Research Library
Located at 7 Fair Street, the library is open year-round-June to mid-October: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 10 A.M. - 4 P.M.; Tuesdays opening later, 11 A.M. - 4 P.M. Closed all legal holidays & weekends. Call 508-228-1894 ext. 4, 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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The Whaling Museum and Historic Sights are now open seven days a week!
The Whaling Museum, open Sunday - Saturday 10 A.M. - 5 P.M. and the first and third Wednesdays in June, July, and August until 8 P.M., features 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 and the vessels they sailed in. The film Bones of History, the Whale Hunt Lecture, the whaleship Essex Gam, and various gallery tours. The Hadwen House, 96 Main Street; Oldest House and period Kitchen Garden, 16 Sunset Hill; Old Mill, 50 Prospect Street; Quaker Meeting House, 7 Fair Street; Fire Hose-Cart House, 8 Gardner Street; and the Old Gaol, 15R Vestal Street are open Monday - Saturday, 10 A.M. - 5 P.M. Sunday, 12 - 5 P.M. |
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Historic Walking Tours of Downtown Nantucket
Eighty-minute tours depart from the Whaling Museum, 13 Broad Street. Free for NHA members: tickets are $10, adults; $4, children (ages 6-17)
May 29 - June 30: Monday - Saturday, 11:15 & 2:15, and Sundays at 2:15 P.M.
July 1 - Sept. 1: Monday - Saturday, 4:30 P.M. |
Host your special event in the Whaling Museum - Exceptional events begin with unforgettable
venues. . .
Include the Whaling Museum when planning your social events! A great location for weddings (welcome parties, rehearsal dinners, and receptions); cocktail parties; 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 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). A perfect birthday, hostess, or anniversary gift. Please call 508-228-1894, ext. 116 (Beth) for additional membership information, or go to our website. |
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Please support the Businesses that support the NHA!
Business Leaders:
Accessible Dental
The Beachside at Nantucket
Congdon & Coleman Insurance
Cuddy Associates
James Lydon, Sons & Daughters
Johnstons of Elgin Cashmere
Killen Real Estate
Laura Munder Fine Jewelry
Lyman Perry Architects Ltd.
Marine Home Center
Mind's Eye Productions
Murray's Toggery Shop, Inc.
Nantucket Bank-A division of Sovereign Bank
Nantucket Bike Shop
Nantucket Island Resorts
Novation Media
Sylvia Antiques/Four Winds Craft Guild
Thirty Acre Wood, LLC
Trianon/Seaman Schepps
Young's Bicycle Shop
Business Sponsors:
Atlantic East Real Estate
Botticelli & Pohl, P.C.
BPC Architecture
Brass Lantern Inn
Cape Cod Express, Inc.
Congdon & Coleman Real Estate
Dujardin Design Associates, Inc.
Dunton Property Management, LLC
Hatch's Package Store
Kathleen Hay Designs
Leslie Heiden Design Consultants
Nantucket Butter Company
Nantucket House Antiques & Interior Design Studio
Nantucket Pharmacy
Philbrick and Avery, LLP
Business Partners:
A. B. Norton Construction
ACKBBQ
American Seasons
Arno's at 41 Main Street
The Art Conservancy of Nantucket
Benji's Boutique
Brant Point Inn
Brien, Inc.
Cape Cod Life Publications
Cary Hazlegrove Photography
The Cellar
Centre Street Inn
Chase Canopy Company
Coffin Real Estate & 'Sconset Real Estate
Cooper Shepherd and Associates
Cross Rip Outfitters
D. Neil Parent Associates
Denby Real Estate
Design Associates, Inc.
The Downyflake
Edith Delker Real Estate
The English Trunk Show Company
Even Keel Cafe
Flowers on Chestnut
G. S. Hill Gallery
Hoorn-Ashby Gallery
Hospice Care of Nantucket Foundation
Le Languedoc Restaurant
Lindsay, Inc.
C. Richard Loftin, Attorney at Law
Madaket Marine
Mary Keller, Classical Harpist
Nantucket Architecture Group, Ltd.
Nantucket Carving & Folk Art, Inc.
Nantucket Catering Company
Nantucket Country
Nantucket Event Media
Nantucket Frameworks
Nantucket Inn
Nantucket Island Chamber of Commerce
Nantucket Office Products
Nantucket Party Rentals
Nantucket Real Estate Company
Nantucket Storage Center
Peter Beaton, Inc.
Pinwheels
Placesetters, Inc.
Sandcastle Construction, Inc.
Sankaty Head Golf & Beach Club
Sherburne Inn
Simply With Style Catering
Soiree Floral
Spanky's Raw Bar
Surfing Hydrangea Nursery
Susan M. Warner Catering
Swain's Travel
Sweet Inspirations
Topham Designs, Inc.
Twig Perkins, Inc.
The UPS Store
Vis-A-Vis
The Wade Cottages
Water Street
The White Whale
Zero Main | |
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Summer Exhibition:
'Sconset 02564: A Celebration of the Patchwork Village
 Peter Foulger Gallery of the
Nantucket Whaling Museum
Through November 11, 2008
The 'Sconset exhibition opened to great acclaim. Over 300 attended the members reception. Widely acknowledged as one of the best exhibitions that the NHA has presented, it is distinguished by a large amount of input from the community.
