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 Updated: 1/9/2011 
Julia A Purnell Museum
Snow Hill, Maryland
Description

The Julia A. Purnell Museum is sometimes described as a large museum in a small building. The museum has experienced significant growth in the past decade and is now poised on the brink of further expansion. The organization takes particular pride in the quality of its conservation and exhibitions as well as its efforts to engage the public with meaningful programs. As a local history museum, the Purnell Museum maintains a close relationship with the region's communities. Current projects include a focus on children's programming. Several new field trip programs have been developed for students in grades K-12. The museum's Heritage Arts After-School program for grades 6-8, held at a local middle school, is in its third year. The success of the after-school program led to the creation of a Heritage Arts Summer Series for children. Future plans for the museum include expansion to a second site in order to display more of the 10,000 items in the collection and to facilitate further educational programs.

History

The Julia A. Purnell Museum was founded in 1942 to display the needle art of Julia A. Purnell (1843-1943). After Julia Purnell's death, citizens donated items of regional importance to the collection, and as a result the Purnell Museum evolved into a regional history museum. In the 1950s, the museum moved to its current site in the former St. Agnes Catholic Church, erected in 1891. In the 1970s, museum by-laws were drafted and a paid museum professional was employed. In the last 30 years, the museum has experienced growth and progress-both financial and otherwise.

Artifact Collections

The collection contains more than 10,000 items related to the history of Worcester County, Maryland. Significant holding include collections of local Native American artifacts, costumes, textile production artifacts, carpentry and farm implements, household items, and the needle art of Julia A. Purnell.

Research Collections

The artifacts in storage and the archives are available to scholars by appointment. The Purnell Museum does not maintain a research library due to limited space. Those seeking further academic resources are usually referred to the Worcester County Room of the Worcester County Library, Snow Hill Branch and the Nabb Center for Delmarva Research at nearby Salisbury University.

Programs

School-based programming is directed by the school curriculum, and the requests of teachers. Along with general educational presentations about Worcester County history developed for school-age children, more specific programs are offered. These include talks by museum staff about African American history, women's history, and Native American history. The museum also has developed and teaches the Heritage Arts After-School Program at Snow Hill Middle School, which targets at-risk youth. This program teaches local history themes-such as maritime, agricultural, Native American and Victorian Era history-through the creation of art. The development of educational programs is based on our mission of providing the public with information about Worcester County history. Each year concerts, a Victorian Christmas Celebration, Julia Purnell's Birthday Party, and exhibits of work by local artists are held, each of which is appropriate for adults and children. The museum has also hosted several festivals, including a Native American Festival. The museum has made strident efforts to offer programming that interprets the history of the diverse peoples of the region, including Native American, African American, European American and women's history.

Governance

Board of Directors

Address
208 West Market Street
Snow Hill, MD 21863
phone: 410-632-0515
e-mail: mail@purnellmuseum.com
home page: www.purnellmuseum.com
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MUSEUM CONFERENCES

Virginia Association of Museum's 2025 Annual Conference!

March 15 - 18, 2025

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Virginia Association of Museum's 2025 Annual Conference!

Saturday, March 15 - Tuesday, March 18, 2025

The Inn at Virginia Tech

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Hosted by: Virginia Association of Museums

2025 Conference Theme: Looking Back to the Future For the past several years, many museums have been deeply involved in planning programs and events to observe the 250th birthday of the United States of America. While this is certainly an occasion to celebrate, this anniversary also forces us as a society to reckon with ongoing inequities and challenges within the US that go back to its inception. As museums ask their audiences to look to the past to understand the present and shape a better future, perhaps now is a good moment in time for Virginia’s museum community to take pause and look back at its own history. We are excited to see you in Blacksburg in March 2025 as we take a moment in our hectic schedules to take pause and visit our diverse pasts. Let’s uncover and share our histories to build a more resilient Virginia museum community.

Ohio Museum Asociation 2025 Annual Conference - Athens

March 29 - 31, 2025

Athens, Ohio

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Saturday, March 29 - Monday, March 31, 2025

TBA

Athens, Ohio

Hosted by: Ohio Museums Association

"Innovation: Museums and Reaching our Potential

The heart of innovation is transformation – shaking up our established way of doing things by introducing new methods, new ideas, and new approaches to both obstacles and opportunities

Museums across Ohio are not just adapting, but innovating to reach their full potential and better serve their communities. No matter their role, museum professionals are introducing forward-thinking perspectives and initiating creative solutions to launch the field into a future where museums can remain trusted and relevant community cornerstones

How can your museum stay true to mission and serve your community in new and meaningful ways? How can we as museum professionals meet the challenges of the future with reinvigorated enthusiasm

Join us in Athens, March 29-31 as we explore these topics and more at the 2025 Ohio Museums Association’s Annual Conference: Innovation: Museums and Reaching our Potential.

For more information, please email oma@ohiohistory.org.

North Carolina Museums Council 2025 Annual Conference

March 30 - 31, 2025

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Sunday, March 30 - Monday, March 31, 2025

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Hosted by: North Carolina Museums Council

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The primary objective is to provide a platform for museum professionals and others working in the industry to share ideas, best practices, resources and innovative approaches that demonstrate how museums can reach audiences in and beyond our physical spaces. We aim to inspire attendees to think broadly about the potential of their institutions and to foster a spirit of innovation and community engagement.

By facilitating discussions, workshops, and networking opportunities, the conference will empower current and future museum professionals and to expand their impact, embrace new challenges, and create meaningful connections with their audiences and communities.

Arkansas Museums Association 2025 Conference

March 31 - April 3, 2025

Washington, Arkansas

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Monday, March 31 - Thursday, April 3, 2025

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Hosted by: Arkansas Museums Association

"From the Ground Up: Cultivating Essential Skills in Museums

This year, the AMA conference theme is "From the Ground Up: Cultivating Essential Skills in Museums" As museum professionals we learn and use a wide variety of tools and skills every day

The Arkansas Museums Association is planning its 2025 Annual Conference, which will be hosted by Historic Washington State Park on March 31-April 3, 2025.

The goal of the conference is to support and foster the museum community through a mix of speakers as well as workshops, practical and informative presentations, in-depth discussions, and examples of projects and initiatives that are relevant to museums in Arkansas. Arkansas Museum Association members take ownership in the conference experience as presenters, speakers, panelists, facilitators, and workshop leaders.

For more information, please email arkansasmuseums@gmail.com.

New York Museum Association 2025 Conference in Ithaca, NY

April 5 - 8, 2025

Ithaca, New York

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Saturday, April 5 - Tuesday, April 8, 2025

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Cultivating Community: Looking In, Reaching Ou

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MANY presents conference sessions, workshops, panel discussions, facilitated discussions, and peer-to-peer learning experiences focusing on our 2025 conference theme, Cultivating Community: Looking In, Reaching Out. We will be gathering in Ithaca, in the Southern Tier Region of our state, located on the traditional homelands of the Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ (the Cayuga Nation)

MANY’s annual conference helps museum professionals build a network to share perspectives, tools, and skills that develop excellence across the field. Our goal is to nurture a community of practice, advance institutional change, and create an inclusive and expansive New York team of collaborators who learn together.

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