THE from Johnny Cake Hill BulletinWINTER/SPRING 2009 t. ■ North Atlantic Right Whale with Fetal Skeleton Now Installed ■ IN DEPTH W. J. Huggins, North and South; and New Bedford’s Greatest Whaling Print ■ Winter Calendar section 308NBWM.indd 1 1/16/09 5:26:27 PPMM BOARD OF TRUSTEES Patricia L. Andrade Karen Fay, Director of Foundation Relations Joseph M. Barry Michelle R. Finnerty, Manager, Retail & FROM THE Salvatore F. Battinelli, Clerk Visitor Services John W. Braitmayer Julie Flanders, Museum Store Blair Brown Nela Francisco, Development Database Manager Roger P. Cheever Sarah M. Gibeault, Museum Store HELM: Carl J. Cruz Yvonne M. Drayton Rose E. Horton, Visitor Services Barbara Ferri Barry W. Jesse, Facilities Michael A. Lapides, Photo Curator / Archivist n behalf of the team that assembled this John N. Garfield, First Vice Chair O Michelle N. Hantman Pamela L. Lowe, Visitor Services publication, I hope you enjoy this expanded Lucile P. Hicks Sara Meirowitz, Director of Education edition of The Bulletin from Johnny Cake Llewellyn Howland Katherine Mello, Photo Archive Assistant Hill. Special acknowledgement goes to Elizabeth Huidekoper, Assistant Treasurer Alison Meyer, Associate Director of Development Louie Howland, who with typical Quaker William T. Kennedy Henry Moniz, Facilities Frances F. Levin Laura C. Pereira, Librarian insight, recognized the importance of James J. Lopes, Second Vice Chair disseminating, even in this modest format, Steven D. Lubar John F. Pimentel, Facilities the articles of scholarship and revelation D. Lloyd Macdonald Robert C. Rocha Jr., Science Programs Manager generated by our curators; and to librarian Joseph E. McDonough Yvonna Rowinski, ECHO Teaching Assistant Laura Pereira, who embraced the additional Sarah K. Mitchell James Russell, President Eugene A. Monteiro Ellen Selley, Museum Store role of managing the process. To coin a Michael J. Moore Madelyn Shaw, Vice President - phrase, more pages beget more “paper” Richard L. Morningstar Collections & Education and we thank the Howard Bayne Fund Rita M. Pacheco John M. Silva, Foreman Donald S. Rice and Dr. Jack Chang for underwriting this Kristen A. Sniezek, Vice President - Frances D. Ricketson first edition. Their foresight provides you a Brian J. Rothschild Administration magazine that balances substantive content Edward G. Siegal, Treasurer Justine M. Spillane, ECHO Apprentice - with informative museum news. Future Gurdon B. Wattles Photo Dept. editions will be underwritten by appropriate Janet P. Whitla, Chair advertising—this is an unabashed hint to Phoebe S. Winder William F. Wyatt those of you who want to get in front of our IN MEMORIAM savvy and informed constituency! MUSEUM ADVISORY COUNCIL Lisa Schmid Alvord George C. Avila, member of the Visitor It is with great satisfaction (and a large Robert L. Austin Services staff in the 1970s, founding measure of relief) that Annual Fund Chair Mary R. Bullard member of the New Bedford Glass Cile Hicks reports that we exceeded the Edwin D. Campbell Museum, and author of The Pairpoint 2008 budgeted goal of $410,000. In the Truman S. Casner wake of the emotional wreckage caused by Lewis M. Coco Glass Story. Anne F. Fazendeiro C. Eric Lindell, President of the ODHS the financial turmoil, we ask ourselves how Norbert P. Fraga could this be the case—surely numbers Frederic C. Hood 1984-1987, Trustee 1974-1984, Advisory must logically come down? Not so. Not only Davis C. Howes Council 1988-2008. did our Annual Fund exceed by 10 percent, Peter T. Kavanaugh William N. Keene Ann M. Pinto, ODHS Trustee 1989- but the “gate” broke $300,000 for the first C. Eric Lindell 1995, 1998-2004. time in the institution’s history! I must Arthur H. Parker confess that all this community ratification, John S. Penney, Jr. sacrifice, and goodwill are deeply moving John C. Pinheiro THE AUTHOR LIST: and surely inspire us to “give back” in Carl Ribeiro Gilbert L. Shapiro Eg1909: Bob Rocha our form of currency. I think you will be Calvin Siegal, Chair Prescott Collection: Michael Lapides pleasantly surprised at what we have minted William D. Strohmeier Recent Acquisition: Madelyn Shaw for 2009. Charles T. Toomey In Depth: Stuart Frank, Ph.D. But first, on behalf of all the folks listed Elizabeth H. Weinberg Hollywood: Evan Price to the right of this column, we take this Richard B. Young moment to thank all our members and VOLUNTEER COUNCIL EDITORIAL COMMENTS: friends who stepped forward during these EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bedford, Bill Wyatt, President MA 02740, or perplexing times. Your loyal support is John Brindisi, Vice President immensely valued. See the long list of Susan Barnet, recording Secretary [email protected] fellow supporters on pages 19 and 21 of this Judy Giusti, corresponding Secretary Mary Crothers, Treasurer Bulletin. The mission of the Old Dartmouth Historical MUSEUM STAFF You should know that the Board and Society-New Bedford Whaling Museum is: management have