[2] In 2020, the Abbe board of trustees hired Passamaquoddy tribal citizen Chris Newell to lead the museum under the dual role of Executive Director and Sr.

[3][4] The museum collections include a large number of artifacts fashioned during prehistoric and historic times by Native Americans and by Europeans who began arriving in the area in the early 17th century.

Also included are large number of baskets, and a powder horn attributed to the Penobscot chief Orono.

[5] The core of the collection was made by the pioneering radiologist Robert Abbe, who retired to Mount Desert Island after becoming enfeebled by the long-term effects of radiation exposure.

Stylistically it has elements of both the Spanish Colonial Revival and the Italian Renaissance, and has a unique octagonal space specifically designed in consultation with Dr. Abbe to house his collections.