NANTUCKET, MASS.- The Nantucket Historical Association announced it has had a successful summer of new acquisitions. The NHA uses its extensive collections of art, artifacts, and archives to tell the stories of the island and its people. The curatorial staff, assisted by friends and supporters in the community, are constantly on the lookout for historic items that advance the collection and help the NHA to tell new stories.

The NHA is pleased to share a number of new acquisitions listed below. Special thanks to the Friends of the NHA and supporting donors for their contributions in making these acquisitions possible.

• Three Nantucket-made hunting decoys from the 19th century, representing Golden Plovers, birds that are now rare due to historic overhunting on island and elsewhere.
Gift of the Friends of the NHA.

• 1801 Map of Massachusetts by Osgood Carleton, the first official map of Massachusetts.
NHA Purchase with generous support from an anonymous donor.

• George Eldridge Harbor Chart Books, 1909 and 1929, a rare complete set of charts including Nantucket.
NHA Purchase underwritten by Art and Diane Kelly.

• Portrait of a Woman (possibly a self-portrait) by Elizabeth Rebecca Coffin, a work by Nantucket’s most accomplished female painter of the 19th century.
NHA purchase, underwritten by Thomas & Connie Cigarran, Anne & Todd Knutson,
and Margaret Hallowell & Stephen Langer.

• Nantucket Golf Club, 1901, by William Wallace Smith, painting of a summer golf tournament on Nantucket’s North Shore.
Gift of the Friends of the Nantucket Historical Association and the Tupancy-Harris Foundation.

• Nantucket-made wooden pail with lightship-basket-style handles.
Gift of Jason Tilroe.

• Pewter plate that belonged to Priscilla and Caleb Bunker, ca. 1725.
NHA Purchase.

• Two Nantucket lightship baskets by Thomas Springer.
Gift of Thomas Springer.

• Nantucket lightship basket by Frank Brown.
Gift of Pen Andrishok.

A number of these new acquisitions, including the three Golden Plover decoys, the Nantucket Golf Club painting, the Pewter plate, and one Thomas Springer basket, are now on display in the Research Library’s Whitney Gallery, open to visitors for FREE (Mon-Fri, 10 am-4 pm) at 7 Fair Street. The NHA looks forward to displaying these items and developing their stories for all visitors to enjoy.