adopted an appropriately Karen J. Allen, Director of Corporate “to educate and interest all the public in the conservative fiscal approach for 2009, & Community Development placing a watchful eye on cash flow, Cynthia Atwood, Visitor Services historic interaction of humans with whales expenses, and insisting on that magical two- Jean C. Banker, Registrar worldwide; in the history of Old Dartmouth word phrase—balanced budget. Financial Maria Batista, Sr. Accountant and adjacent communities; and in regional Sarah M. Budlong, ECHO Programs Manager maritime activities.” austerity demands managerial dexterity and Casey L. Correira, Staff Accountant / Board determination. I can tell you that staff and Communications volunteers are positively unbridled in their Jo-Ann Derivois, Visitor Services pursuit of creative expositions for this year. Tara L. Duff, Museum Store Cover: Right whale skeletons at the center From The Helm continued on page 22 Michael P. Dyer, Maritime Historian of the scene. Photograph by John Robson. 2 308NBWM.indd 2 1/16/09 5:26:33 PM The Story of Eg1909: How Two Right Whale Skeletons Came to New Bedford (left) Courtney Vashro, of Whales & Nails, applies some touch-up paint to metal framing, while standing on a scissor lift 25' in the air. (above) Daniel DenDanto, of Whales & Nails, attaching a line to the fetus so she can be lifted to her final position. This exhibition made possible in part by The Island Foundation, The Howard Bayne Fund, and the members of the New Bedford Whaling Museum. Visitors to the galleries during the and frame by a crew working twenty-five a ship’s propeller, causing her to bleed week of November 10 to 17, 2008 were feet in the air. to death. She washed ashore in North treated to a sight seen in few other The final, and perhaps most important, Carolina a week later. museums. They witnessed the long, piece to this osteological puzzle was Trustee Michael Moore was part careful process of assembling and put into place in December 2008, when of the necropsy team for this whale. hanging the skeleton of an adult whale. the fetal skeleton was attached to the Through his efforts the Whaling More specifically, they watched the abdomen of its mother’s skeleton. This Museum was offered custody of the vertebrae, in three sections, and skull whale was ten months into a twelve- skeleton by the National Oceanic and of a right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) month pregnancy when she was killed Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). get lifted by crane out of the Bourne by a ship’s propeller in November 2004. Dozens of talented and civic-minded Building, secured to a flatbed truck, By displaying both mother and fetus we individuals participated in getting her to driven north on Johnny Cake Hill to Elm have an opportunity, and a responsibility, Massachusetts, cleaned, articulated and Street, then south on Water Street outside to use the visceral connections inspired displayed. of the Jacobs Family Gallery and finally by these skeletons as education and The job of articulating (joining) the get moved through a Gallery window conservation tools for the benefit of this cleaned bones was begun by Andrew and by crane, forklifts and manpower. By critically endangered species. Jean Konnerth, the husband and wife week’s end, the ceiling panels had This whale, Eg1909 as she was known team who led the articulations of our been taken down, fitted with holes and in the catalog of the North Atlantic blue and sperm whales. Working in the grommets for cables, and replaced, new Right Whale Consortium, was a fifteen- Bourne Room, with assistance from staff steel supports secured to the roof trusses, year-old female, pregnant with her first and volunteers, they got the whale’s skull and the skull, complete with mandibles, calf. She was swimming south along and vertebrae assembled. The task of and vertebrae had been hauled up and the western shore of the Atlantic Ocean creating prosthetic ribs to use in place of attached to their new cables. Then, in toward the right whale calving grounds those that were missing, and suspending a feat of both skill and daring, the ribs, of Georgia and Florida. She got as far the complete skeleton in the Jacobs sternum, flippers, shoulder blades and as the southern Virginia coast before her Family Gallery, fell to Whales and Nails chevrons were attached to the vertebrae left fluke was severed by contact with from Maine. Led by Daniel DenDanto, Continued on page 20 3 308NBWM.indd 3 1/16/09 5:26:34 PM Prescott Collection: Small Region, Wide World Dr. Henry Dudley Prescott located within the Whaling Museum’s bookmarking tools for sharing or (1875-1945) was an avid amateur library at 791 Purchase Street. From saving your favorite images. It also photographer. Forced, for health this massive collection we have selected includes the Whaling Museum’s reasons, to forgo a promising career just under 500 photographs; the result first electronic comment box.