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| Hours & Information |
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April 23 - May 11
Whaling Museum:
Open Thursday - Monday:
11 A.M. - 4 P.M.
Historic Sites: Hadwen House, Oldest House, Old Mill, and the Old Gaol are closed for the season. The Quaker Meeting House is open for self-guided tours when the Research Library is open.
May 14 - Oct 31
Whaling Museum:
Open Daily,
10 A.M.- 5 P.M.
NHA Historic Sites
will open for the 2009 Season on Thursday, May 23.
Open 12 P.M. - 4 P.M. Tours every 1/2 hour; last tour 3:30 P.M.
NHA Research Library
7 Fair Street
Open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday - Friday. Closed Wednesdays and May 25, Memorial Day.
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| NHA Museum Shop |
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April 18 - May 11: Thursday - Monday, 11 A.M. - 4 P.M.
May 12 to October 31: Daily 10 A.M. - 5 P.M.
Or shop on our Web site or place orders by calling 508-228-1894, ext. 5.
Featured items:
Nantucket Picnic Basket
This beautiful reproduction lightship basket is the perfect addition to every outing on the beach. $175.00
'Sconset: A History, by Betsy Tyler, et al.
A catalog of the 'Sconset 02564 exhibition, held summer 2008 at the Whaling Museum. $19.95.
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| Spectacular Weddings, Parties, Dinners, Conferences... |
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Many NHA properties are available for weddings, dinners, and parties. Celebrate life amid Nantucket treasures at the Nantucket Whaling Museum or one of our other properties. Surround your guests with elegant art and important objects that bring the story of Nantucket's past to life. Call Susan Beaumont for details at 508-228-1894, ext. 131, or visit our Web site for more information |
| A gift that lasts a full year: |
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Give an NHA Membership: Free admission to our sites, use of the Research Library, discount at the museum shop, Historic Nantucket magazine, and more! For a full list of our membership benefits, please click here. Join online or call 508-228-1894, ext. 116 (Beth), for additional membership information .
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| Gifts That Give |
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giftsthatgive.com is a Web site offering quality products for you to choose from, and 25% of your purchase will be donated back to the NHA on your behalf. Just select the NHA from the drop-down box at checkout.
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Save the Date!
Family Adventure at the Oldest House |
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The first NHA Family Associates Committee's Family Adventure at the Oldest House will be held on Sunday, July 19, 4:30 - 6 P.M. Families with children ages twelve and under are invited to join in the fun of a scavenger hunt, colonial games, and a children's picnic at the Oldest House, 16 Sunset Hill Lane. Watch for more information in the NHA E-Newsletter, or to receive a personal invitation, send your name, mailing address, and email address to info@nha.org |
| Early-American Arts & Crafts at the 1800 House |
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Faux-Finish Box with Seashell Bouquet, with Mary Emery and Elizabeth Braun Tuesday, May 26, to Thursday, May 28 Read more...
Chair Caning and Fiber Rush, with Peter Wilson Tuesday, June 2, to Thursday, June 4 Read more...
Shell Mirror, with Mary Emery and Elizabeth Braun
Tuesday, June 9, to Thursday, June 11
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| NHA E-Newsletter |
May 2009 |
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| Collections & Library News |
Property Spotlight: Oldest House Garden
The Oldest House has gained a new life in the last few years with the addition of a kitchen garden behind the house in 2006 and the planting of a small orchard of heritage-variety apple trees in the spring of 2007.
The kitchen garden, a reconstruction of a circa-1700 herb and vegetable garden, is planted and maintained by NHA grounds staff with a cultivation philosophy that adheres to an all-organic approach using only animal manures, with no modern fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides. Plants are grown in an intensive raised-bed system typical of the time and include common vegetable staples (carrots, onions, cabbages and parsnips) and fifty or so varieties of herbs grown for culinary, medicinal, or household uses. This landscape conveys a sense of the lives lived here and a deeper understanding of the families who occupied this home in the late seventeenth century.
The garden, and head designer and NHA staff Kathrina Pearl, have been featured in several publications, including articles in Boston Globe Magazine (29 July 2007) and Cuisine (2008). As dynamic, ever-changing systems, the garden and orchard will evolve and mature in the years ahead, increasingly contributing to our understanding of everyday life at this location three centuries ago.
For a closer look at the garden, please attend our open house on May 2.
