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The Whaling Museum IS OPEN EVERY WINTER WEEKEND!
From January 4 to April 20, the Whaling Museum will be open Friday through Sunday,
11 A.M. - 4 P.M.
Beginning April 24, the Museum will be open Thursday - Monday 11 A.M. - 4 P.M. through May 26.
Make the most of the early-spring season with an informative visit to the Whaling Museum. Featuring exhibits about Nantucket history, decorative arts, scrimshaw, and numerous interactive, hands-on learning opportunities for children twelve and under, the museum includes a restored 1847 candle factory, with its original whale-oil beam press (a three-story wooden structure that is the only such artifact surviving anywhere in the world); a 47-foot sperm-whale skeleton; a fully rigged whaleboat; a vast collection of whaling tools; the 16-foot Fresnel lens from Sankaty lighthouse; and numerous portraits of whaling captains and their wives. The film Bones of History, the Whale Hunt Lecture, the whaleship Essex Gam, and various gallery tours also provide a source of endless possibilities for learning and enjoyable visits. |
The Honor of your Presence is requested:
Host your special event in the Whaling Museum - Exceptional events begin with unforgettable
venues. . .
Include the Whaling Museum when planning your events! A great location for weddings (welcome parties, rehearsal dinners, and receptions); staff gatherings; and corporate parties.
Celebrate life amid Nantucket treasures at the Nantucket Whaling Museum. Immerse your guests in Nantucket history at our world-class museum, located in the heart of Nantucket Town. The space accommodates both small and large gatherings-a perfect mix of state-of-the-art and old-world design. Surround your guests with elegant art and important objects that bring the story of Nantucket's past to life. Your guests will enjoy breathtaking views of Nantucket harbor, town, and beyond from the rooftop observation deck. Call Susan Beaumont for details about hosting a memorable party in the Whaling Museum. 508-228-1894, ext. 131 |
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Bookworks Benefits:
A program that gives back to the NHA, among others.
Nantucket Bookworks, at 25 Broad Street, has chosen nine partners to benefit from its new pilot program. It is a two-tiered process: 1) Every time your accumulated purchases total $200, you'll receive a $10 coupon from Bookworks toward your next purchase; 2) Bookworks will then donate the value of 1% of your purchases to the organization you've selected. The NHA is one of the organizations that Bookworks has chosen; all you need to do is sign up in the store and put the NHA down as your affiliate. This is a most gracious community-minded program, and we are grateful to them for including us as one of their nonprofit partners. Now get out there and buy those books (and whatever else you can find in Bookworks' eclectic collection)! |
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Give the gift that lasts an entire year
The The NHA is a member-based organization, receiving no municipal, state, or federal moneys; your membership enables the NHA to continue its mission of preserving the island's history and connecting the island's residents to Nantucket's unique past.
A one-year membership (which includes unlimited admission to the Whaling Museum, Old Mill, Quaker Meeting House, Oldest House, and Hadwen House; free use of the NHA Research Library; subscription to Historic Nantucket; 10% discount at the Museum Shop; discounts on certain classes and Explorations trips; and invitations to special events, concerts, and lectures), is also a perfect birthday, hostess, or anniversary gift. Please call 508-228-1894, ext. 116 (Beth) for additional membership information, or go to our website. |
Research Library
Located at 7 Fair Street, the library is open year-round: Monday, Thursday, and Friday, 10 - 4 Tuesday, 11 - 4; closed Wednesday & weekends and holidays. Call 508-228-1655, or e-mail library@nha.org.
Administrative Offices
Located at 15 Broad Street, the administrative offices are open Monday - Friday, 9 A.M. - 5 P.M. Call 508-228-1894, ext. 0, or e-mail info@nha.org.
For a printer-friendly PDF of this newsletter, click here.
