Exhibitions at the Nantucket Historical Association

Digital Exhibitions

	Landmarks! Over thirty Nantucket sixth, seventh and eighth graders participated in the NHA’s first student-curated photographic exhibition. Landmarks of Nantucket! showcases what the students consider to be their cherished Nantucket landmarks. This collaborative exhibition was organized by the NHA, Nantucket Preservation Trust and Sustainable Nantucket and displayed in the Whaling Museum over the summer and fall of 2007.

	David Wood Collection The donation contains scores of lightship baskets, Nantucket silver, numerous eighteenth-century documents.

	Moby-Dick by Janet Ball McGlinn. Janet (Ball) McGlinn (1915–88) was one of the most talented postwar artists working on Nantucket. Her stunning print series, created in 1972 and first exhibited in 1980, vividly highlights key scenes and characters from Melville’s whaling epic Moby-Dick.

	Eliza Brock Log Eliza Spencer Brock (1810-1899) wife of Captain Peter C. Brock (1805-78), kept a journal aboard the whaleship Lexington during a voyage from May 21, 1853, to June 25, 1856. The journey took her to the Azores, Cape Verde Islands, New Zealand, Hawaii, and throughout the South Pacific. In her journal, Brock expressed the isolation she felt at sea, noting poignantly, ". . . if it was not for hope the heart would break."

	The Nantucket Art Colony, 1920-1945 Features the work of the group of painters and teachers who came to Nantucket and formed the “paradise and dream come true” for artists that became the Nantucket Art Colony. They worked from artists’ studios and gallery spaces created from the relics of Nantucket’s long-vanished whaling past – the cluster of shacks, shanties, boathouses, and old buildings that lay soaking in the sea air along Nantucket’s waterfront. In collaboration with the Artists Association of Nantucket (AAN)

	Nantucket Nightmares: Editorial Cartoons by Atropos Richard C. Maloney was a teacher who retired to Nantucket in 1970, and began creating a series of editorial cartoons that appeared in the Inquirer and Mirror under the signature “Atropos” (one of the three sister Fates in Greek mythology). His cartoons provided satirical social commentary on Nantucket’s burgeoning development issues, from housing, to automobiles, to new buildings, to tourism. Many of his cartoons still have a strong resonance today, with the island still facing the difficulties that were beginning to appear in the early 1970s. The collection of original Maloney drawings and clippings included in the exhibition was generously donated by the artist’s granddaughter Catherine Maloney.

	Susan Boardman's Embroidered Narratives of Notable Nantucket Women The Nantucket Historical Association has been proud to host two exhibitions of artwork by Susan Boardman. The first was on display June-October 2002, and the second was on display June-December 2006, both in the Whitney Gallery of the NHA Research Library, 7 Fair Street. Digital exhibitions based on these displays are available here. Whitney Gallery Exhibition June - October 2002 Whitney Gallery Exhibition June - September 2006

	WWII 356th Fighter Squadron This collection of photographs contains images donated by Robert L. Young, Nantucketer and former member of the World War II 356th Squadron (the Red Ass Fighter Squadron) of the 354th Fighter Group, (the Pioneer Mustang Group). It includes portraits of members; distinguished visitors, including General Patton and President Eisenhower; honor ceremonies; the "500th Kill Party" in Rennes, France; and a Young family reunion.

	Signs of the Times: Nantucket Signs An exhibition of nearly one hundred Nantucket business signs representing an encapsulated history of life on Nantucket, from the late nineteenth up to the late twentieth century, includes some of the most recognizable and fondly remembered establishments: The old Downyflake, the North Shore Restaurant, Andy's Diner, the Gordon Folger Hotel, Tavern on the Moors, Straight Wharf Theatre, Northeast Airlines, and numerous others.

	Aerial Views of Nantucket Views from 1940, 1957, 1975, 1993 are included here.


	Nantucket's Greatest Generation: William W. Coffin's Nantucket WWII Servicemen A Whitney Gallery Exhibition, November 2005-May 2006 An exhibition of thirty hand-colored photographs of Nantucketers in World War II.

	Tony Sarg in Nantucket The NHA is privileged to house many books, manuscript materials, and photographs of Tony Sarg. The guest curator of this exhibition will be George Korn.

	Scallop Season: A Nantucket Chronicle A Whitney Gallery Exhibition October-December 2003 Text written by Jim Patrick and featuring photographs by Rob Benchley. Patrick and Benchley followed Nantucket’s scalloping community through one typical season, 1999-2000. As the season unfolds it quickly becomes evident that almost everyone on the island has some connection to scalloping in their life, and the thread of community soon began to weave its own tale.

	Nantucket Roots: The "Vine and Hearts" Family Registers A Whitney Gallery Exhibition In the mid-eighteenth century family members created illustrated registers to commemorate a marriage, record a child's birth or to memorialize a recent death. Registers typically appear as watercolor paintings with the names of the couple celebrated and the date of their marriage are shown in twin hearts planted in a mound of earth, while the names and dates of their offspring adorn the buds and leaves shooting out from the vines above.

	Jag! Cape Verdean Heritage on Nantucket A Whitney Gallery Exhibition 5 October 2002 - 28 February 2003 An exhibition documenting the lives and history of Nantucket’s Cape Verdean community.