New Accession: 1745 Indenture
 Through the generousity of the Max and Heidi Berry Acquisition Fund, the NHA now houses a rare indenture document of an Indian for "fishing and whaling voyages," dated Nantucket, 1745. An indenture contract for two years and eight months for "fishing and whaling voyages" between John Meader, carpenter, and "John Candanoo, an Indian." The "Customary Price... given to Indians... shall be paid for all the Codfish Oyl and whale bone he... shall take of Obtain." Candanoo, who was illiterate, signed the contract with his "mark" consisting of three parallel lines. Also signed by witnesses George Gardner and Josiah Coffin, justices of the peace, and bearing a paper seal. Click image to see larger view of this document. RL2009.30 |
| How Does Your Garden Grow? |
Saturday, May 2
 Meet Kathrina Pearl, NHA grounds assistant and gardener-in-residence, and discover what it takes to create and maintain this reconstruction of a late-17th-century kitchen garden. Guests will have the opportunity to see and learn about the plants and herbs that are grown and learn about their historic uses. Throughout the program, Pearl will answer questions and discuss topics that include propagation and seed saving. "We will discuss plant uses and how they were propagated, and how they can easily be incorporated into kitchen or ornamental gardens of today." Guests will have the opportunity to plant lettuce and flower seedlings in the beds.
Oldest House, 16 Sunset Hill, 1-3 P.M.
Free for NHA members; $15 general public
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| NHA Explorations Trip |
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California Here We Come!
October 15-23, 2009
Join the NHA as we explore California. Three nights in Monterey, five nights in San Francisco; guided museum tours, private tour and luncheon at the Culinary Institute of America, tours of the city, aquarium, and an all-day Napa Wine Train excursion. There will also be free time to explore on your own. Land transportation and all breakfasts included, as well as two dinners. Air fare is not. Earlier arrival and or extension can be arranged with Swain's Travel.
Cost is based on twenty people. $2,599. Single supplement will apply. A $500 deposit is due by mid-June. Please call 508-228-1894, ext. 0 for further information.
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| May Is Preservation Month |
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The NHA is celebrating Preservation Month by dedicating its two remaining Food for Thought Brown Bag Lectures to the topic and with two walking tours.
Thursday, May 7 - "The Building of a Village"
In celebration of the 350th anniversary of English settlement on Nantucket, Mark Avery, NHA Historic Properties Manager, will discuss homebuilding techniques employed by 17th-century "washahores." Whaling Museum, 13 Broad Street, Noon-1 P.M. Free, bring your lunch.
Thursday, May 14 - "The Old Mill"
NHA staff Manny Sylvia and Erik Ingmundson will share stories about maintaining and operating a 262-year-old working artifact! Whaling Museum, 13 Broad Street, Noon-1 P.M. Free, bring your lunch.
Thursday, May 7 AND May 21 - Walking Tour of Old Sherburne
In recognition of Preservation Month, and in celebration of the 350th anniversary of English settlement on Nantucket, Mark Avery, NHA Historic Properties Manager, will lead a two-hour walking tour focusing on "Sherburne," the location of the original setter's first village. Tour departs from the Tupancy Links parking lot off Cliff Road, 1:30 P.M. Free for NHA members; Nonmembers: $10 adults, $4 children (ages 6-17).
Friday, May 15 - Walking Tour of Nantucket's Earliest Houses
Mark Avery will lead this one-hour tour, scheduled during Preservation Month, through historic downtown Nantucket and identify many of the early houses, moved from Old Sherburne, that predate the town around them. Tour departs from the Whaling Museum, 13 Broad Street, 1:30 P.M. Free for NHA members; Nonmembers: $10 adults, $4 children (ages 6-17).
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| Exhibition: Keeping Time in Sag Harbor
Photographs by Stephen Longmire |
Peter Foulger Gallery through June 7
 The photographs and texts in this exhibition are drawn from Stephen Longmire's book Keeping Time in Sag Harbor, which marked the 300th anniversary of the New York port in 2007.
For over three-hundred years, the historic American village of Sag Harbor, the early whaling port at the tip of Long Island worthy of mention in Moby-Dick, showcases buildings from the American Revolution to the present. The town includes a street lined with stately eighteenth- and nineteenth-century mansions that is known as "Captains Row," much like Nantucket's Upper Main Street. These similarities to Nantucket's whaling past, and that Sag Harbor as a resort community is now an alternative to the exclusive Hamptons, make this collection especially appropriate for exhibition here.
