Abbe Museum - Siew- de Mo nts Establishing Dr. Abbe's Museum in Mr. Dorr's Park by Ronald J-l. Epp Ph.D. For nearl y fi fty yea r ( 188 1- 1928) th e path s of two prom in ent Bar Harbor res id ents intersected repeatedl y. Dr. Robert Abbe ( 185 1- 1928) and Mr. George B. Dorr (1853 -1 944) we re movi ng independ entl y in th e ame direction, ali gned with other summer and perm anent Hancock Co un ty re ident , towa rd improvi ng the qu ali ty of li fe on Moun t Desert Island (M DI ). In the la t ix yea rs of Dr. Abbe's li fe, Dorr and Abbe wo ul d share the pa th that led to a glade bes ide th e Springhouse at Sieur de Monts in Lafayette Nati onal Park. At thi s ite a museum of native America n artifacts was bein g erected that wo uld bea r Dr. Abbe' name. Unfo rtLmately, he would not witness its dedi ca ti on nor oversee its early development. In 2003 th e Abbe Museum celebrated its 75th anni ver ary; the same year marked th e I 50th ann iversa ry of Mr. Dorr 's birth.1 The intersecti on of th e interests of Dorr and Ab be, the exercise of their di stincti ve areas of experti se, and th eir shared va lue wou ld prove to be very important fo r th e developm ent of the ls land. Their collaborati ve effort wa a deliberate attempt to create scientific and cultural in struments th at both pre erved th e bea uty an d health of th e Island as we ll as th e remains fro m pre-Emopean settlement. A ti mely 22 Establishing D1·: Abbe :S· Museum in M1 : Dorr :v Park assessment of their relationship will deepen our appreciation of the unique dynamic that shaped the genesis of Acadi a National Park, the Mount Dese1t Island Biologica l Laboratory, and the Abbe Museum. Many people who are steeped in th e traditions of MDI are acquainted with the bas ic biographi ca l deta il s of th ese two rusti cators. Robert Abbe was born in New York City, edu cated in its public sc hools and gradu ated from both th e Co ll ege of th e City of New York and the Co ll ege of Phys icians and Surgeons. A friend and biographer of Dr. Abbe referred to "hi s exactnes of thought, hi s prec ision of action , hi s deftness of hand ... hi s sy mpath etic spirit, hi s co urage and im ag in ati on which drove him into th e great and vital ca lling of a surgeon."2 In th e last two decades of th e 19th century he pi oneered techniques at St. Luke' Hosp ital and oth er metropolitan medical centers that yield ed new procedures in crani al, spinal, and intestinal surgery th at remain sta ndard procedures to thi s day. During thi s peri od Abbe adopted Bar Harbor as hi summer retreat. Attracted to the non-in vas ive potenti al of newly di covered radium, in 1904 he visited the Pari s laboratori es of Pi erre and Mari e Curi e. After returning to Ameri ca, Dr. Abbe introduced thi s new th erapy to hi co ll eagues and fo r th e remainder of hi s li fe ex perimented with it appli cations. The apl astic anemi a th at took hi s li fe in 1928 may have res ulted from experim entat ion with a radioactive substance of un ce rtain properti es. Like Dr. Abbe, George Bucknam Dorr's ori gin we re cosmopolitan and he too traced hi s ancestors back to ea rl y l 7th -century Engli sh ori gin s. Dorr 's parents were affl uent Boston Brahm in who sent their two sons to Harva rd Co ll ege and traveled wid ely as a fa mil y on th e Continent and to Mediterranean co untri es. Shortl y after the death of th eir eldest son they journeyed to Bar Harbor and were suffi cientl y impressed with th e area to purchase seventy acres of land fac in g Co mpas Harbor. With no strong eco nomic in centive to pursue a profes ion, George Don ' in vo lvement with th e Harva rd sc holarly co mmunity grew as its Phil osoph y Department, und er th e leadership of Willi am James, entered its Go lden Age. At the same time Dorr 's in vo lve ment with th e new Bar Harbor