September's E Newsletter

During the summer, I had the pleasure of leading tours of our historic property Greater Light for interested parties. This iconic place drew a great deal more interest than even I expected, with fifteen to twenty people coming to each of the nine tours. Our intent was to show the Monaghans' summer home as a restoration work-in-progress and not have to wait to see the project until its completion next summer. We also wanted to show off the good work of local contractor Twig Perkins and his crew; further, we wanted to get feedback from guests regarding the potential long-term uses of the site.

We know that, when completed, Greater Light will serve as a venue for gatherings like those the Monaghans hosted-including teas, dramatic readings, poetry evenings, and musicales. But we wonder, too, what other community needs might we serve with this remarkable site.

Greater Light serves as our interpretive doorway into Nantucket's recent past, a past characterized by redefinition of the island as an art colony and resort. We are grateful for the many ideas we have received, and we are particularly thankful to those visitors who have contributed their own personal recollections of the Monaghan sisters.

Now that it is almost autumn, we will again close Greater Light to the public and welcome back Twig and his restoration crew. By this time next year, with your continued support, the site will be fully restored, garden and all!

If you wish to know more about how to join the many who have contributed to this initiative, please consult our Web site at www.nha.org, or call me at 508-228-1894, ext. 121, or Cris Merck, director of development, at ext. 114. We welcome contributions at any level!

Fair winds,

Bill Tramposch

Executive Director

Art Inspired by Nantucket History:
One-day fall workshops at the NHA's 1800 House

A fall program of one-day workshops in early American arts and crafts will begin on September 21 and be held at the 1800 House, 4 Mill Street, on Tuesdays, 4-7 P.M., with special pricing thanks to underwriting support.

The NHA is also pleased to offer year-round Nantucket residents, between the ages of thirteen and twenty-five, the opportunity to apply for scholarships to classes at the 1800 House. Funds are available to underwrite a limited number of enrollments, and students will be accepted-based on their applications-on a first-come, first-served basis.

One-day workshops include: Découpage Paperweights, Sailors Valentine Ornament, Noah's Ark Theorem, Dorset Buttons, Miniature Nantucket Lightship Basket Flower Frog, Cookie Decorating, Wooden Whales and Rainbow Fleet Ornaments, Folk Art Painting for Holiday Cards, Scrimshawed Ivory Ornaments.

In addition, the regular schedule of multi-day courses is continuing through the fall, and opening are still available in: Pointed Pen Calligraphy, with Michele Papieau, September 8-10; Sailors Valentines, with Elizabeth Braun, September 21-23; and Grain, Snip & Dry "Autumn Garden," with Bee Shay, September 21-23.

Class size is limited in some instances. Fee includes all materials. Reservations and prepayment are required. Please go to www.nha.org/1800house for full course listing and registration information.

Historic sites open daily, Noon - 5 P.M., through September 6. Fall hours begin September 9.

Beginning September 9, the NHA's historic sites - 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 (open during Research Library hours); Fire Hose-Cart House, 8 Gardner Street; and the Old Gaol, 15R Vestal Street - will be open Thursday - Monday, Noon - 4 P.M.

Whaling Museum open seven days a week
through October 1

The Whaling Museum is open daily, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. through October 11, and features changing exhibits about Nantucket history, decorative arts, scrimshaw, and numerous interactive, hands-on learning opportunities in the Discovery Room for children twelve and under. Daily programming includes the film The Bones of History, the Whale Hunt Lecture, the whaleship Essex Gam, and various gallery tours. The Whaling Museum is accredited by the American Association of Museums.

"Passionate People Gam," led by Beverly Hall at Noon, Thursday, September 2, at the Quaker Meeting House, 7 Fair Street

Sammy Preston and Friend

This informal gam by Beverly Hall-a published author, artist, gardener, and deeply spiritual person-is complementary to her images currently in the exhibition A Passion for People: Forty Years of Nantucket Portrait Photography by Beverly Hall, in the Research Library's Whitney Gallery, 7 Fair Street.

"I experienced island life through the camera's eye, and the connection I make with people and the continuity of capturing many of them on film year after year gives me great satisfaction; taking photos of the children of adults whom I photographed as children is a true privilege," said Hall, who will also share what it means to be a photographer in this day and age of digital cameras and self publishing. Hall's exhibition at the Whitney Gallery will be on display through December 31, 2010.

Thursday, September 2, Quaker Meeting House, 7 Fair Street, Noon. Free

Lecture: "Heirloom Rugs, 1790 - 1850, and their Adaptations Today," with Rose Ann Hunter, Thursday, September 2, 1 p.m.

