NHA Newsletter October 2010

Repeatedly throughout the summer, I had the rewarding opportunity to open our historic property Greater Light to the many visitors who were interested in seeing our restoration work-in-progress. Of course, Greater Light will open for tours and special events next summer, but we wanted to give guests a peek at the good work of island contractor Twig Perkins and his crew.

Thank you all for a wonderful summer, and remember that the Whaling Museum will continue to be busy with programs and events throughout the fall. These include our popular weekly "Food for Thought" brown bag lunch and lecture series that resumes October 7, a Family Night on October 22, and a Diversity Festival on November 6, to name a few. Please continue to refer to our monthly E-Newsletter

to keep informed of our numerous upcoming enjoyable and thought-provoking programs

Fair winds,

Bill Tramposch

Executive Director

Tenth Annual Harvest Fair

Saturday, October 2, Old Mill

Families and friends are invited to celebrate the fall harvest at the Old Mill, 50 Prospect Street. Nantucket's agricultural heritage is the focus of this annual fair featuring traditional crafts and lively colonial and Native American games for children. The mill will be open for tours, and visitors will also have the opportunity to decorate pumpkins, make beeswax candles, and "churn" butter, which will be enjoyed with fresh corn bread! Weather permitting, the 1746 mill will be grinding corn, and museum interpreters will be on hand to answer questions about the mill.

There is a $5 suggested donation per family.

Acquisitions Evening
Wednesday,October 6, 6- 7 PM

We invite you to join Ben Simons, Robyn & John Davis Chief Curator; Georgen Charnes, Librarian and Archivist; and Tony Dumitru, Collections Manager, for a showing of recent art, artifacts, photographs, and manuscripts donated to the NHA collections. Whaling Museum, 13 Broad Street.

The popular brown bag lecture series, Food for Thought, will resume on Thursday, October 7, and will be held weekly at noon, throughout the fall, Whaling Museum, 13 Broad Street. October's theme features: "Nantucket's People and Places - Nantucketers from All Walks of life."

The series is supported by a grant from the M.S. Worthington Foundation.

October 7 Bill Tramposch & Mark Avery, "The NHA's Historic

Properties"

October 14 Elizabeth Watts Pope, "Phebe Folger Coleman"

October 21 Betsy Tyler, "Whaling Wives of Nantucket"

October 28 Frances Karttunen, "Where the Dead Outnumber the

Living: Nantucket's Cemeteries and Burial Grounds"

Each talk begins at noon and is free to the public. Bring your lunch. For additional information, please call 508-228-1894, ext. 0, or visit www.nha.org to view the full schedule.

Presentation: Mary Lynne Rainey, "Native American Vernacular Architecture on Nantucket: the Archaeological Evidence" Saturday, October 16, 1-2 P.M.

In the last two decades, archaeological investigations on Nantucket have provided new information about Native American domestic and institutional architecture prior to and after European settlement. In this presentation, Mary Lynne Rainey will talk about the antiquity of indigenous architectural traditions, internal elements, and landscapes.

Free for NHA members, or with museum admission.

Whaling Museum, 13 Broad Street

Special Tour of the Collections at the NHA's Gosnold Center, Friday, October 22

See firsthand the large collection of artifacts preserved at the NHA's storage facility. NHA curators will highlight some of the NHA's vast collection of textiles, glass, wood, metal, works on paper, paintings, baskets, and whale ivory.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 or to register, please call Julie Kever, 508-228-1894, ext. 0. Space is limited and tickets are not sold at the door.

Family Night in the Whaling Museum

Friday, October 22, 8 P.M. - Midnight

Celebrate the fall season at the Whaling Museum, roaming the darkened halls and hearing child-friendly hauntingly historic tales. Family-style games will lend a playfully ghoulish feel to this pre-Halloween event.

Free for NHA members; $5 children, who must be accompanied by an adult; adult companions free.

Halloween Happening!

Sunday, October 31, 4:30 P.M.

Costumed staff members will greet trick-or-treaters at the front door of the Whaling Museum. 13 Broad Street. Happy Haunting. . . .

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

If you've been holding out until the crowds disperse, now is the time to enjoy our Historic Sites before they close for the season: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 Library hours); Fire Hose-Cart House, 8 Gardner Street; and the Old Gaol, 15R Vestal Street.

