What Volunteers Do
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Louisa ...Docent...
Louisa spends one morning each week at the museum, leading school groups and interpreting exhibits and displays to individual visitors. "I enjoy engaging students with stories and examples that connect whaling era to their lives... and making it real to them. I can see their eyes light up when they see the whales' skeletons, or crawl through the foc'sle." An elementary school teacher for over three decades, Louisa says docent are really "ambassadors" for the museum, helping put a human face on pictures, models, displays and exhibitions.
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Paul ...Library Volunteer...
"I always knew there was whaling heritage in my family," says Paul. After researching his great great grandfather's experience as captain of a whaler in the mid-19th Century, Paul began pitching in to help create abstracts from ship logs, recording ports, courses, whales taken and other data at the library. As a life-long painter, he especially enjoys the beautiful illustrations in logs and personal journals. "It's challenging but rewarding; I marvel at the impact volunteers have... as docents and library workers."
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Seth ...Speakers Bureau...
Speakers are available to groups in and around the greater New Bedford area through the Speakers Bureau of the Volunteer Council of the New Bedford Whaling Museum. There are a number of topics from which to choose including whaling, local history, and travelogues. A $50 fee is charged for talks given within a twenty-five mile radius of New Bedford. Special arrangements can be made for locations beyond this radius. If your group or club is interested in a speaker for an event or meeting, please call Seth Mendell, Speakers Bureau Coordinator, at 508-758-4458.
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Tom ...Docent...
Tom says "it feels good to give something back to the community." He became "hooked" on the museum after attending a Moby Dick Marathon 10 years ago. A local history buff, Tom helps interpret 400 years of stories to school groups, families and tourists. He's also developed an educational unit on whale conservation and presided over the Volunteer Council. "We try to help visitors feel welcome, interact with them, and enhance their experience." The best benefit... "we're learning every day, week and year."
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Patricia ...Library Volunteer...
A retired New Bedford teacher, Patricia spends about two mornings a week at the Library. She reads ships' logs and sailors' personal journals...and documents a voyage's positions, ports of call, what kind of whales were taken... and the hardships that faced the average whaler... lost whale boats, disciplinary actions or mutinies, as well as injuries and deaths. "I just love the history. You can see the whaler's loneliness for home. They missed their wives and children but whaling was under their skin. I love reading from these original documents."
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