Images courtesy of New Bedford Whaling Museum

Provincetown’s History Told Through Artifacts

by Steve Desroches

Don’t judge a book by its cover, indeed. On the surface these covers look beat up, dusty, and dingy. But inside each holds a completely unique record of adventure and daring. The images represent just a small fraction of the log books of Provincetown whaling ships that are in the fascinating permanent collection at the New Bedford Whaling Museum. Whales have always played an integral role in life on the Outer Cape. The Wampanoag utilized drift whaling, which entailed using most every part of a whale that had washed up or beached providing lamp oil, tools, food, and more. When the Mayflower arrived in what is now Provincetown, they wrote of the abundance of whales and their wish that they had the means to harvest the animals that were a natural resource to Europeans, as well. 

The whaling most people know began in the mid-1700s, and in a hundred years Provincetown was one of the most important busy whaling ports in the world, ranking third when it came to revenue behind only Nantucket and New Bedford. These log books provide vital information to researchers as they contain data on weather, climate, fish and whale populations, cultures of places visited, and maritime technology and customs. Of note is that whaling ships were egalitarian and integrated, an unusual practice considering the strict racist segregation that was common throughout American history. As such, these books include the writings of Black whaling captains Colin A. Stevenson and William T. Shorey, who originally hailed from Barbados and St. Vincent respectively, before joining a robust Caribbean community in Provincetown in the mid-1800s. Also in the collection of the New Bedford Whaling Museum are numerous glass negatives and silver gelatin prints of the whaling schooners that were plentiful in Provincetown Harbor at the height of the whaling era.