New Exhibit & Waysides Open at New Bedford Whaling NHP

Above:

HFC wayside planner Terry Lindsay in downtown New Bedford, Mass.

Right:

New Bedford Mayor Frederick M. Kalisz Jr., in front of the Wharfinger Building during the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

So often we
think of civic engagement as a dialogue – and indeed that is how it begins – but this project is a shining example of how this dialogue can be taken to the next step, leading to new programs and interpretive media.

John Piltzecker
Superintendent, New Bedford Whaling NHP

Joining forces on the working waterfront

An editorial from The Standard-Times, May 26, 2004.

Fishermen, their families, city officials, university professors, Whaling Museum staff, National Park staff and about 50 other people gathered outside the Wharfinger Building yesterday to celebrate the first, large scale exhibit devoted to telling the story of the city's fishing community.

This National Park exhibit is a triumph in cooperation and will go a long way toward humanizing a story that too often gets told through conflict.

It is also an example of how tourism can join forces with those on the working waterfront to create a stronger economic future for both.

We encourage the public to visit the exhibit. The art, photography and narrative panels tell the story of the development of the fishing industry in the city.

"Atlantic Pearl," a short video produced by fishermen, UMass professors, and artists, focuses on the story of the scallop fishery through the people who built it up in the 20th century – many still alive and some present at yesterday's opening – and the people who drag for scallops today.

Tom Quintin of Dartmouth, the captain of the scalloper Patience, beamed with pride yesterday as he showed his young son Noah the exhibit devoted to his life's work.

"It puts fishing and scalloping in a good light," Mr. Quintin said. "We've been battling radical environmentalists. We're conservationists, but some of the radical groups want to put us out of fishing completely."

The exhibit will go a long way toward explaining to tourists what has made New Bedford a unique community whose past and future are intimately tied to the ocean.

RELATED LINKS:

HFC Exhibits & Museums »

HFC Wayside Exhibits »

New Bedford Whaling NHP »

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Downtown waysides (4.4 MB)

Neighborhood waysides (964k)

Orientation waysides (476k)

Waterfront waysides (5.3 MB)

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Right:

Exhibits in the Wharfinger Building at New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park.