Join us at the Whaling Museum's last Sailors' Series lecture on Tuesday,  May 24, 2011

From the latter part of the 19^th century to 1970, sailing ships owned by Cape Verdeans plied the waters between Cape Verde (Brava and Fogo) and New Bedford/Providence almost annually, carrying people and cargo back and forth.  The Schooner Ernestina/ex-Effie M. Morrissey was one of these last ships.  The historic schooner sailed in a 41-day voyage in the summer of 1982, as a gift from newly-independent Cape Verde to the people of the United States, and is berthed in New Bedford.  Laura Pires-Hester and Michael K. H. Platzer worked closely together in the national campaign led by Friends of Ernestina/Morrissey to return and repatriate the historic Schooner, launched originally in Essex MA in 1894.  Dr. Pires-Hester is an anthropologist and was most recently Vice President of the New York Theological Seminary.  She has a B.A. from Smith College, M.S.W. from Columbia University School of Social Work, and Ph.D. in Anthropology from Columbia University.  Dr. Platzer worked for many years for the United Nations and was its first Program Officer for Cape Verde.  Now living in Vienna, co-author with Michael Cohn of Black Men of the Sea (1978), and a sailor himself, he is currently active in international human rights and criminal justice issues.  He received his B.A., M.A., and J.D. degrees from Cornell University.  He and Pires-Hester co-authored Ernestina/Effie M. Morrissey Commemorative Edition (1982). They will discuss the "Cape Verdean/Brava Packet Trade", and also Schooner Ernestina as a living representative of that trade.  Members of the 1982 transatlantic voyage will also be present, including Stefan Platzer, whose slides of the voyage will be shown.

Sailor Series lectures are held at 7:30 pm in the Cook Memorial Theater.  A reception will be held prior to each lecture beginning at 6:30 pm.

Tickets are $20 ($15 for Whaling Museum and SEMA Members)  You can call 508-997-0046 to reserve your tickets.

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