This April, the Nantucket Historical Association opened an exciting new Featured Exhibition in their Nantucket Whaling Museum that is designed to take visitors on a trip around the globe. The traveling exhibition The Wider World & Scrimshaw is expansive and culturally far-reaching. Surveying carving traditions that emerged along whaling routes […]
Nantucket History & People
Golden Anniversary
There’s magic that happens on Nantucket in mid-April. The gray days of winter finally give way, the harbor begins to shake off its deep chill, and, seemingly overnight, millions of golden daffodils bloom across our island.
The Exciting Life of Nancy Gardner Prince
“I don’t belong to anyone. I am the daughter of Thomas Gardner of Nantucket.”— Nancy Gardner Prince In 1850, Nancy Gardener Prince, a Black Nantucket descendant who traveled the world in the 1800s, self-published her life story, which proved so popular that it went through three editions. The autobiography explores […]
Arie L. Kopelman Honored by NHA
The Nantucket Historical Association is proud to honor Arie L. Kopelman with the official naming of the Whaling Museum’s Scrimshaw and Decorative Arts Gallery, Arie L. Kopelman Gallery, in his honor. Kopelman’s passion for decorative arts and Nantucket history, as well as his tremendous support of the Nantucket Historical Association […]
Don’t Call Them Widows’ Walks
As you walk through the streets of Nantucket you will see surrounding the chimneys of several houses seven- to eight-foot wooden platforms with wooden railings. These platforms are often called “widows’ walks”—a term which conjures up images of women in long skirts and bonnets gazing forlornly toward the harbor. You […]
A Dedicated Ranger Making Our Isle Better
I’ve started my days this week fishing from a bridge in Salem, MA as cars and trucks cruised by me at 30 or so MPH, scaring me to death. Yeah, this was not first choice, but at least it allowed me to catch some fish and clear my head out a bit. Another thing that it did was to help me to better appreciate the beauty of Nantucket, particularly Great Point. I’ll be home soon enough and will have some sand between my toes shortly thereafter.