Walk along the streets of Nantucket, Edgartown, or New Bedford and you’ll likely pass by the historic homes of whaling ship captains. These iconic homes are reminders of how central whaling was to economy of this region during the 9th century. However, one important aspect of our whaling heritage has been missing from the narrative: the abundance of people of color who not only went to sea on whaling ships, but rose to the highest rank, that of Captain.
On The Point, we talk with Skip Finley about his meticulous research and the publication of his book Whaling Captains of Color- America’s First Meritocracy. We now know the names and stories of those men.
