Archive for July 28th, 2009
Books: “A Line in the Sand”
“A Line in the Sand: The Battle to Integrate Nantucket Public Schools, 1825-1847″ by Barbara Ann White, published by Spinner Publications. From the press release:
A monumental struggle for equal rights took place on Nantucket in the 1840s. On one side were the island’s black community and their abolitionist allies joined by renowned anti-slavery advocates Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, and Stephen S. Foster. On the other side were prominent town citizens who wanted no part of integration.
In 1978, Barbara White, a teacher on Nantucket, found petitions sent in 1845 from Nantucket to the state’s General Court describing the injustices suffered by students confined to the island’s African School and pleading for legislation to make it possible for them to attend Nantucket’s other public schools. From the petitions, town records, court records, newspapers, and letters, Barbara White has reconstructed the story of how perseverance on the part of islanders – men and women, black and white together – overcame cruel racial prejudice.
Nathaniel Philbrick, author of In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex says this: “As recounted by White, the integration of the Nantucket schools is the story of not only a remarkable island community in the mid-nineteenth century, but of a nation struggling with many of the same issues of equality and race that concern us to this day.”
Beverly A. Morgan-Welch, Executive Director, Museum of African American History, Boston says: “Barbara White does justice to an important part of Nantucket’s most challenging and enlightening history. She goes beyond what is available in our history books about black Nantucketers to write this powerful story of the equal education movement. “A Line in the Sand” reveals Nantucket as a microcosm of this nation’s conflicted campaign to end slavery and provide education in schools open to all children.”
“A Line in the Sand” will be available in bookstores on August 5, 2009.
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Nantucket Arts Festival
The Nantucket Arts Council’s 17th Annual Arts Festival will take place from Friday, August 28 through September 7 (Labor Day). Heading the committee responsible for organizing the Festival is Nantucket Arts Council board member Elisabeth Hazell.
This year a new event–”InsomniACK: Art After Dark” – will kick off the Festival. On Friday, August 28 during “InsomniACK,” downtown businesses, galleries, and nonprofits will keep their doors open until midnight, when the evening will conclude with a cash prize drawing. Special events being organized by participating businesses and organizations downtown and on the wharves will take place throughout the night, leading up to the midnight cash drawing.
The Festival will showcase the creative talents of many talented Nantucketers -from talented local photographers, painters, weavers and musicians to Nantucket High School students, who will be staging a premiere of a creative video project they have been working on for the past year.
The Arts Council expects to attract over 4,000 participants throughout the Festival, concluding with the busy Labor Day weekend. A printed map and program will be distributed free all over the island. The deadline is August 1 to submit listings for the printed program. All listings must be submitted online. To list your organization or business and events, go to www.nantucketartscouncil.org
Add comment July 28, 2009
Nantucket Economy
On August 1, the state sales tax and meals tax will increase from 5% to 6.25%.
Following are the traffic statistics for the Steamship Authority between Hyannis and Nantucket for 2009 through June 30 compared to the first six months of 2008. Thank you Flint Ranney for providing these numbers.
Passengers:
Fast Ferry, 51,869, down 0.3% (returned to route April 16)
Regular ferry, 109,469, down 3.9%
Total passengers, 161,338, down 2.8%
Autos:
Regular, 7,132 down 9.3%
Excursion, 12,206, down 1.6%
Total autos, 24,788, down 5.7%
Trucks: 19,456, down 16.9%
Martha’s Vineyard comparisons:
Passengers, 827,790 down 3.5%
Autos, 158,138, down 1.6%
Trucks, 47,867, down 5.1%
Total overall SSA traffic is down 8.8% to date in 2009.
Add comment July 28, 2009
