Join us tonight
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Start Time: 7:30 pm

New Bedford whaleships regularly stopped in the Azores to replenish their supplies and take on additional crew members. Today, the Azores are a popular destination for sailors and tourists seeking pleasant sailing and picturesque scenery.

Victor Pinheiro, President of the Azorean Maritime Heritage Society and avid sailor, will trace the historical relationship between New Bedford and the Azores and highlight the cultural ties that still bind the two locations. He will engage the audience with tales of Azorean life and culture, sailing around the Azores and planning maritime regattas.

A musical celebration of all things nautical, presented in honor of Herman Melville’s birthday. The program includes Malcolm Arnold’s Three Shanties, George Chadwick’s Three Sea Sketches, hornpipes (sailor’s dances) from Water Music by George Frederic Handel, as well as music of Scott Joplin, a hot tango by Astor Piazzolla, and a medley of George M. Cohan’s greatest hits.

Friday, July 30, 5:00 pm:
Melville Society free public lecture: Discovering Whales, Petroglyphs, and Moby-Dick on the Olympic Peninsula in June 2008, with Robert K. Wallace

This illustrated talk will highlight some of the discoveries Robert Wallace made on the Makah Indian Reservation of the Olympic Peninsula during a two-week trip with landscape painter Kevin Muente. Wallace will emphasize his encounters with gray whales, a humpback whale, and ancient Ozette petroglyphs in a sequence of events that brought Melville’s Moby-Dick to life before his very eyes. Robert K. Wallace is a founder of the Melville Society Cultural Project at the New Bedford Whaling Museum.  He is author of Melville and Turner, Frank Stella’s Moby-Dick, and Douglass and Melville. He has taught Literature and the Arts at Northern Kentucky University since 1972

Saturday, July 31, 10am-2pm
HERMAN MELVILLE FAMILY DAY

You’re Invited to a whale of a party celebrating Herman Melville’s birthday! It features free activities for kids 12 years and younger on the plaza and in selected galleries. The day includes music by the Sea Chantey Chorus, art projects, historical characters, story readings, fun learning activities, kids art show, and birthday cake.

Ongoing activities:
Make whale hats, bookmarks & whale magnets
See the new 15-minute film, Around the World!
Take a new iPod tour
Story readings: pop-up kids’ Moby-Dick, and The Whale and the Snail
Kids’ Art Show
Hourly drawings to win family membership

(NEW BEDFORD, MA) – Robert K. Wallace will present “Discovering Whales, Petroglyphs, and Moby-Dick on the Olympic Peninsula in June 2008” on Friday, July 30 at 5:00 p.m. in the museum theater.

Free and open to the public, this illustrated talk will highlight some of the discoveries Robert Wallace made on the Makah Indian Reservation of the Olympic Peninsula during a two-week trip with landscape painter Kevin Muente.  Wallace will emphasize his encounters with gray whales, a humpback whale, and ancient Ozette petroglyphs in a sequence of events that brought Melville’s Moby-Dick to life before his very eyes.

Robert K. Wallace is a founder of the Melville Society Cultural Project at the New Bedford Whaling Museum.  He is author of Melville and Turner, Frank Stella’s Moby-Dick, and Douglass and Melville. He has taught Literature and the Arts at Northern Kentucky University since 1972.

For more information, contact:

Arthur Motta
Director, Marketing & Communications
(508) 997-0046, ext. 153
amotta@whalingmuseum.org

“Discovering Whales, Petroglyphs, and Moby-Dick on the Olympic Peninsula in June 2008”

New Bedford Whaling Museum Theater, Friday, July 30, 5 – 6 p. m.

Admission Free

By Robert K. Wallace

This illustrated talk will highlight some of the discoveries Robert Wallace made on the Makah Indian Reservation of the Olympic Peninsula during a two-week trip with landscape painter Kevin Muente. Wallace will emphasize his encounters with gray whales, a humpback whale, and ancient Ozette petroglyphs in a sequence of events that brought Melville’s Moby-Dick to life before his very eyes.

