The Nantucket Historical Association (NHA) is pleased to announce that the 2014 NHA Diversity Festival, presented by ReMain Nantucket, will take place on Sunday, November 16, 2014 from 11 A.M. to 4 P.M. at the Whaling Museum, 13 Broad Street.
The NHA Diversity Festival, first held in 2010, brings together the island’s cultural communities in a free day of celebration at the Whaling Museum with specialized programming for non-native English speakers. Throughout this festive day, the NHA will offer museum tours led by community volunteers in languages such as Spanish, Portuguese, French, Bulgarian, Thai, and more, along with instruction for an array of family arts and crafts activities in multiple languages. Attendees will enjoy a day spent reflecting upon the island’s rich heritage in new and entertaining ways, including a Nantucket photo portrait station, games, and delicious refreshments for all.
Admission to the museum and all activities are free to all throughout the entire day, from 11 A.M. to 4 P.M.
“Throughout its history, and into the present day, Nantucket has been home to an extraordinarily diverse mix of people from across the globe,” says Marjan Shirzad, Director of Visitor Experience. “We here at the Nantucket Historical Association are thrilled to celebrate this diversity through a free day of family-friendly programs and activities offered in multiple languages, allowing even more island residents to engage with Nantucket’s rich history. What a wonderful way to spend the afternoon as a true community!”
“We are so thankful to have the help and support of our staff, community volunteers and language translators, as well as the generous support of ReMain Nantucket, the Community Foundation for Nantucket, and the Nantucket Cultural Council in making this annual program such a tremendous success.”
As part of this year’s festival, the NHA will unveil a new exhibit entitled New Arrivals, New Voices, spearheaded by Obed Macy Research Chair Betsy Tyler. This exhibit invites visitors to consider the history of diversity on Nantucket, from the days of the Wampanoags to the days of tourism. See how English settlers in the seventeenth-century, Azorean mariners in the nineteenth, and El Salvadoran, Bulgarian, Thai, and Nepalese families today met the common challenges of learning a new language, making a living, and finding a place to live.
Visitors will hear stories from some of the island’s most recent immigrants, collected as part of the oral history project New Voices: Nantucket’s Diverse Immigrant Populations. This exhibit is funded in part by Mass Humanities, which receives support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and is an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and supports the NHA’s efforts to document the stories and lives of new immigrant families on Nantucket.
This program is made possible with generous support from ReMain Nantucket, the Community Foundation for Nantucket, and the Nantucket Cultural Council, a local agency, supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