Rose Ann Hunter will discuss "Heirloom Rugs, 1790-1850, and their Adaptations Today" on Thursday, September 2, 1 p.m., in the Whaling Museum, 13 Broad Street. Free for NHA members or with museum admission.

Join Rose Ann and let her take you back to the early 1800s on a historic journey to the folk-art tradition of recycling woolen fibers and fabrics. Learn how women in New England used the smallest bits and pieces to create utilitarian rugs. Many examples will be on display, and a demonstration will follow with an opportunity to try your hand.

Thursday, September 2, 1 p.m., Whaling Museum, 13 Broad Street. Free for NHA members or with museum admission.

Join us for a Membership Morning, Wednesday, September 8, 9 A.M.

NHA members are inv Members AM

ited to be our guests at a private tour of the "Sometimes Think of me": Notable Nantucket Women through the Centuries exhibition, led by Ben Simons, Robyn & John Davis Chief Curator, as part of our 2010 "Year of the Nantucket Woman" celebration.

Wednesday, September 8, 9 a.m., Whaling Museum, 13 Broad Street.. Free, for NHA members only.

"Notable Nantucket Women Gam,"
Saturday, September 18, 1 p.m.

Women showcased in the "Sometimes think of me": Notable Nantucket Women through the Centuries exhibition will be participating in a round table discussion, led by our own Elizabeth "Libby" Oldham (a featured notable) as moderator.

Saturday, September 18, 1 p.m., Whaling Museum, 13 Broad Street. Free for NHA members or with museum admission.

Walden Chamber Players in Concert

Friday, September 24, 7 p.m., Whaling Museum, 13 Broad Street

In keeping with what has become an island tradition for both young and old, the Walden Chamber Players will once again present two island concerts. The first magical performance will be offered on Friday, September 24, at 7 p.m., in the Whaling Museum. Featured works are the Mendelssohn String Quintet No. 2 in B-flat Major, op. 87, and the Brahms String Quintet No. 2 in G Major, op.111.

Founded in 1997, the Walden Chamber Players present educational curricula and concerts designed to showcase rarely heard works by composers of the past as well as music by contemporary composers. Comprising twelve dynamic artists in various combinations of string, piano, and wind ensembles, the Walden Chamber Players "highlight the belief that music is the human experience translated into sound." Based in New England, the ensemble performs in New York, New Hampshire, and throughout Massachusetts.

$5 for NHA members, $17 general public

For ticket information, call 508-228-1894, ext. 0.

Walden Chamber Players in Concert

Sunday, September 26, Noon, Whaling Museum, 13 Broad Street.

If you missed the Friday concert, come and enjoy the Walden Chamber Players for a noteworthy early afternoon of music. The concert will feature Ravel's Duo for Violin and Cello; Ligeti's Sonata for Viola Sola-"Facsar and Chaconne Chromatique"; and Beethoven's Serenade in D Major, op. 8, for String Trio.

Free for NHA members, $17 general public

For ticket information, call 508-228-1894, ext. 0.

Current Exhibitions

"Sometimes think of me": Notable Nantucket Women through the Centuries, Peter Foulger Gallery, Whaling Museum, 13 Broad Street.

"Sometimes think of me": Notable Nantucket Women through the Centuries focuses on the colorful lives and histories of outstanding women from four centuries of Nantucket history. Such fascinating individuals as Wampanoag maiden Wonoma, whaling wife and journal keeper Eliza Brock, whaling wife and journal illustrator Susan Veeder, scientist Maria Mitchell, abolitionist Mary Ellen Pleasant, and several contemporary Nantucket women will be presented in lively detail using the NHA's rich collections of artifacts, logbooks, and manuscript material.

The exhibitionfeatures thirty-four individuals whose lives are the subjects of "embroidered narratives" by Nantucket needlework artist Susan Boardman. In the great tradition of historic Nantucket schoolgirl samplers, as well as the legacy of whaling illustrations in logbooks and journals, Boardman's embroidered narratives have grown to encompass a history-in-brief of the women of Nantucket from the earliest Native American period to contemporary times. Her work covers the lives of some of the most exemplary Nantucket women, whose spirit of independence, resourcefulness, and ambition, often in the face of their husbands' long absences at sea, have made them much admired in American history.

