I am pleased to announce a new title from McFarland Press for those interested in Gilded Age museumcraft, commemoration, and public memory. It also serves as a fascinating case study for museum professionals exploring the importance of working communities and identity.

From the publisher's description:

The whaling bark Progress was a New Bedford whaler transformed into a whaling museum for Chicago’s 1893 world’s fair. Traversing waterways across North America, the whaleship enthralled crowds from Montreal to Racine. Her ultimate fate, however, was to be a failed sideshow of marine curiosities and a metaphor for a dying industry out of step with Gilded Age America. This book uses the story of the Progress to detail the rise, fall, and eventual demise of the whaling industry in America. The legacy of this whaling bark can be found throughout New England and Chicago, and invites questions about what it means to transform a dying industry into a museum piece.

https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/the-last-voyage-of-the-whaling-bark-progress/

Please consider requesting this for your library's next new book order!