If you wish to discontinue receiving this e-newsletter from the Nantucket Historical Association, please email jwodynski@nha.org. Nantucket Historical Association, P.O. Box 1016, Nantucket, MA 02554 P: 508-228-1894; F: 508-228-5618 W: www.nha.org | |
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Traveling Exhibition from Smithsonian Institution
Includes Whaling Museum
 In Search of Giant Squid, part of the Smithsonian Institution Nationally Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), is open in the Peter Foulger Gallery in the Whaling Museum. The exhibition is supported, in part, by the Egan Maritime Foundation and Novation Media and will be on display through April 20.
The exhibition features giant squid specimens, including Architeuthis's notorious beak (mandible); tentacles with suction cups; and a squid-o-meter, which will help visitors examine the myths and legends that surround giant squid. Guests will be able to compare them with other squids and mollusks, explore what is known about how they hunt, move, and defend themselves; and learn about scientists' research to help understand their anatomy and behavior. Interactive components will allow both young and old to compare their own size to that of a giant squid, and experience the giant squid's presumed environment.
In Search of Giant Squid has been developed by the National Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) in partnership with the Discovery Channel. This exhibition is made possible by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. |
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Moby-Dick: Intaglio Prints, by Janet Ball McGlinn
 In the Whitney Gallery at the Research Library, 7 Fair Street
January 18-June 20, 2008
Janet McGlinn was one of the most talented postwar artists working on Nantucket. She founded the Nantucket Printmakers with Schuyler Bradt (1909-79) in 1969 and taught printmaking, especially the technique of collograph, at the Artists Association of Nantucket when the workshop existed in the winter in the closed Kenneth Taylor Galleries. A Philadelphia native, McGlinn attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Art Students League in New York City. Her stunning print series vividly highlights key scenes and characters from Moby-Dick, including the famous whale-jawbone bar at the Spouter Inn, Moby-Dick himself, Queequeg, Ahab, a cutting-in scene, and a poignant image of Ishmael, the sole survivor at the end of the epic tale.
The gallery is open during library hours: Monday, Thursday, and Friday, 10 A.M. - 4 P.M. and Tuesday, 11 A.M. - 4 P.M. Closed Wednesday, weekends and all holidays. Call 508-228-1655 for further information. |
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Poetic Nantucket Narratives
Saturday, April 12, 1:00 -3:00 P.M.
Whaling Museum, 13 Broad Street
In honor of National Poetry Month and Jazz apprereation month, Nantucket poets will present a selection of verse in Gosnell Hall. Poetic Nantucket Narratives is a multigenerational program that will feature readings from a variety of poems inspired by Nantucket's past and present, including Frank Cunningham's poem about the Whaling Museum! Free for NHA members, or with museum admission. |
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Acquisitions Evening featuring the David H. Wood Collection Wednesday, April 16, 7-8 P.M.
Whaling Museum, 13 Broad Street
 The NHA cordially invites members, friends, and neighbors to attend an Acquisitions Evening dedicated in his memory, featuring the collection of David H. Wood, who passed away on February 22, 2008.
 Ben Simons, Robyn & John Davis Curator of Collections; Georgen Charnes, Librarian, Archivist & Webmaster; and Tony Dumitru, Collections Manager, will present some of the items from the Wood Collection, donated to the NHA in late 2007. A Nantucket native, Wood graduated from Nantucket High School in 1939 and majored in English at Middlebury College in Vermont. He began collecting as a boy, and on the day he  graduated from Middlebury he bought an antique mirror that hung in his island home until his recent death. His association and involvement with the NHA go back many years, and he was supportive of all its programs. The David H. Wood Collection includes scores of lightship baskets; Nantucket silver; numerous eighteenth-century documents  (one of which calls for the formation of a board of selectmen on Nantucket, signed by King William I); and a wonderful portrait by artist Austin Strong of James H. Wood, David's great-grandfather (one of Nantucket's most famous Civil War veterans). The collection not only helps to tell the story of Nantucket, it reveals a great deal about David Wood, the collector.