Robert K. Wallace is a founder of the Melville Society Cultural Project at the New Bedford Whaling Museum. He is author of Melville and Turner, Frank Stella’s Moby-Dick, and Douglass and Melville. He has taught Literature and the Arts at Northern Kentucky University since 1972 and is a past president of the Melville Society.

Ken Hartnett photo by Ken Smith

Thursday, April 8 at 8:00 p.m. in Museum Theater

This final lecture in the series examines the activities of 19th Century Irish rebel and writer John Boyle O’Reilly. In 1869, O’Reilly escaped imprisonment in Australia with the help of the New Bedford whaler “Gazelle.” Later, from his new home in Boston, he helped organize the daring Catalpa expedition to liberate jailed Fenian comrades from their British captors. The story of the twin rescues makes O’Reilly a memorable figure, one who will be forever remembered for his immense courage and solid principles.
Ken Hartnett is an experienced news correspondent and author of the novel “A Saving Grace.” He was the editor of the New Bedford Standard-Times and Boston Magazine and was a news executive for WCVB and WGBH television in Boston. The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick is partnering with the Whaling Museum to present this lecture series.

To RSVP, call Pam Lowe, Visitor Services 508-997-0046, ext. 100.

Admission is free.

President of the Sea Education Association (SEA), John Bullard has sailed and raced extensively. In 2007 he sailed on SEA’s research vessel, Corwith Cramer, from Bermuda north to Nova Scotia and then joined Ned Cabot’s Ceilita for a trip from the Shetland Islands to Svalbard, passing north of 80° latitude. John will focus his discussion on these two voyages and will share his experiences of climate change, remote places, science, and adventure through engaging stories and striking photography.

John Bullard sailing north of 80 degrees on Cielita, photo by Dr. Charles Welch

The Sailor Series Continues:

March 23: “The Azores: From Whaler’s Refuge to Sailor’s Destination,” with Victor Pinheiro

April 20: “Weathering Cape Horn: An East-to-West Passage Under Sail,” with Dr. Ned Cabot

May 25: “Following the Waters: Voices from the Final Norwegian Emigration, with Astrid Tollefsen

All lectures start at 7:30 p.m. in the Museum Theater. A reception at 6:30 p.m. is held in the Jacobs Family Gallery prior to each lecture. Admission for the series is $50 for members, $75 for non-members. For individual lectures: $15 for members, $20 for non-members. To reserve tickets, please call 508-997-0046 ext. 100.

All Tied Up

In the days of Yankee whaling, staying connected to the whale you harpooned was critical if you were going to turn that animal into the products that made money for the ship owners and crew.  A vital part of the capture operation was the rope that ran from harpoon to whale boat.  That rope linked you to the whale, and ultimately to the success of your hunt.

In recent decades, the opposite is true.  Maximum effort is made to disconnect any lines that are found attached to whales.  Disentanglement teams, sinking ropes, cooperation among a variety of resource users and new legislation comprise the current, ongoing efforts to keep the ropes away from the whales.

Michael Dyer, Maritime Curator, New Bedford Whaling Museum has devoted a great deal of his research efforts to thoroughly understanding the process of the boat-based whale hunt.  Mike’s presentation will guide you through the process of getting fast to, staying with, and bringing to ship’s starboard staging, the whales targeted by our ships.

Charles ‘Stormy’ Mayo, Senior Scientist, Director of the Right Whale Habitat Studies program at Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies has over two decades of experience in the risky but often rewarding field of whale disentanglement.  He will share several experiences of the vital work that he and the staff at PCCS, in conjunction with a variety of federal and state agencies and university programs, lead along the East Coast to free whales from the lines that restrict movement and endanger survival.

Man and Whales will continue on March 31, April 14 and May 19, each night at 7:30 pm in the New Bedford Whaling Museum theater.  Admission is free for all presentations.  Man and Whales: Changing Views Through Time is sponsored through ECHO (Education through Cultural and Historical Organizations) a program administered by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Innovation and Improvement.