Gallery talk with Stephen Longmire:
Saturday, May 9, 2 PM
Free to NHA members, or with admission to the Whaling Museum
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| Nantucket Wine Festival 2009 |
"Words to the Wise" from Denis Toner
 "Happy days will be here again" during the Nantucket Wine Festival Wine Auction Dinner, scheduled for Saturday, May 16, 2009. "This dinner auction is an important one, because all of the proceeds benefit the Nantucket Historical Association," said NWF president and founder Denis Toner. "This year's is by far the greatest presentation of food and wine in the history of the NWF. Guest chef Daniel Bruce, of Meritage at the Boston Harbor Hotel, is celebrating his twentieth year of presenting food-and-wine- pairing dinners at the Boston Wine Festival, and has achieved national recognition for his skills.
"Bruce is an absolute master chef, and this year he will be paired with the king of Spanish wine, the estimable Jorgé Ordoñez. Last year's NWF Luminary of the Year, Jorgé has an international reputation as the leading exponent of the revolution that has marked the progress of Spanish wine over the past twenty years. We guarantee that these wines are stars, and should deliver an evening of sensory pleasure. This auction will feature the best selection of wines ever showcased-including a rare and exceptional bottle of 1870 Chateau Lafite that is in impeccable condition; Robert Parker refers to this wine as the greatest pre-phylloxera Bordeaux he has ever tasted. All in all, this promises to be an evening that will rock the tent rafters at the White Elephant and do a lot of good for the NHA. Don't miss it; seating is limited."
Tickets Still Available!
Nantucket Wine Festival Gala & Silent Auction
Thursday, May 14
Silent Auction to benefit the NHA.
White Elephant, 50 Easton Street. 6 P.M.
The NHA would like to take this opportunity to let our friends and longtime supporters know that this year's tickets to the May 14 Wine Festival Gala are being sold exclusively by the Nantucket Wine Festival. The sole portion of the Gala that benefits the NHA is the Silent Auction, so PLEASE COME AND BID! To purchase Gala tickets or other Nantucket Wine Festival tickets, please visit their Web site at: www.nantucketwinefestival.com
Nantucket Wine Festival Wine Auction Dinner
Saturday, May 16
A rare wine auction to benefit the NHA.
White Elephant, 50 Easton Street. 7 P.M.
You may still purchase tickets to the May 16 Wine Auction Dinner, which benefits the NHA, directly from us. Tickets are available from Stacey Stuart (508-228-1894, ext. 130) or you may purchase tickets online through our Museum Shop Web site. For clarification of bidding procedures, please call Stacey at 508-228-1894, ext. 130. |
| Exhibition: Views from the Tower, South Church 1809-2009 |
Whitney Gallery, 7 Fair Street
Saturday, May 23, 4 P.M.
This exhibition celebrates the 200th anniversary of the South Church on Orange Street through artwork, posters, and historic photographs.
 The South Church Preservation Fund, Preservation Trust, and the NHA are collaborating on this celebration of the church's anniversary. Begin your afternoon at the Unitarian Church, 3 P.M., with an organ concert, a talk by architectural historian Brian Pfeiffer, and a book-signing of A History of the Unitarian Meeting House (published by Nantucket Preservation Trust) by author and historian Betsy Tyler. Receptions to follow. |
| Landmarks of Nantucket! |
What favorite Nantucket places would you miss if they suddenly vanished?
 Twenty-five seventh grade students at Cyrus Peirce Middle School were asked this question, provided with a digital camera, and let loose on Nantucket. With the assistance of photographers Cary Hazlegrove, Garth Grimmer, and NHA staff, these Nantucket students have created images of their "island landmarks."
Funding was provided by the Nantucket Golf Club Foundation.
Exhibition opening at the Whaling Museum, Sunday, May 31, 2-3 P.M. Exhibition runs through August 31.
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New for Summer 2009...
The best view in town at a great price |
 The Rooftop of the Whaling Museum
Host your summer cocktail party on the Whaling Museum's rooftop observation deck for $3,000! You and your guests will enjoy a never-ending view of land and sea, high above town. Please contact Susan Beaumont at 508-228-1894, ext. 131, or sbeaumont@nha.org, or visit our Web site for more information. Up to 70 guests.
Limited Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights available through September.
Catering expense is additional.
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