February 16, 6:30 pm – via Zoom with Helen Frink, author of Oil, Ice & Bone: Arctic Whaler Nathanial Ransom. In 1860, fourteen-year-old Nathaniel Ransom followed his five older brothers into the dank foc’sle of a whaling vessel. For fifteen years he hunted seventy-ton bowheads in Arctic waters, for the many uses of “bone” blades of flexible baleen from the leviathan’s enormous jaw, raised its value, even as petroleum replaced whale oil as a source of lighting. In 1871, Ransom survived the loss of thirty-two whaling vessels in the frigid waters off Alaska’s Icy Cape. With him, he carried a journal – and kept it, as he and his shipmates jettisoned weapons and warm clothing to save their very lives. His eyewitness account of whaling’s brutal slaughter and sudden losses is enriched by the author’s affection for an ancestor she discovered through his journals a century after his death.
Helen Frink is the author of two town histories: These Acworth Hills (1989) and Alstead Through the Years (1992.) Her book, Women after Communism; the East German Experience (University Press of America, 2001) examines the effects on women of the transition from socialism to capitalism. After three decades teaching French, German, Women’s Studies and Holocaust Studies, she retired from Keene State College as Professor Emerita of Modern Languages. Her exploration of family history brought her to the journals of great-grandfather Nathaniel Ransom. She delights in using original letters, newspapers, journals and documents to bring to life social and material history centered in New England. She lives too far from the sea in Acworth, New Hampshire. Registration for this event can be completed online at www.mattapoisettmuseum.org/events
February 18, 6:00 pm – Southcoast Lessons presents Open Mic Night – The mic is yours! All ages and all genres welcome – sing a song, play an instrument, read your favorite poem, tell a story and enjoy what your community has to offer. FREE
February 27, 1:00 pm – Southcoast Lessons presents Old Time Fiddle Session – Join us for a gathering of traditional string band musicians and music lovers. Bring an instrument if you play, a seat if you’ve got one you love and yourself whether you play and own seating or not!
March 4, 6:00 pm – Southcoast Lessons presents New Sounds of Silents: silent films set to live music – Come on out for comedy, documentary and early special effects movies set to both improvised and newly composed pieces brought to you by Southcoast Lessons staff, students and guests. Free. Space is limited, registration encouraged, doors open at 6.
All events are free, but donations are always appreciated. Thank you for your continued generosity.
Contact Mattapoisett Museum at info@mattapoisettmuseum.org or Jeff Angeley at southcoastlessons@gmail.com for more information.