African Americans in the Maritime Trades
MARY MALLOY
ATTLEBORO – From Colonial times to the twentieth century, men of African ancestry worked aboard Yankee ships, in every capacity from greenhand to Captain. The maritime trades depended on the Black workforce, and offered opportunities for merit-based advancement that were not available in other industries. In addition to their work on shipboard, African Americans were involved in related shore-based businesses. The New Bedford blacksmith Lewis Temple designed a harpoon that revolutionized the whale hunt; John Mashow ran a shipyard in Padanarum; and Paul Cuffe invested in merchant and whaling vessels, taught navigation to a generation of mariners, and founded a dynasty that included a number of captains. Frederick Douglass escaped slavery in Maryland disguised as a sailor, and found one of his first public audiences in New Bedford.
On Monday, October 21, 6:30-8:00 p.m. at the Attleboro Public Library, 74 N. Main St., Attleboro, Dr. Malloy will trace the history of Black whalemen through documents and photographs in an illustrated one hour lecture followed by a question and answer session. Register online at www.attleborolibrary.com or by calling 508-222-0157.
Mary Malloy, Ph.D. was formerly Professor of Maritime Studies and Director of the Global Ocean Program at “SEA Semester” in Woods Hole, MA. During her 25-year tenure, Mary traveled with students on SEA Semester ships to New Zealand, islands in the South Pacific and Caribbean, the Mediterranean, and to coastal communities on the east and west coasts of the USA and Canada, including Alaska and Hawaii. She earned a Ph.D. in American Studies from Brown University, and Master’s degrees in Museum Studies and American Studies from Brown University and Boston College. Dr. Malloy taught graduate courses at the Harvard Extension School, where she earned the Petra Shattuck Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2010.
Mary is the author of seven books, including three novels and four non-fiction works on maritime history and museums. Her monograph African Americans in the Maritime Trades: A Guide to Resources in New England, and curriculum unit “From Boston Harbor We Set Sail!”: A Curriculum Unit on African-American Sailors and the Maritime Community in Massachusetts, were published jointly by the Museum of Afro-American History in Boston and the Kendall Whaling Museum in Sharon, MA.
To help fund Big Read programming, Attleboro’s 1ABC Committee has received a $15,000 NEA Big Read grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Also contributing funding for the two months of events in September and October are Bristol County Savings Bank, the Attleboro Cultural Council, Friends of Attleboro Public Library, Rotary Club of Attleboro and the Trustees of the Attleboro Public Library.
NEA Big Read: Attleboro partners include the Attleboro Arts Museum, Attleboro Area Industrial Museum, Attleboro Area Interfaith Collaborative, Attleboro Council on Aging, Attleboro Land Trust, Attleboro Public Library, Attleboro Public Schools, Attleboro YMCA, Bishop Feehan High School, Bristol Community College, DoubleACS, The Literacy Center, The Sun Chronicle and Wheaton College.
For more information and to register for events, visit attleboros1abc.org or call the Attleboro Public Library at 508-222-0157.
NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest. It encourages residents of a community to read the same book at the same time and enhance the shared experience through local arts and culture activities.