News and Events for Nantucket Island
The author of eight New York Times bestsellers, winner of the National Book Award and the George Washington Book Prize, and a Pulitzer Prize finalist, islander Nathaniel Philbrick is one of America’s most celebrated narrative historians. And on July 10, he will be the recipient of the Nantucket Atheneum’s 2026 Luminary Award.
The Nantucket Historical Association is beginning the next phase of restoration work on Nantucket’s iconic Old Mill, built in 1746. The NHA purchased the mill in 1897. In 1992, it was designated as a historic mechanical engineering landmark and is believed to be the oldest working windmill in the United […]
By Suzanne Daub Tucked away on our small island 30 miles off the coast of Massachusetts, one of the most consequential craft preservation programs in the country is carrying on traditions that stretch back centuries. The Heritage Craft program, operated by the Nantucket Historical Association, is making Nantucket a focal […]
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 […]
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.
“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 […]
