibit
June 15th – September 25th 170 Washington Street, Marblehead The Marblehead Museum presents a retrospective exhibit about Marblehead Handprints at the Museum gallery at 170 Washington Street. If you remember Marblehead Handprints you will enjoy seeing them again. If you don’t remember Marblehead Handprints you will be charmed and fascinated by this local success story of a women’s small business that spread across the United States. Due to COVID-19 limitations the exhibit will have a soft opening, with more celebrations planned for later in the early fall. The history of Marblehead Handprints, beginning in the early 1970s, unfolded against a backdrop of social change that was happening throughout the United States. Racial equality, gay rights, economic oppression and women’s rights were all being questioned at this time. Change was in the air and eventually led to greater awareness, expanded rights and improved independence for many. Though Marblehead was by no means a hotbed of revolutionary thought at this time, it was influenced by the shift in society’s attitudes. Marblehead Handprints was not ever conceived as a protest, but it is representative of changes for women that began in the late 1960s and are still ongoing. The story of Marblehead Handprints is a reflection of the opportunities for women that became possible at the same time that the business was developing. Molly Haley and Kathy Walters were young women living in Marblehead in 1970. Their interests brought them together when Molly was teaching silk screen printing at the Marblehead Arts Association and Kathy enrolled in the class. That’s how their friendship and business began. The business lasted for over twenty years, expanding to hundreds of products and stores from Marblehead to California. The bright, colorful designs by Molly and Kathy reflected the fashion changes of the time, and they have an ongoing appeal that still resonates with everyone who sees them. Designed and curated by Pam Peterson.