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Throughout its 111 year history the New Bedford Whaling Museum has sought to form close and durable relationships with its members and visitors. Motivated by civic and family pride and a desire to preserve important regional artifacts and narratives, the Museum was founded by descendants of whaling captains, ship owners, and agents. It has since become a touchstone to both the region’s past and present, providing a lively gathering place for the diverse communities of Southeastern Massachusetts.

How did the Museum come into being and why does it continue to grow in relevance with each passing generation? [Book Title] seeks answers to these questions. The objects and exhibits in our collection illustrate the Museum’s remarkable history and scope. They help explain why we are the world’s largest museum dedicated to the story of humankind’s global interaction with whales. We are equally dedicated to telling the story of Old Dartmouth and New Bedford – and the unique roles played by those who, in forging the culture and history of the region, helped shape our nation.

In 1602 the English explorer Bartholomew Gosnold (1572-1607) landed on Cuttyhunk Island, approximately fifteen miles southwest of present day New Bedford. To commemorate this occasion, which predated the Pilgrim’s landing in Plymouth by 17 years, community leaders placed a monument in the precise location where Gosnold established his trading post. It was in part to care for this monument that the Old Dartmouth Historical Society was formed and incorporated in 1903, chartered to “create and foster an interest in Old Dartmouth”— the geographic region of Massachusetts now comprising New Bedford, Acushnet, Dartmouth, Fairhaven, and Westport.

In 1902, the influential lawwer William Wallace Crapo (dates: PTG OF CRAPO-1908.2) contacted his friend, Henry Huttleston Rogers (dates: PHOTO-1915.2), a prominent Fairhaven industrialist who ammassed an immense fortune working with John D. Rockefeller at Standard Oil. Aware that the former National Bank of Commerce building on Water Street was for sale, Crapo persuaded Rogers to purchase the building to serve as a home for the Society (PHOTO OF MARBLE TABLET HERE), and soon after, the first gallery opened to visitors in 1906. Exactly a decade later, in the midst of World War I, Emily Bourne, wrote to Crapo expressing her desire to construct a new building in honor of her father, Jonathan Bourne, one of the most prosperous whaling agents in New Bedford’s history.The Society needed a home. Exactly a decade later, in the midst of World War I, Emily Bourne of New Bedford made an equally important decision. She wrote to Crapo expressing her desire to donate funds towards the construction of a new building in memory of her father, Jonathan Bourne (dates), one of the most prosperous whaling agents in New Bedford’s history.