New Bedford Whaling Museum

The New Bedford Whaling Museum's Web site allows visitors to travel back in time to the 'Age of Sail' when sailing ships dominated trade and business enterprise, and New Bedford, Massachusetts, was the whaling capital of the world. As the largest museum in the world devoted to the history of the whaling trade, the museum is in a unique position to offer a wonderful introduction to the history of American whaling and New Bedford's unique role. Using photographs, manuscripts, and artifacts from their extensive collections, the site is rich with insight into the unique culture of the sea. Visit "Seaboard Terms" to learn the distinct shipboard language such as "Avast" meaning "Stop that!" or tour an exhibition, "Heroes in the Ships: African Americans in the Whaling Industry," to learn about the contribution of African Americans. (By the 1840s blacks accounted for one sixth of the labor force on a whaling ship.)