Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: Digitizing New Bedford’s fishing memories

February 11, 2019 — Bob Demanche taps the nifty round mini light on the table in front of him and grabs a magnifier. He opens the box that is also on the table and takes out one of the hundreds of slides it contains and looks at each of them…one by one. There are three more similar boxes to go through.

Welcome to Scanning Day at the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center. Volunteers at the center set aside the second Saturday of each month to scan photos, documents, letters, slides and more from the general public that are relative to the city’s commercial fishing industry.

“We have a team of four volunteers who help on scanning days,” said Sarah Bowen, operations manager. It’s all pretty streamlined: one volunteer scans the items while another speaks with the person who brought them in, gathering information about the photo or document. The owner is then given a digitized version of the items, along with their originals.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Fishing Heritage Center hosting Scanning Day

February 15, 2017 — The following has been released by the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center:

The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center will offer free, hands-on activities during February vacation, February 23rd to 26th, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Activities will include knot tying, scallop shell decorating, and a scavenger hunt.

Visitors of all ages can try their hand at knot tying, a skill needed by all who make their living on the water.   Budding artists can decorate a scallop shell in the make and take craft area while learning more about scallops.  A scavenger hunt will provide an opportunity for all to learn more about the commercial fishing industry while exploring the Center’s exhibits.

In addition to the vacation week activities, visitors are invited to try on foul weather gear; explore the wheelhouse; and race the clock while donning a survival suit.  The Working Waterfront Photography of Peter Pereira will be on exhibit in the Center Gallery.

Admission to the Center is free.  The Center is located at 38 Bethel Street with free parking in the adjacent lot.   Open Thursday – Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and by appointment.

The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center is dedicated to preserving and presenting the story of the commercial fishing industry past, present, and future through archives, exhibits, and programs. For more information please contact the Center at info@fishingheritagecenter.org or call (508) 993-8894.

New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center Hosts Scanning Day

February 2, 2017 — The following was released by The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center:

The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center will host Scanning Day on February 11, 2017 from 10:00 a.m. to noon. Scanning Day is an opportunity for the public to share and preserve a digital image of their fishing industry photographs, documents and other records for future generations.

The Center invites the public to bring their fishing industry related photographs, both historic and contemporary, as well as documents such as settlement sheets, union books, or news clippings to be scanned. Staff will scan the materials and record any information the owner shares about each piece.  The owner will leave with their originals along with a digital copy  of the scans on a flash drive. The Center is working to create a digital archive of these materials which will be made available to researchers and the public. These documents will help us to tell the story of the fishing industry.  Scanning Day will take place the second Saturday of each month from 10:00 a.m. to noon. This event is free and open to the public.

The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center is dedicated to preserving and presenting the story of the commercial fishing industry past, present, and future through archives, exhibits, and programs. For more information please contact the Fishing Heritage Center at: info@fishingheritagecenter.org or call (508) 993-8894.

New Bedford, Mass. Fishing Heritage Center Lands 12K NEH Grant

December 14, 2015 — New Bedford, MA — The following was released by the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center:

The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center is pleased to announce its receipt of a $12,000 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Cultural Heritage Grant. The grant will support a project to digitize the cultural heritage of New Bedford’s fishing community. The project is a collaboration involving the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center (NBFHC), University Archives and Special Collections at the University of Massachusetts Boston, MIT Sea Grant, the New Bedford Public Library, and New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park.

Commercial fishing is often a family activity with skills and knowledge passed from one generation to the next. Consequently, much of this history resides in the photo albums, documents, and artifacts of fishing families.  This project will digitize these materials through a day-long public event (tentatively slated for May) in combination with “house calls” to digitally document materials from individuals who are unable to attend the event.  The project will be bookended by a variety of public programs which will serve to inspire community participation, evoke memories, and provide an interpretive framework for materials that are brought forward.  Digitizing these materials, making them publicly available, and using them to tell the story of the fishing community will create a lasting legacy for families who have spent generations working the water in what is one of the nation’s oldest occupations.

“We are thrilled to receive this funding which will further our efforts to document and preserve the rich heritage of New Bedford’s fishing community. We look forward to engaging active and retired fishermen, shoreside workers, and their families in this project.” (Laura Orleans, Executive Director).

Following the digitization event, UMass Boston will process images and metadata and will provide storage and public access through the University’s online repository. These materials will be included in the Digital Commonwealth and Digital Public Library of America.  In addition to UMass Boston’s online repository, the resulting digital collection will be publicly archived as part of digital collections at the New Bedford Public Library, and the Massachusetts Public Library Digital Initiative, and shared as part of digital exhibits on the NBFHC website (currently under development).  Those who participate by sharing their photographs, documents, or artifacts will be given a USB drive containing the scanned images of their materials.

Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. Additional information about the National Endowment for the Humanities and its grant programs is available at: www.neh.gov.