Explorations of the Lived Religion of Nineteenth Century New England Whalers

FAIN: FT-52474-04

Richard Callahan
Mizzou (Columbia, MO 65211-3020)

This project explores religious expressions--ideas, practices, and material culture--that emerged from the world and work of whaling out of New England in the 19th century. It examines three areas of religion in the everyday lives of sailors: aboard ship, in seaport towns, and encounters with unfamiliar cultures and religious practices. This early stage of the longterm project involves extensive archival research of primary source material (sailors' journals, ships' logs, religious publications directed towards sailors, etc.) at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass; Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Conn; and the New Bedford Whaling Museum in New Bedford, Mass.