An important feature of the exhibition is the accompanying book-length catalog, written by island historian and NHA Research Fellow Betsy Tyler. The catalog fills a major gap in the Nantucket literature as an accessible, thoroughly researched history of a broad range of outstanding island women, past and present. This beautiful soft-cover book is available for $35 from the Museum Shop, or it may be purchased online at http://www.nha.org/shop/index.html or by calling 508-228-5785.

"Sometimes think of me" will be on display during museum hours through November 8.
Visions of Her: Portrait Photography by Nantucket Youth Visions of Her: Portait Photography by Nantucket Youth

Visions of Her: Portait Photography by Nantucket Youth

Hadwen & Barney Candle Factory, Whaling Museum, 13 Broad Street

The exhibitionVisions of Her: Portrait Photography by Nantucket Youth opened to a full house on May 28and will be on displaythrough November 8. The exhibition features modern portraits of Nantucket women taken by teens from the Nantucket Boys & Girls Club and Nantucket High School. The photographs showcase the essence of women that the young photographers admire as well as the island itself. Bonus film interviews offer a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the creative spirit of the project.

Visions of Her: Portrait Photography by Nantucket Youth will be on display during museum hours through November 8.

A Passion for People: Forty Years of Nantucket Portrait
Photography by Beverly Hall
Whitney Gallery, NHA Research Library, 7 Fair Street

A Passion for People showcases photographer Beverly Hall's outstanding eye for portraiture through four decades of Nantucket history. The retrospective opens a window on the remarkable changes that have occurred on Nantucket in the last four decades and features several hundred images on multiple presentation screens in addition to traditionally framed images. Hall's work captures an important chapter in Nantucket's postwar history, a time that is increasingly important to record and showcase as part of Nantucket's modern history.

The Whitney Gallery is open during library hours, Monday, Thursday, and Friday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., and Tuesday, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Otherwise, the library and gallery are closed Wednesdays, weekends, and all holidays.

A Passion for People: Forty Years of Nantucket Portrait Photography by Beverly Hall will be on display through December 31.

Whaling Museum participating in Blue Star program and offering free admission for active-duty military

Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Museums is a partnership with more than 600 museums across America that are offering free admission to all active-duty military personnel and their families from Memorial Day through Labor Day 2010. The NHA is pleased to extend this program through December 31, 2010.

Free admission is available to active-duty military and their immediate family members (military ID holder and five immediate family members), including active-duty Reserve and active-duty National Guard.

Walking tours of historic downtown Nantucket offered Monday - Saturday, 4:30 p.m., through September 6

Beginning September 7, Walking Tours offered Monday - Saturday, 11:15 a.m. & 2:15 p.m., and Sunday, 2:15 p.m.

Walking Tours of Historic Downtown Nantucket Have Resumed

Walking Tours of Historic Downtown Nantucket Have Resumed

Focusing on the Old Historic District, the tour is led by an NHA interpreter who will discuss the timeline of Nantucket history-from the glacial formation of the island to the rise of whaling and its Golden Age (1830s), the Quaker religion, the women who owned and operated businesses on Centre Street (Petticoat Row), the island's involvement in the abolitionist movement, the Great Fire of 1846, and Maria Mitchell and her discovery of a comet in 1847. The tour also addresses the rise and fall of the whaling industry- especially the way in which the island's economy impacted the social and cultural development of Nantucket-the turn-of-the-century rise of tourism, and concludes with Nantucket's current status as a world-class tourist destination.

The eighty-minute tours depart from the Whaling Museum, 13 Broad Street. Tickets are $10, adults; $4, children (ages 6-17); free for NHA members, and may be purchased at the Whaling Museum admission desk.

For more information, please call 508-228-1894, ext. 0.

Into the Deep: America, Whaling & the World DVD

Ric Burns's American Experience/WGBH film Into the Deep: America, Whaling & the World, which features a number of artifacts from the NHA collections (on display in a special case in the museum) is now available for sale in the Museum Shop. The DVD costs $24.99 and includes deleted scenes and extra reenactment footage not shown in the full-length film version.

Give an NHA Membership or an 1800 House Gift Certificate

A one-year membership is the perfect holiday, birthday, hostess, or anniversary gift that will provide 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. Please call 508-228-1894, ext. 116, for additional membership information, or go to http://www.nha.org/membership.

For those who enjoy early American arts and crafts, consider giving a gift certificate in any amount that can be applied to the recipient's choice of a class during the 2010 season at the NHA's 1800 House. Please call 508-228-1894, ext. 128, or 508-228-7785 for additional information; or go to http://www.nha.org/1800house/index.html to learn more about the NHA's lifelong-learning programs in early-American arts and crafts.

Host your next party at the Whaling Museum

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