From Pursuit to Preservation: The Global Story of Whales and Whaling

FAIN: BR-50019-06

New Bedford Whaling Museum (New Bedford, MA 02740-6398)
Anne B. Brengle (Project Director: February 2006 to January 2008)
Madelyn Shaw (Project Director: January 2008 to January 2010)

Implementation of a permanent core exhibition with an audio tour about the human fascination with whales and the history of whaling in New Bedford, Massachusetts, within a global context.

During much of the nineteenth century, whaling was one of America's major industries, reaching to the farthest corners of of the globe; and New Bedford, Mass. was its epicenter. The New Bedford Whaling Museum plans to interpret this compelling story in a long-term core exhibition, "From Pursuit to Preservation: the Global Story of Whales and Whaling." The exhibition will take full advantage of the ever-present human fascination with whales to explore a series of humanities themes relating to both American and world history. The exhibition is designed to incorporate a variety of presentation techniques and media to attract and engage a wide range of audiences. Scheduled to open in 2009, it will include more than 700 objects drawn from the Museum's rich and extensive collections that will be installed in a series of linked galleries totaling 20,000 square feet. The Museum is requesting an implementation grant of $350,000; the core exhibition's total cost is estimated at $3.5 million.