September 22, 2024

Open Thurs.- Fri. 1-5 PM,

Sat. 10 AM-5 PM,

& Sun. 1-5 PM.

On Saturday, October 5, the museum will open late -- at 2 PM -- due to a private party.

There's a new gate at Harbor Lighthouse. Former trustee Alice Houston suggested pickets -- and there was an historic precedent. This photo of Harbor Light, ca. 1900, is from the USCG collection.

Cheers to our sponsors

Anthony and Elizabeth Enders Fund - Charter Oak Credit Union - Chelsea Groton Foundation - Community Foundation of Eastern CT - Eleven+ - Frank Loomis Palmer Fund, Bank of America, N.A., Trustee - Kozmik Music Services - Ludwick Family Foundation - Maco Family Fund - Louise Novitch - Robinson+Cole - Veolia/NL Water Authority -

Yankee Remodeler. Thank you!

Visit Inside Harbor Light!

Saturdays, Sundays, & by appointment year-round

a popular destination for more than a century.

Visit Inside NL Harbor Pequot Light

The weather is perfect for visiting Long Island Sound's oldest and tallest lighthouse.

Photo: Estlin Davies-Smith.

Climb 116 steps up into the lighthouse lantern. We offer tours every Saturday & Sunday at noon. The views are spectacular! Tours for up-to five people take approximately 40 minutes. To book a tour at other times, send us an email.

Thanks to our friends at Veolia-NL Water Authority and at the Chelsea Groton Foundation, New London residents may visit inside New London Harbor Lighthouse with a $5 ticket through December, 2024! Don't miss this opportunity. Sign up today!

Donations like yours help keep the lights on!

The 2024 Charter Oak Federal Credit Union matching gift program has begun.

If you are a Charter Oak member, your gift (to $500) will be doubled if you donate now! Download the pdf and please make NLMS your favored charity.

next Sunday, September 29, 6-9 PM

Open Mic at the Museum

Open Mic meets, for the 51st time, on the last Sunday of the month at the beautiful Custom House Maritime Museum.

Co-hosted by Kenny 'Doc' Frazier and Christina Corcoran, our monthly open mic welcomes music, poetry, prose, stand-up or just say what is on your mind. Just show up at 5:45 and get on the list! Open to all ages and abilities for fun and camaraderie. It's a friendly crowd.

Sponsored by Kozmik Music Services. Admission by donation.

All programs are livestreamed on the Open Mic at the Museum facebook page and available there to watch.

The Open Mic page also posts many of the individual performances from past sessions.

Photos: from the September, 2024, Open Mic

CH Community Case exhibitions

on view through September 30

Regan Morse:

Cats Cats Cats

Christina Corcoran: Treasures from a Blinman Street attic

What would you put in a museum?

We're interested in seeing what you collect!

We are keen to support local people to share their research on local topics, archives, collections, and artifacts. The CH Community Cases will be open to the public whenever the Custom House is open. New displays will be installed every 2-3 months, as available.

We invite you to email your idea for a display to: nlmaritimedirector@gmail.com.

October 4 - Opening reception & talk 6 PM

CH Community Case exhibitions

Richard Stremme: The Scrimshaw/Tattoo Connection

Consummate collector Richard Stremme will share objects related to one of his many interests: the connection between/and origins of American scrimshaw and hand poke tattoo.

On October 4, a Concert with Rich's band The Deacons follows our opening.

It starts at 9 PM, at 33 Golden, $10 cover.

Rich Stremme is a teacher at Brooklyn College now living in Pennsylvania. He writes: I grew up in pre-IBM Southbury, CT, and spent lots of time in New London playing shows (at El N Gee, among others) and exploring around.

Tuesday, October 15, 1:30 PM

JIBBOOM Club #1

On October 15th we're trying something different, when master storyteller Claudia

Kenyon invites six fellow Jibboomers to tell their own stories about the waterfront. It's a maritime, spoken word Open Mic.

Tales: Down By The River

Margret Palmer, “Full Circle” Some stories about growing up on the mouth of the Branford River.
Mike Johnson, “My Experience on the Mayflower” The Mayflower is a replica of the original ship that landed in Plymouth, MA. The 200th year anniversary never took place because of the Covid 19 epidemic.
Claudia Kenyon, “Fish Fries” Keeping my eyes wide open to the spiritual realm. A connection to my deceased father who was a fisherman and how his spirit still makes an appearance in nature.
Skip Guzy, “Mystic Seaport” The topic will be about the Charles W. Morgan, the wooden whaling ship docked at the Mystic Seaport.
Kate Wells, “Essex Fire, 1968”
Joseph Maco, “Francis Scott Key Bridge Update” There is more to the story that will help us understand what happened after the MV Dali was removed from the bridge in Maryland.

Jibboom is not a club, but a friendly gathering with a speaker, treats, and good fellowship.

The event is FREE and open to all - please come on October 15, 1:30 PM, and bring a friend.

Sponsored by the Maco Family Fund.

