The presentation will focus on the Museum’s Palmer & Worth collection, which contain rare photographs of more than 200 buildings dating from the 1680s to the 1840s, compiled in an unpublished volume donated to the Old Dartmouth Historical Society in 1907 by Herbert and Anna Cushman.

Howland-Tripp house, east side of Pine Hill meeting house road, about 3/4 miles south of Head of Westport. Photo by Fred Palmer, c 1905 (#2000.100.80.77)

“Some of these buildings are still standing, many are not, and in many cases these photos are the only known images of some of our area’s earliest buildings,” said Mr. Maker, who lives in New Bedford and has done extensive research on many aspects of local history.

Beginning in 1904, photographer Fred W. Palmer and historian Henry B. Worth collaborated to document the earliest extant buildings in the original township of Old Dartmouth. Predominantly exterior views, the photos are currently held in their original form as nitrate and glass negatives in the Adaline H. Perkins Rand Photo & Digital Archive, located in the New Bedford Whaling Museum Research Library.

Henry Worth meticulously researched each of the buildings Palmer photographed, combining information from many sources with his own extensive knowledge of architectural styles and construction techniques.

Conceived by Mr. Maker, the Palmer & Worth project was conducted in the Museum’s Departments of Digital Initiatives, Photography, and the Research Library. This program is supported in part by grants from the Dartmouth and Fairhaven Cultural Councils, local agencies which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

View many of these photos through our flickr set.

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

A stage in the manufacturing of rope. "Feed end of Spreader" (Photo by Joseph G. Tirrell)

Records of company directors and stockholders (1848-1958) including correspondence, minutes, reports, deeds and bills of sale for land or ships purchased by the firm, tax appraisals, and proposals relating to the company’s physical plant; correspondence, general accounts, employee’s wage book, and production and sales records reflecting the firm’s manufacture of binder twine, transmission rope, rope cables, and nylon rope for U.S. and world markets; product catalogs and advertisements (ca. 1911-1958); articles of organization of Cordage Institute, a national trade organization; and memoir and newspaper clippings concerning the history of the company. Includes information relating to National Cordage Company and Travers Brothers Company, both in New York, N.Y. Persons represented include Francis A. Bryant and Martin Walter, Jr., presidents of the company.

Original funds for processing this collection were provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Coach with two large rolls of cordage in front of the New Bedford Cordage Company. (Photo by Joseph G. Tirrell)

Visit our flickr set to view all photos in this collection.

A reception to celebrate the release of the book will take place at the New Bedford Whaling Museum on Thursday, January 14th at 6:30 PM in conjunction with New Bedford’s monthly celebration of art, history, and architecture – AHA . The reception is free and open to the public. Photographer Mark Starr and Co-editors Kirsten Bendiksen and Laura Orleans will be on hand to talk about creating the book which will be available for purchase.

This 80-page book is based on interviews conducted over a five year period with 43 individuals from the New Bedford/Fairhaven fishing community. Their voices provide a rare first hand accounting of life and work in the port.

Those interviewed include retired and active fishermen, lumpers, auctioneers, shoreside business owners, fisheries scientists, a tug boat captain, fishing family members and others. Oral history excerpts are accompanied by black and white portraits taken by photographer Markham Starr.