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| Hours & Information |
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The Whaling Museum is open seven days a week!
May 14 - Oct 31
Whaling Museum:
Open Daily,
10 A.M.- 5 P.M.
NHA Historic Sites
Through October 12
Open Thursday - Monday
12 P.M. - 4 P.M.
Closed for season
after October 12
Quaker Meeting House Open During Research Library Hours
Walking Tours of Historic Downtown Nantucket
September 1 - October 12
Monday - Saturday
11:15 A.M. & 2:15 P.M.
Sunday
2:15 P.M.
Ending for season
October 12
NHA Research Library
7 Fair Street
Open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday - Friday. Closed Wednesdays, weekends, & Columbus Day (Oct. 12)
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| NHA Museum Shop |
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Open Daily,
10 A.M. - 5 P.M.
NHA members receive a 10% discount on all non-sale items
Featured items:
Greater Light : A House History
Greater Light on Nantucket, a Memoir
Click here to buy now from our Web site |
| Early-American Arts & Crafts at the 1800 House |
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Sailors Valentines, with Elizabeth Braun
Three Holiday Workshops, with the 1800 House Staff Read more... |
| Exceptional Events begin with Unforgettable Venues... |
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Many NHA properties are available for weddings, dinners, and parties. Celebrate life amid Nantucket treasures at the
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.
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| Show you care about Nantucket history: |
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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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| The Compass Rose Collection to benefit the NHA |
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Ralph Lauren has added an attractive new cream and navy canvas beach tote to its special collection of merchandise featuring the Compass Rose mural that adorns the east side of the Nantucket store, designed in 1936 by photographer H. Marshall Gardiner. The Compass Rose Collection was created to preserve and honor this significant piece of Nantucket history. Available at the Main Street store, signature t-shirts, hats, and caps are also available at the Main Street store, and 100% of sales is donated to the Nantucket Historical Association.
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| Festival of Trees Update |
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Tickets for the Festival of Trees Preview Party will go on sale in mid-October and will be available until the event is sold out, which is usually very quickly!
To insure that you get a ticket, plus your name in the program and unlimited admission to the Festival, please consider becoming an Angel or Star ticket holder. Participating at this leadership level also helps fund the event and the work of the NHA to preserve Nantucket's heritage. Please call Stacey Stuart, 508-228-1894, ext.130 (or email her at sstuart@nha.org) for more information. | |
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| NHA E-Newsletter |
October 2009 |
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| A Message from the Executive Director |
Fall! And, what a great summer we had on Nantucket. Our August Antiques Show was launched at an entirely new venue, and our thanks go to Bartlett's Farm for all they did to accommodate this remarkably successful event. The dealers and customers alike loved the site, and we have already begun looking into tents for next year's show. We also want to extend our thanks to the Great Harbor Yacht Club for their help in allowing us to host the Antiques Show dinner and auction on the grounds of their lovely property.
With all the rainy days over the course of the season, our Historic Sites, and fully accredited Whaling Museum, became the perfect destination for a strong summer of visitations. Following a summer hiatus in respect of the neighbors, the hammers have begun to swing and restoration work has resumed at our historic property, Greater Light at 8 Howard Street. As I write this, we are a mere $16,000 from our goal of the $1.2 million that we estimate it will cost to restore the building, and I am pleased to note that fund-raising for this significant project did very well in the waning days of summer.
 This means we can move confidently toward completing the restoration work during the upcoming winter, ultimately enabling us to move into phase two -- the conservation of collections and interpretation of the site -- at an additional cost of $600,000. Once completed, Greater Light will not only be restored to its former glory, it will also provide much needed housing -- with a discrete basement apartment -- for a member of our NHA staff. We are proud of the fact that all restoration work is being done by on-island contractors, and we thank Twig Perkins, Inc., and Toscana Corporation for their generosity and industry. Read more about this initiative...
Fair winds . . .
Bill Tramposch
Executive Director
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| Collections & Library News |
Property Spotlight: Greater Light
 Tucked away at 8 Howard Street, Greater Light provided Gertrude and Hanna Monaghan with a cultural haven where they and their friends enjoyed musicales, theatrical performances, poetry readings, and art. In particular, the sisters were known to open their home for candlelight concerts, teas, and garden parties on behalf of the Nantucket Historical Association and other island organizations. While their home and lifestyle were a dramatic departure from the island's conservative standards of the time, Gertrude and Hanna Monaghan are now recognized as leaders of the arts movement that remains a vibrant part of Nantucket today.
 In her book, Greater Light on Nantucket, Hanna provides a compelling, and often humorous, account of how she and Gertrude set about renovating the property from 1929 to 1933. More information about the house and the Monaghans can be found in the NHA's publication, Greater Light: A House History, written by Betsy Tyler; Ben Simons, editor; Elizabeth Oldham, copy editor; Eileen Powers/Javatime Design, Design & Production. Both of these books are available from the NHA Museum Shop Web site.
