Opening Reception for Two New Maritime History Exhibits on Tuesday, September 30

NPS

News Release Date: September 17, 2014

Contact: Lynn Cullivan, 415-561-7049 and cell phone [phone].

 SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — The San Francisco Maritime National Park Association will host an opening reception on Tuesday, September 30, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. to welcome two new exhibitions to San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park: the New Bedford Whaling Museum’s Yankee Baleeiros! A Shared Heritage of Luso and Yankee Whalers, and The National U.S. Customs Museum Foundation's U.S. Customs Service & the Golden Gate. 

Presented by the New Bedford Whaling Museum, Yankee Baleeiros! celebrates the interwoven Luso-American stories of the Azorean, Cape Verdean, and Brazilian communities in the United States from early immigration in the 18^th century through the latter half of the 20^th century. See how distinct cultures and communities who share similar languages are linked by maritime commerce as well as by similar motivations for coming to the United States. 

U.S. Customs Service & the Golden Gate is the National U.S. Customs Museum Foundation’s first historical exhibit, celebrating the 225th Anniversary of the creation of the U.S. Customs Service. The exhibit highlights the rich history of the U.S. Customs Service from its inception in 1789 to the present. Using artifacts, images, graphics, and video, the exhibit brings to life the important roles Customs has played in the growth and development of the nation we know today.

The opening reception, presented by the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association, San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, the New Bedford Whaling Museum, and PALCUS, is free and open to the public. Light refreshments and cocktails will be served. Register by phone at 415-561-6662 or by email at [e-mail]. 

Following the opening reception, the New Bedford Whaling Museum will host a dinner party at McCormick & Kuleto’s, 900 North Point Street. The event will begin at approximately 7:45 p.m. Tickets are $75 per person and can be purchased by phone at 508-717-6816 or at www.whalingmuseum.org. 

In addition to the September 30 events, the New Bedford Whaling Museum will host a free, public Afternoon Lecture Series on Wednesday, October 1, from 1 to 3 p.m. in the Maritime Museum. It will feature presentations by David Bertão, author of The Portuguese Shore Whalers of California; James Russell, New Bedford Whaling Museum President; and Donald Warrin, PhD, author of So Ends this Day: The Portuguese in American Whaling. The lecture series is free and open to the public. 

Both Yankee Baleeiros! and U.S. Customs Service & the Golden Gate will open to the public at the Maritime Museum through December 2014 and are open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The exhibition will be closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

Support for Yankee Baleeiros! is provided by the William M. Wood Foundation. For more information about this exhibition, visit www.whalingmuseum.org.  

San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park includes a fleet of National Historic Landmark vessels, Small Boat Shop, Maritime Museum, Visitor Center, and a maritime research center. The park offers regular programs, and sailing tours aboard the 1891 scow schooner Alma. For more information, call 415-447-5000, or visit online at nps.gov/safr or at facebook.com/SanFranciscoMaritimeNHP.

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9/17/14