Free for NHA members, $5 general public. |
April Vacation Destination Days at the NHA! Monday - Friday, April 21 - 25
1 - 4 P.M.
 Experience the excitement of adventure and exploration without ever leaving the island! Passport to History: Vacation Destination Days, for elementary-school children (K-5), accompanied by an adult, will take place in the Whaling Museum, 13 Broad Street.
This FREE hands-on program, made possible by funding from the Nantucket Golf Club Foundation, will feature a full week of activities and demonstrations that celebrate living on an island, and seeing it through the visitor's eye. Groups of elementary-age schoolchildren are also welcome, but must also be accompanied by adult companions.
Monday - Peopling the Island
Tuesday - Living in the Light: Island Ideology
Wednesday - Whaling
Thursday - Making a Living
Friday - Art Colony/Resort
Please call (508) 228-1894, ext. 112 for additional information. |
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Nantucket History in a Brown Bag:
 The Free "Food for Thought" Series will continue through Thursday, April 10, Noon to 1 P.M. These are the last of the season; series will resume in the fall. Whaling Museum; bring your lunch!
April 10
"A Tuckernuck Gam"
The Tuckernuck of days gone by . . . shopping once a week, no refrigeration, lobster for 29 cents a pound, fish for breakfast. Farming, swimming, and skinny-dipping. A one-room schoolhouse. A visit from Howard Hughes. We invite you to join us as Ruth Grieder, Susie Robinson, and other notable residents with deep Tuckernuck roots share stories and experiences of life on the little island to the west of Nantucket.
The Food for Thought Brown Bag Series is presented with support from the M.S. Worthington Foundation. |
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Classes in Early American Arts and Crafts
Begin May 1 at the 1800 House
 Many of the classes are beginning to fill. Don't miss out on your chance to learn a historic island craft! As the program enters its fourth year, the schedule continues to grow, and a varied assortment of over forty classes-focusing on centuries-old techniques-is now offered from May through October, with special holiday workshops presented during November.
Some classes have almost filled, so sign up now! Please go to the NHA Web site for class information. www.nha.org
Don't miss out on a chance for a summer full of informative and enjoyable entertainment. |
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The Nantucket History Database is the Nantucket Historical Association's "online clipping file" Texts that are available in electronic format have been added to our Web site, including articles from Historic Nantucket, the Nantucket Independent, and Yesterday's Island; collection descriptions from the Nantucket Historical Association; and frequently asked questions. |
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To make your life easier:
Collections Database Now On-line
The NHA artifacts collection represents many definitive aspects of Nantucket's history, including whaling, land and sea transportation, the Quaker religion, fine and decorative arts, farming, commerce, and architecture. There are some 30,000 artifacts in the NHA's collection, which encompasses all media-including textiles, glass, wood, metals, works on paper, paintings, and whale ivory. The vast collection includes more than 700 paintings, some 800 prints and drawings, 150 baskets, 400 lighting devices, 800 pieces of scrimshaw, more than 2,500 whaling tools and implements, more than 6,000 pieces of furniture and examples of decorative arts, and the complete skeletons of a finback whale (now on display at Nantucket High School), and a 46-foot sperm whale (displayed at the Whaling Museum). Images of selections from our collections are now viewable online. These include most of our scrimshaw artifacts and painting collections and many other items.
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NHA Museum Shop - 2008 WILL MARK ITS 25TH ANNIVERSARY!
 The shop will open for the season on April 25, the Friday of Daffodil Weekend! New this year, after receiving permission to reprint, we have the Commemorative Edition of Greater Light on Nantucket: A Memoir, written by Hanna D. Monaghan in 1973, available for $16.00. The exhibition catalog The Nantucket Art Colony, 1920-1945 is also available for $29.95. For those who loved last season's summer exhibition, this is the book for you. The catalog gives in-depth descriptions of each painting in the exhibition, with a foreword by NHA executive director Bill Tramposch. As always, you may shop on-line by visiting the Web site, or place orders by calling 508-228-5785.
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