Whaling Museum will be open daily through October 11, 10 A.M. - 5 P.M.

October 12 through November 1, the museum will be open daily, 11 A.M. - 4 P.M.

The Whaling Museum 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.

The Whaling Museum will be closed November 29 through December 2 to prepare for the 17^th annual Festival of Trees!

NHA Museum Shop

It is never too early to shop for distinctive gifts, books, and specialty food items in our cozy shop - the winter holidays are right around the corner!! NHA members receive a 10% discount on all non-sale items!

The shop is open daily 10 A.M. - 5 P.M.; visit our Web site or shop on line: http://www.nantucketmuseumshop.org/. You can also place orders by calling 508-228-5785.

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 & Crafts is under way at the NHA's 1800 House. Classes are held on Tuesdays, 4- 7 P.M., with special pricing thanks to the generosity of a loyal underwriter. Classes are held at the 1800 House, 4 Mill Street,and will be offered through November 4.

Workshops include: 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, and Scrimshawed Ivory Ornaments.

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 be used toward classes in Early-American Arts and Crafts at the NHA's 1800 House. Funds are available to underwrite the cost of a limited number of enrollments, and students will be accepted-based on their applications-on a first-come, first-served basis.

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

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, 11:15 A.M and 2:15 P.M.; Sunday, 2:15 P.M., through October 11

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.

Relieve Holiday Stress. . . .Host your party at the NHA

Give your friends, family, colleagues, and/or clients the gift of a party in a winter wonderland at Nantucket's world-class museum. And . . . we have a gift for you: reduced 2010 holiday pricing.

Between December 3 and 20, the Whaling Museum will be transformed into a delightful holiday wonderland with close to eighty decorated trees - the perfect time and ideal location to treat your family, friends, colleagues, and clients to large or small gatherings - with ease.

Call Susan Beaumont at 508-228-1894, ext. 131, or e-mail sbeaumont@nha.org for details about hosting a memorable party in the Whaling Museum or at other NHA properties.

Exceptional events begin with unforgettable venues. . . .

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.

Gifts that Give to the NHA:

Ideal for weddings, holidays, and special-occasion presents!

www.giftsthatgive.com

is an innovative online shopping site that donates 25% of your purchase back to the NHA.

You will recognize the brands from your favorite department and specialty stores. The items are those that you will want to own and will be delighted to give as gifts!

With many years of luxury retail experience behind it, www.giftsthatgive.com products have been carefully selected with you in mind. The Web site is user friendly and offers the same level of service you would expect from your favorite store.

All you need to do is to sign onto www.giftsthatgive.com to see what we're talking about and order your selections. In the shopping cart there will be a dropdown box from which to select the Nantucket Historical Association, and 25% of your purchase will come back to help the NHA!

You may also purchase Gift Cards to be sent in a box with a bow, or an E-Certificate for easy giving online. Please tell your friends and family to shop www.giftsthatgive.com, all while supporting our worthy cause.

In these difficult economic times, make every dollar count by shopping at GiftsThatGive. Thank you for supporting the Nantucket Historical Association.

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.nantucketmuseumshop.org/ 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

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

The exhibition Visions of Her: Portrait Photography by Nantucket Youth opened to a full house on May 28and will be on display through 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.

Hours

Whaling Museum

The Whaling Museum is open daily, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. through October 11. On October 12, the museum will be open daily, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Call 508-228-1894, ext. 0, with any questions.

Historic Sites

The Historic Sites are open daily, Noon - 4 p.m. until October 11. Enjoy an autumn visit before they close for the 2010 season.

Walking Tours

Tours leave from the Whaling Museum, Monday - Saturday, 11:15 & 2:15, Sunday 2:15 through October 11.

Museum Shop
The Museum Shop is open Monday - Sunday, 10 a.m. - 5p.m. You may visit our Web site to shop on line: http://www.nantucketmuseumshop.org/ or place orders by calling 508-228-5785.

Research Library
Located at 7 Fair Street, the library is open year-round: Monday, Thursday, and Friday, 10 A.M. - 4 P.M. and Tuesday, 11 A.M. -

4 P.M.; closed Wednesdays, weekends, and all holidays. Call 508-228-1655.

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.