 With the restoration and later interpretation of Greater Light, the NHA intends to bring to life Nantucket's emergence as an art colony and resort. The house and its charming garden will become a venue for lifelong learning in the arts and for small gatherings that extol the arts and culture -- exhibitions, poetry readings, plays, musical performances, and garden parties -- much in the way the Monaghans engaged the community. Click here for more information on how you can help achieve this goal. Acquisitions Night,
Wednesday, October 7, 6-7 P.M.
We invite you to join Ben Simons, Robyn & John Davis Chief Curator, and Georgen Charnes, Librarian, Archivist & Webmaster, for a showing of recent additions to the NHA collections.
Free and open to the public at the Whaling Museum
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| NHA's Popular Food for Thought Lecture Series Returns for the Season |
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October topics feature: "Using and Protecting the Earth"
The very popular Brown Bag luncheon series, Food for Thought, will resume on Thursday, October 1, and will be held weekly at noon, throughout the fall, Whaling Museum, 13 Broad Street.
October 1 Kathrina Pearl, "Around the World in 80 Ways: Nantucket's Botanical Washashores"
October 8 Led by the Beinecke Sisters, "Walter Beinecke Jr. Gam: Remembering an Island Legacy"
October 15 Dr. Sarah Oktay, "The Marine Mammal Stranding Team"
October 22 John Bartlett, "Wind Power at Bartlett's Farm"
October 29 David Berry, "Bee Keeping on Nantucket: The Nantucket Honey Bee Company"
Each talk begins at noon and is free to the public. Bring your lunch. Click here to see the full schedule of talks. |
| Exhibition: Harbor & Home: Furniture of Southeastern Massachusetts, 1710-1850 |
Peter Foulger Gallery, Whaling Museum
Through November 2
 This traveling exhibition explores the largely unstudied region of New England furniture - specifically the area between Boston and Providence, including the seafaring communities of the Cape and the islands. Of the more than seventy pieces of furniture -- along with paintings, portraits, maps, prints, and ship furniture -- many artifacts are on loan from the NHA collections.
Harbor & Home: Furniture of Southeastern Massachusetts, 1710-1850 was organized by Winterthur Museum & Country Estate. Major support for Harbor & Home provided by: Americana Foundation, Chilton Foundation, Croll Foundation, Elizabeth B. McGraw Foundation, Wodecroft Foundation, Anonymous. The exhibition at the Nantucket Historical Association is made possible with support from Wilmington Trust FSB Massachusetts, Mr. and Mrs. Amos B. Hostetter Jr., Mr. & Mrs Hampton S. Lynch Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Jay M. Wilson, and Anonymous.
Free to NHA members, or with admission to the museum. The exhibition catalog is available in our Museum Shop and through our Web site. |
| Exhibition: The Camera's Coast: Historic Images of Ship and Shore in New England |
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Through November 8
Hadwen & Barney Candle Factory
 This exhibition is a sampler of images from Historic New England's extensive collection of historic photographs documenting New England's rich maritime history, including Nantucket. The exhibition will be on display through November 8 and includes photographs of many traditional occupations -- from fishing, shipbuilding, and deep-water voyaging. Subjects depicted include square-riggers, coasting schooners, fishing vessels and fishing ports, small boats and large yachts, summer hotels and fishermen's shacks, fishermen, seaweed gatherers, and saltmarsh haymakers.
 Curated by noted author and maritime historian William H. Bunting, The Camera's Coast illustrates life along the New England coast in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Pioneering photographers represented in the exhibition include Nathaniel L. Stebbins, Henry G. Peabody, Baldwin Coolidge, and Emma L. Coleman.  Historic New England (originally the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities) is the oldest, largest, and most comprehensive regional heritage organization in the nation; the organization shares the region's history through vast collections, publications, public programs, museum properties, archives, and family stories that document more than 400 years of life in New England.
Free to NHA members, or with admission to the museum. |
| Ninth Annual Harvest Fair |
| Saturday, October 3, 11:00 A.M. - 2 P.M.