The exhibition includes a model of the Nantucket railroad, "At the Pump" oral history interviews with 'Sconseters, a movie chronicling the 2007 move of Sankaty Light, a digital 'Sconset Family Album, a model of the 'Sconset pump by Nelson "Snooky" Eldridge, and much more.
We are also pleased to offer a catalog of the exhibition, 'Sconset: A History, made possible with support from the Judy Family Foundation. Please consider joining us for 'Sconset Night at the museum on July 2. For details, please contact (508) 228-1894 x 0. |
Sign Up Today!
Grave Marker Conservation/ Repair Workshop with Ivan Myjer  Friday, June 6, and Saturday, June 7, 2008
9 - 12 P.M., 1-4 P.M. each day Old North Cemetery, New Lane
Sponsored by the Cemetery Commission Workgroup with funds provided by a Community Preservation Act grant
A two-day workshop in grave marker conservation and repair will be conducted on Friday, June 6, and Saturday June 7. Ivan Myjer, of Building and Monument Conservation, will discuss different types of grave markers, what contributes to their degradation, simple repair and cleaning techniques, and provide a hands-on component. Myjer is an internationally experienced conservator of exterior stone sculptures, monuments, and grave markers. He has been working with NETCO to conduct a conservation survey of grave markers in the Old North and Newtown Cemeteries for the last year.
The Cemetery Commission Workgroup is a committee created by town meeting in 2006 to work toward full documentation of all interments that have taken place in Nantucket Town and County, to assist the Town Clerk in acquiring historic information regarding the subjects of such interments, and to seek grants and sources of funding toward proper historic preservation of Town and County burial places, and any other such action determined to be of benefit to the Town and County of Nantucket. The workgroup consists of one or more representatives from the Nantucket Historical Commission, Department of Public Works, Nantucket Interfaith Council, Nantucket Historical Association, Board of Selectmen, Town Clerk's Office, and two at-large members. The workshops are free and open to the public, registration required. Space is limited.
Call 508.228.1894 extension 301 to reserve a place or for more information. Participants should dress for outdoor work and bring gardening gloves, rubber gloves, shovels, and trowels. Kneeling pads suggested. No parking in the cemetery itself. Rain date June 13 and 14. |
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First Wednesday Lecture Series Presents "Gam Night" Wednesday, June 4, 7:00 P.M. Whaling Museum, 13 Broad St.
The first in a new summer Wednesday lecture series, "An Evening Gam" (during the heyday of whaling, a gam was a rare but important occasion for Nantucket's whalers) will feature two notable Nantucket stories: the Essex Gam and the Globe Gam. The Essex story recounts the tragedy of the whaleship Essex, taking visitors along on the doomed journey from Nantucket harbor to the Pacific Ocean and back. The storyteller explains how these whalemen found themselves adrift in open boats in the Pacific Ocean after their ship was stove by a whale and narrates the trials suffered before they were rescued.
The Globe Gam tells the story of Samuel Comstock and his planned mutiny on the Globe. The story progresses from the violent takeover of the ship through the ship's landing in the Marshall Islands and its return to Nantucket.
Free for NHA members, $15 general public |
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NHA EXPLORATIONS: A Day at Harvard University
 Tuesday, June 10
This one-day trip will feature a visit to the Harvard Museum of Natural History and its world-renowned glass flowers, as well as its "Sea Creatures in Glass," followed by lunch and an entertaining walking tour focusing on the history and architecture of Harvard Yard, concluding with a gallery tour of highlights in the Fogg Art Museum, which opened to the public in 1895. The Fogg's numerous galleries illustrate the history of Western art, from the Middle Ages to the present. This is an opportunity to visit the museum before they close for a five-year renovation.
$115 NHA members, $135 nonmembers. Please call 508-228-1894, ext. 0 for further information. Reservations are required.
Save these dates!
NHA EXPLORATIONS heads to distance shores!
February 2009 ExplorationsFly to New Zealand! February 9 -25: Come fly with the us as we explore the country of New Zealand with our hosts Bill and Peggy Tramposch - who lived there for the last eleven years - before moving to the island when Bill joined the Nantucket Historical Association. Call for more information, 508-228-1894 Ext. 0 |
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Summer Lecture Series:
Law and Disorder on Nantucket by Frances Ruley Karttunen Wednesday, June 18, Whaling Museum, 13 Broad Street, 7:00 P.M.
Join us as Karttunen discusses various stories of interest from her recent book.
Free for NHA members, $15 general public |
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Special Tour of Gosnold Support Center, Friday, June 27 Please call ahead to reserve your spot; space is limited and tickets will not be sold at the door.
