NANTUCKET MA: Treasures from the sea, a replicated 1830 town dock, nineteenth-century clothing, closets of curiosity. The Nantucket Historical Association (NHA) is offering free interactive programs for children during Nantucket’s school vacation week, February 21–25, daily 1– 4 P.M, Whaling Museum, 13 Broad Street. All children must be accompanied by an adult companion.
Throughout the week, daily activities with different themes—designed to combine adventure, discovery, creation, and education—will transport island youth to a place of wonder and excitement, right in their own community. The program is supported by a grant from the Nantucket Golf Club Foundation.
Gosnell Hall will be transformed into a circa 1830 representation of the wharf and downtown, populated with characters representing some of the townspeople who would have been found during that period, including: transient sailors, whalers, merchants/captains, coopers, greenhands, wharf rats, and seamstresses.
The Candle Factory will feature nineteenth-century dress-up clothes and will highlight the Main Street home of Eliza Ann Chase McCleave and her well-known museum-quality collection; our version will feature artifacts that could have been found in her home. Bidding farewell to Mrs. McCleave, visitors will have the opportunity to have a “photo portrait” taken to take home as a memento.
Each afternoon in the Discovery Room, which will be transformed into a Curiosity Closet, guests will be able to create artifact-inspired artwork including furniture, tools, maps, and imitation scrimshaw, as well as create postcards to be mailed. Each day will also feature a different hands-on activity focusing on that day’s theme:
Monday: Fishing — “natural treasures / treasure from the sea”
Tuesday: Fashion—“treasures worn”
Wednesday: The Great Fire—“treasures saved / lost”
Thursday: Food—“treasures eaten, hunted, prepared, and grown”
Friday: Friends—“treasures of the heart”
Nantucket: A Treasure Island will inspire visitors to learn and celebrate the island’s rich history. As visitors travel among the collection of treasures in the Whaling Museum, they may even be inspired to begin their own cabinets of curiosities.
Monday through Friday, February 21–25. Daily 1–4 P.M., Whaling Museum, 13 Broad Street. All children must be accompanied by an adult companion.