Vill age Improvement Assoc iati on (BHVIA) intensifi ed, espec ially Estab/ishi11g D1 : Abbe :1· Museum in M1'. Dorr :s· Park 23 in horti cultural and tra ilbl azin g end eavors. Beginning in 1901 Dorr fo und hi s "profess ion" in executing the mi ss ion of th e newly fo rm ed Hancock County Trustees of Public Reservati ons (HCTPR), "an endeavor to preserve fo r public enjoyment th e sceni c and hi storic sites of Mount Desert. "J A lifelong bachelor, Dorr 's sustain ed romance was with thi s pl ace, a decid edly non­ cosmopoLitan island in Frenchm an Bay. Over fo ur decades he ass iduously assembled tracts of land, negoti ated the donati on of thi s land to th e peopl e of the United States, and administered th e first nati onal park east of the Rocky Mountains fo r twenty-eight years until hi s death in 1944 at 90 years of age. Wh at led Dorr, Abbe and oth er notabl e ru sticators to steward thi s small island , a pl ace to whi ch none were wedded by fa mily ti es or econ omic necessity? In th ese tim es wh en we journey to a locale for rec rea ti onal pursuits, fe w of us entertain th e vex in g qu es ti on so important to th ese summ er res id ents: how mi ght thi s island be improved and protected from fo rces th at wo uld degrade it or segregate it from public use? Th e Culture of Bar Harbor Most of us have more th an pass ing fa mili arity with th e 19th century benchm ark s of MDI development. Th e di covery of th e natural spl end ors of th e Island by th e arti sts of th e Hudso n River School and th e ease of movement to th e Island from metropolitan areas by stea m-powered ship and ra ilroad resulted in th e post-Civil War di cove ry of th e island by Bo ton, Philadelphia, and New York fa mili es wh ose wea lth was large ly a product of the Industrial Revoluti on. We kn ow from hotel registry li sts published in th e Mount Desert Herald that Dr. Abbe first took rooms in th e Belmont Hotel in 188 1, and th ereafter routinely summered in Bar Harbor as th e co mmunity rapidl y prospered. Foll owing hi s marri age he and hi s wife Cath erin e purchased Brook End abutting Frenchm an Bay bes id e Duck Brook. Although th e docum entati on of th e first decade of th e Abbe's in vo lvement in Bar Harbor culture is minimal, th e evid ence fo r th e Dorr fa mily's ac ti viti es is substanti al. Charl es and Mary Dorr began 24 Es 1ab/ishi11g D1: Abbe s Museum in !vh: Dorr 5· Park to summer in Bar Harbor in th e ea rl y l 870's. Like the Abbes th eir li ves we re rooted in th e Gilded Age citi es where th ey co uld hobnob with pro minent citizens like th e ce lebrated publisher James Field s; hi s close fri end Charl es Di ckens was in vited to a Chri stm as eve dinner at th e Dorr 's Boston res idence .4 In Bar Harbor they des igned a state-of-the-art cottage which was winteri zed fo r year ro und occupancy. Built in 1878, Old Fa rm and its bounti ful gardens became a social nexus und er th e ca reful directi on of Mary Dorr, where fa mil y, fri end s, literary, sc ientific, and political notabl es were invited. Her guest book is one of th e most cheri shed possessions of the Bar Harbor Hi stori ca l Soci ety Museum . It doc um ents th e intell ectu al environment afforded yo un g George Dorr in Bar Harbor although th e intell ectuals in Cambridge prov id ed him with a scholarl y envi ronm ent more to hi s liking. The earli est doc umented interaction between Robert Abbe and George Dorr occurs earl y in th e 20th century when Cath erin e Abbe, hi s wife, contributed fin anciall y to establi sh th e Building of th e Arts, Bar Harbor's first cultura l ico n. As Pres id ent of th e Building of th e A1is Fo unders Committee, Geo rge Dorr so ught "to in crease not onl y the love fo r music but the des ire fo r whatever is exce ll ent in art."s In 1905 Cath erin e Abbe, George W.