Old Mill, Prospect Street
 Families and friends are invited to celebrate the fall harvest at the Old Mill, 50 Prospect Street. The focus of this annual fair is on Nantucket's agricultural heritage; during what has become an island tradition, guests will be able to enjoy traditional crafts and play lively colonial and Native American games. The mill will be open for tours, and visitors will also have the opportunity to decorate pumpkins, and make beeswax candles. There will also be a butter-making activity, and fresh corn bread will be served! There is a $5 suggested donation per family. Museum interpreters will be on hand to answer questions about the 1746 mill and, weather permitting, the mill will be grinding corn. |
| Nightmare at the "Wailing" Museum |
Saturday, October 24
 The museum will be open from 8 to 11 P.M. so participants may roam the darkened halls and hear hauntingly historic tales. Nantucket ghost stories and scary food tastings will lend a ghoulish feel to this pre-Halloween event. Whaling Museum, 13 Broad Street. The NHA's Old Gaol (15 R Vestal Street) built in 1806 by the town to hold prisoners, will also be opened from 8 to 10 P.M. Free to the public, although a donation of $5 per family group would be appreciated. Children must be accompanied by an adult at all locations.
The evening's festivities are being hosted in collaboration with the Maria Mitchell Association (MMA), which will also be hosting Haunted Hinchman House at the Maria Mitchell Association's Natural Science Museum at the corner of Milk and Vestal Streets from 7 to 10 P.M. Meet Professor Insania, the mad scientist who will share her wacky experiments with us, and her superstitious sister Madame Celeste, who is back to entertain by telling your fortunes. Professor Insania's lab assistants will lead you through games and activities all meant to entertain, bedazzle, and spook you while you learn about animals, insects, and science at the same time! Free to the public, although a donation of $10 per family group would be appreciated. Children must be accompanied by an adult at all locations. |
| Halloween Happening! |
| Thursday, October 31, 4:30 - 6 P.M.
Costumed staff members will greet trick-or-treaters at the front door of the Whaling Museum. Happy Haunting. . . . |
| Exhibition: Views from the Tower, South Church 1809-2009 |
Whitney Gallery, 7 Fair Street
May 23-December 31
 This exhibition celebrates the 200th anniversary of the South Church on Orange Street through artwork, posters, and historic photographs. The South Church Preservation Fund, Nantucket Preservation Trust, and the NHA are collaborating on this celebration of the church's anniversary.
Gallery is open during library hours.
Views from the Tower Digital Exhibition
See how our landscape has changed over the last 150 years. Views from the tower are available for viewing online: Visit the digital exhibition. |
Explorations Alaska!
Gold Rush Inside Passage Cruise |
May 27 - June 6, 2010
Explore one of the world's most spectacular destinations imaginable with Cruise West, a small family-owned, small-ship cruise line voted among the world's top lines by readers of Condé Nast Traveler, and consistent award winner for Best Small Ship and Expedition Cruising. The 138-guest Spirit of Yorktown, staffed by exploration leaders with many years of experience as naturalists and educators, will be your home for this exciting 11-day, 10 night-adventure.
 Boarding in Seattle, the ship follows the route of the original stampeders of the 1898 Klondike Gold Rush, encountering along the way the culture and whaling heritage of the Northwest Native American tribes. From dense, forested shores to stunning fjords, immense glaciers, and unspoiled waterways, the inside passage is a world of spectacular beauty. Our small ship allows entry into waterways inaccessible to larger vessels. We will cruise the pristine waters of the San Juan Islands, visiting the Whale Museum at Friday Harbor, once an important whaling center and now a center for whale research. Continuing on to the Strait of Georgia, home to orcas, bald eagles, and seals; Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, a World Heritage Site; Frederick Sound, where humpback whales abound; and the Tracy Arm and Sawyer Glacier. We will also visit the beautiful town of Sitka with its Russian heritage; the Norwegian-heritage fishing village of Petersburg; and Skagway, where we revisit the Gold Rush of 1898. An optional excursion on the White Pass and Yukon Railroad will be available here.
Nina and Bob Hellman of Nantucket will be your hosts on this adventure, throughout which you will enjoy the services of the cruise line's accommodating staff and Exploration Leaders as well as Park Service Rangers and Native Cultural interpreters. Believing that smaller is better, and making connections up-close and casual, Cruise West passengers are the recipients of friendly, personal attention. Each day offers the opportunity for a shore excursion at no additional cost. Bob Hellman will offer a special on-board lecture about the relationship between Alaska and the Far North and Nantucket and New England, during the era of American whaling.
Don't miss your chance to experience Alaska. Small-ship cruises book quickly, so to save your place, send a $500 deposit to the NHA by October 10.
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| NHA Staff Member Elizabeth Oldham honored by Egan Maritime Institute and Mill Hill Press |
Lifetime Achievement Award
At the Shipwreck & Lifesaving Museum's annual Lifesaver Recognition Day on Friday, September 11, longtime NHA Research Associate and Copy Editor Libby Oldham received the 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award from Mill Hill Press, an affiliate of the Egan Maritime Institute. "Libby has copy-edited ten of their books with evangelical ferocity and a rigor unknown to the current generation of writers and editors," said Mill Hill Press chairman and presenter, Nat Philbrick. Well done, Libby, and congratulations from each of your work associates!
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