How do you go about fixing a whaling logbook damaged centuries ago by water? It sounds odd, but among the first things an expert might do is soak the afflicted pages in yet more water.

When Lois Mailou Jones began painting in the 1920s, she did so in near anonymity, a sign of the endemic racism and sexism of the time. But 92 years after her first exhibition, Ms. Jones is now the focus of a new exhibit at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum, running from June 12 to August 23 this summer. Nearly 17 years after she died, Ms. Jones is once again on display in the Vineyard.

The Martha's Vineyard Museum has received a $500,000 National Endowment for the Humanities grant. “Sometimes you ask for the moon, and you get it,” said museum executive director David Nathans.

Martha’s Vineyard Museum has received a $293,900 grant to make detailed descriptions of its collections searchable online, museum officials announced this week. The grant is the largest in the museum’s 90 year history, and builds on preservation work that has been supported by Community Preservation grants from five Island towns.

The Martha’s Vineyard Museum expects to sign within days a purchase and sales agreement to buy the former Marine Hospital in Vineyard Haven for an undisclosed price.

The purchase of the historic property, perched on a hill above the harbor, would mark a major step in the museum’s long quest to find a new home for its historical collections outside of Edgartown.

Museum executive director David Nathans said yesterday morning he hoped to have a deal completed by week’s end.

The Martha’s Vineyard Museum has taken an option on the former Marine Hospital in Vineyard Haven, giving the museum’s board until the end of January to decide whether the historic property perched on a hilltop above the harbor could serve as the new home for the Island’s historical collections.

The marine hospital went on the market in April with an asking price of $3.19 million.