Sunday, October 20, 2 PM

Winsome Bingham reads THE WALK

We're pleased to have author Winsome Bingham at the museum for a Sunday afternoon family program. Ms. Bingham will read THE WALK, illustrated by E. B. Lewis, followed by a conversation with families about empowering the children in their lives, and how we can foster and encourage them to make choices.

THE WALK is not only about voting and democracy. It is about community, love, and conversation.

Admission by donation. Space is limited. Please pre-register online. There will be books available in the shop for the author to sign.

My name is Winsome Bingham and I am an author and literacy advocate for reading and authentic representation of children and communities in children’s literature. I am the author of one of The New York Times Best Books of the Year, SOUL FOOD SUNDAY, which is also the Connecticut Book Award winner and the Coretta Scott King Honored Illustrator award for C. G. Esperanza. I am a connoisseur of soul food and a master cook (at KidLit dinner parties, reunions, and get-togethers). I am a teacher by trade and a disabled military veteran by circumstance. I received both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education, and an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults.

Tuesday, October 29, reception at 6:30, presentation at 7 PM

Lafayette in the Abolitionist Imagination

As we continue celebrating the bicentennial of Lafayette's 1824-1825 tour of the United States, the New London Maritime Society welcomes renowned historian Dr. Manisha Sinha to the Custom House. Dr. Sinha will present a talk entitled Lafayette in the Abolitionist Imagination. A reception to meet Dr. Sinha will begin at 6:30 PM, with the talk starting at 7:00. Space is limited, so please register in advance.

Lafayette, a staunch abolitionist and champion of Liberty, Equality, and Freedom, was warmly welcomed by Americans in all 24 states upon his return in 1824. As the last surviving general of the American Revolution, his visit was a momentous occasion.

Dr. Sinha's talk will delve into Lafayette's role not only as a revolutionary 'hero of two worlds' but also as an antislavery icon for both black and white abolitionists in the United States. It will examine how abolitionists and African Americans received Lafayette during his triumphant tour and how the issue of slavery challenged revolutionary republicans. The discussion will also address how abolitionists leveraged this contradiction to advocate for emancipation.

In light of the ongoing election season, Dr. Sinha will also offer insights on the fragility of democratic republics and draw parallels between American and French republicanism.

Manisha Sinha is the President of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic and Draper Chair in American History at the University of Connecticut. Her latest book, The Rise and Fall of the Second American Republic: Reconstruction, 1860-1920 was published in 2024 by Liveright (Norton) in 2024, and is in the museum Shop.

What can you do with an NLMS membership?

Become an NLMS member & receive a 10% discount in the Gift Shop

& member prices to special events, like the ones, above.

A New Roof for New London's 1833 Custom House Museum!

We need a new roof and appreciate your support. Our plan is to work to match your donations with grants, such as the CT Historic Preservation Fund.

Join the New Roof campaign!

This week at the Custom House

We're pretty pleased this week at the Custom House.

Harbor Light's gorgeous new gate brings us very close to completing the landscaping on that property. We still need a sign, and a couple of stone steps... but the gate looks great!

Photo, right & below: Christina Corcoran.

We want to thank Louise Novitch, who with her late husband Mark have been solid supporters of Harbor Lighthouse (among other projects at NLMS) across many years.

Arrow Fence did an excellent job building the gate. The gate is cedar and we're leaving it to weather to the same grey hue as the fence, the granite, and the sky.

Super to have a sold-out weekend of tours to the lighthouse! Please know, online we list just one tour every Saturday & Sunday, but we're happy to add more. Just email.

We are hoping to have a visit this week from National Park Service representatives. They'll visit Harbor, Race & Ledge Lights.

The three lighthouses all are NPS historic sites -- like national parks, really. We are their stewards and take care of these historic landmarks for you, and for future generations.

--Susan

Now in the SHOP!

We're always celebrating Hispanic Heritage in the Shop. We've got chisel-cut, tissue paper Papel Picado banners (all-white or multi-colored) -- and laser-cut cards of similar picado design.

Above: Our Race Rock t-shirt on a super skate-boarder -- we've also got 'em for Ledge and NL Harbor 'Pequot' Lights!

Right: chill pigeons, crabby pins, a ferocious snail -- all from Donna Wilson.

SPECIAL OFFER: All gift shop purchases greater than $100 receive David Zapatka's 2025 GREAT AMERICAN LIGHTHOUSES calendar for free as supply lasts!

please SHOP with NLMS

from our friends at the Ancient Order of Hibernians

Thursday, September 26, 6:30 PM, at the Groton Public Library

Shane (John) Holland, an Irish Designer and Sculptor, will talk about his family's Irish Counties Clare, Cork and Louth links to John P. Holland, "Father of the Modern Submarine" and designer of a Steam Engine driven Airplane in 1863.

The talk will be given in the Groton Library on September 26, beginning at 6:30PM.

Attendance is free and open to the public. For more information about this event, contact the Groton Library - www.GrotonPL.org.