Name: Descendants of Whaling Masters Annual Meeting
Start: 2026-06-13T12:00:00-04:00
Location: James Arnold Mansion

Descendants of Whaling Masters Annual Meeting

The public is cordially invited to the DWM Annual Luncheon Meeting and Program. Reservations are required."
Program will be presented by Michael P. Dyer, an independent scholar specializing in American maritime and world whaling history. He served as Curator of Maritime History at Mystic Seaport Museum, the New Bedford Whaling Museum, and the Kendall Whaling Museum. His particular interests surround illustration, including manuscripts, logbooks and journals, and scrimshaw. In the course of his work he developed an interest in cartography including its relevance to the history of navigation, voyages of exploration and discovery and many other facets of its relevance to world history, especially maritime history.
His presentation "The Navigation History of Buzzards Bay with a Few Particulars about how it got its Name," will examine the chronology of known charts of the region, the various peculiarities about place names and sailing directions, and the evolution of the naming of the bay which coincided with a number of very important social issues of the day particularly religion. The adoption of the pejorative name "Buzzards Bay" has more to do with religious intolerance directed toward the Quaker population of the region by Puritans and staunch supporters of the Church of England than it does with anything else. As charting of the coast of New England became a strategic priority of the Royal Navy during the American Revolution, the great set of charts, The Atlantic Neptune solidified the name, and established the finest navigation chart of the bay, one that would be copied by generations of American cartographers.
"Reservations are required by sending check ($46/person) payable to "DWM" with menu selection(s) ~ Baked Scrod, Baked Stuffed Breast of Chicken, or Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken ~ to William H. Potter, DWM Treasurer, 194 Main Street, Fairhaven, MA 02719.