On Tuesday, May 15 at 6 pm, Nantucket native, author, and historian Matthew Stackpole will give an illustrated talk on the Charles W. Morgan, the last of an American whaling fleet that once numbered more than 2,700 vessels. Built and launched in 1841, the Morgan is now America’s oldest commercial ship still afloat—only the USS Constitution is older. Stackpole will also discuss the experience of the vessel’s thirty-eighth voyage after undergoing an intensive restoration process in 2014.
This lecture is part of the Candle Factory Lecture Series, which features historians and authors as they discuss themes of whaling, from ships to whale hunt artwork, and the ways in which humans relate to the sea through stories. The lecture series continues on May 22 with “O’er the wide and tractless sea”: Original Art of the Yankee Whale Hunt” a talk by Michael P. Dyer, Curator of History at New Bedford Whaling Museum. And on May 29, author Philip Hoare will talk about the ways in which we relate to the sea’s natural history; it’s whales, birds, as well as its myths.
For more on programs and events at the Nantucket Historical Association, visit Nha.org or call 508-228-1894.