 These special tours, led by NHA curators Ben Simons and Tony Dumitru, will highlight some of the NHA's vast artifact collection, which represents many definitive aspects of Nantucket's history. The collections encompass all media, including textiles, glass, wood, metals, works on paper, paintings, and whale ivory. Some of the gems on the tour will include examples from the eight-hundred-piece scrimshaw collection-such as engraved whalebone busks, canes, pie crimpers, and letter boxes; South Seas artifacts; whaling implements; Chinese porcelain tea sets and items in the highly decorated famille rose-style porcelain. Various artists' work from the more than eight hundred paintings in the collection will also be discussed. There are more than thirty thousand artifacts in the NHA's collection. The interpretive tour lasts one hour. 89 Bartlett Road, 11 A.M.-NOON
Tickets are $25 for NHA members, $35 for nonmembers. For more information about the tour or to register, please call 508-228-1894, ext. 0. |
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Moby-Dick: Intaglio Prints, by Janet Ball McGlinn
 In the Whitney Gallery at the Research Library, 7 Fair Street
Closes June 20
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 summer library hours now in effect: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, 10 A.M. - 4 P.M. and Tuesday, 11 A.M. - 4 P.M. Closed weekends, and all holidays. Call 508-228-1894 ext 0 for further information.
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Exciting digital exhibition: Landmarks!
 During the summer and fall of 2007, more than thirty Nantucket sixth-, seventh-, and eighth- graders participated in the NHA's first student-curated photographic exhibition, Landmarks of Nantucket! This digital exhibition showcases what the students considered to be their cherished Nantucket landmarks. This collaborative exhibition-organized by the NHA, the Nantucket Preservation Trust, and Sustainable Nantucket-was on display in the Whaling Museum's Candle Factory from May to November. The full panels are now available for viewing online. |
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NHA Museum Shop - 2008 MARKS ITS 25TH ANNIVERSARY!
 The shop is open for the season! 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 website, or place orders by calling 508-228-5785.
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Volunteer opportunities at the NHA Research Library  Interested in indexing scrapbooks, digitizing photographs, or transcribing ships' logs? The NHA Research Library has an abundance of work that needs to be done. A description of these and many other tasks is available on our website, or you may receive a packet by mail; just let us know your address! Please contact Georgen Gilliam Charnes, Curator of Library & Archives 508-228-1894, ext. 301 |
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Take a Class in Early-American Arts and Crafts at the 1800 House
 This educational program is dedicated to celebrating and reviving Nantucket's rich tradition in historic decorative arts and crafts. Taught by artisans from Nantucket and throughout the country, offerings range from one-day to three-day classes. Prepayment and preregistration required. For a full listing of summer and fall classes, please visit our website. |
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Up Close and Personal: Oldest House Kitchen Garden Tours "Inch By Inch, Row by Row"
Fridays & Saturdays at 3:00 P.M.
May 30 - September 27
 Learn about the herbs and plants and their uses that are growing in this replicated 1700s kitchen garden. Discussion led by NHA staff member Kathrina Pearl, who is currently completing a certificate program in Historic Landscape Preservation at the Landscape Institute of Harvard University's Arnold Arboretum. Pearl researched and designed the garden, and will provide an overview of a period kitchen garden and the orchard at the Oldest House.
Oldest House, 16 Sunset Hill. Free for NHA members, $6 Historic Site pass |
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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.
Click here to visit our collections database. |
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Whaling Museum voted "Best of" in Cape Cod Life's "The Best of the Cape & Islands" In a reader's survey, for the second consecutive year, the NHA's Whaling Museum was voted Best Nantucket Museum, receiving the highest award (gold), as well as a gold in the category of Best Rainy-Day Activity. The June issue of the magazine is currently on newsstands around the island. |
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The Nantucket Historical Association receives publication award from the New England Museum Association (NEMA) 2008 Competition Second-place honors were received in the "Annual Report" category. The 2008 New England Museum Association Competition received 180 publications submissions from 66 museums in 20 different categories; major art and historic museums throughout New England were among the competitors. The awards recognize excellence in design, production, and effective communication in all aspects of museum publishing: "The judges were extremely impressed with the high quality of design and effective communication with the NHA submission." The winning publication will be exhibited in November at the NEMA annual conference in Warwick, Rhode Island. |
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Museum of African American History is sponsoring a Public Archaeology Week June 9 - 14, Higginbotham House, 27 York Street
The archaeological dig taking place at the Higginbotham House, 27 York Street from 10 A.M. to 3 P.M., Monday, June 9, through Saturday June 14. Special Dig and Discover Program with L'Merchie Frasier June 10th and 11th at the Nantucket African Meeting House. Join the team from the Museum and the University of Massachusetts Boston as they dig to locate, identify, and evaluate any significant historic and archaeological resources that may be affected by the upcoming restoration project. Come dig and discover! |
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Cruise the Galapagos Islands On a Group Tour with the Maria Mitchell Association, Swain's Travel, and Tauck World Discovery
November 3 - 12, 2008 Deadline extended until June 10
In-depth sightseeing within the Galapogos Islands, led by naturalist guides, including a visit to the Charles Darwin Research Station in Puerto Avora and other diverse islands. Base price does not include international airfare. Please contact Sheila O'Brien Egan at Swain's Travel (508-228-3201) or Darcie Vallant at the Maria Mitchell Association (508-228-9198) for further information or to make a reservation. | |
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