November 3, 2024

Bees, the ocean, the birds, & the Earth are counting on you.

This time, vote for the planet.

The Custom House is Open Thurs.- Fri. 1-5 PM,

Sat. 10 AM-5 PM, & Sun. 1-5 PM.

Cheers to our sponsors

Anthony and Elizabeth Enders Fund - Charter Oak Credit Union - Chelsea Groton Foundation - Community Foundation of Eastern CT - 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!

SAVE THE DATE -- Saturday, December 7: 2024 NLMS Annual Meeting at 2:30 PM, and Tubas at the Custom House - a Holiday Singalong at 4 PM.

this Friday, November 8, 6:30 pm

Concert Trio

Meet your friends downtown for the opening of Bob Hauschild's retrospective at Studio 33 (2-4 PM), grab dinner & a drink, then come to the Custom House for some music.

Melisa Trinidad, flute; Rachael Brown, cello; and Linda Hinz, piano have put together an all-women composers program:

1. Diane Goolkasian Rahbee b. 1938 now living near Boston

2. Eugénie Ricau Rocherolle b. 1936 living in Old Lyme, CT

3. Mel Bonis (1858-1937) (Her real name is Mélanie but she could only get published under Mel.) She attended the Paris Conservatoire, her teachers included César Franck, Ernest Guiraud, and Auguste Bazille.

4. Louise Farrenc (1804-1875) Professor of Piano at the Paris Conservatory, she was the only woman to hold the esteemed position and rank at the Paris Conservatory throughout the 19th century

See you at the Custom House Maritime Museum. Admission by donation.

on view through December 22

CH Community Cases

Richard Stremme: The Scrimshaw/Tattoo Connection

Educator and tattoo artist Richard Stremme's collection illustrates the connection between/and origins of American scrimshaw and hand poke tattoo.

Photo: Richard's tattoo was done in New London on the day he set-up this exhibition. It's the same whale as the design printed on a whale-oil cask lid in his collection, and now on view.

Saturdays, Sundays, & by appointment year-round

a popular destination for more than a century.

Visit Inside NL Harbor Pequot Light

Visit Long Island Sound's oldest and tallest lighthouse.

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. Photo: Christina Corcoran.

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!

Visit Inside Harbor Light!

Tuesday, November 19, at 1:30 PM

JIBBOOM Club #1

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 November 19, 1:30 PM, and bring a friend.

What can you do with an NLMS membership?

Buy an NLMS membership & give one as a gift (50% off additional gift memberships)!

Members receive a 10% discount in the Gift Shop & member prices to special events.

A New Roof for the Custom House Maritime Museum!

Join the New Roof campaign!

Donations like yours help keep the lights on!

This week at the Custom House

We believe in climate change at the Custom House.

To go further: we believe in democracy, in freedom of the press, and in a person's right to vote.

The museum is a former US Custom House, so especially in our third-grade program, we teach the stories of different immigrant groups, and what each group has added to the City. Equal rights for all is a given. Freedom of religion -- or of practicing no religion -- is fundamental. We also champion public access to the shoreline and to our historic properties.

Dr. Manisha Sinha, above, delivered a talk at the museum on Tuesday evening referencing Lafayette, in which she touched on the origins of many of the rights laid out in our Constitution. They say children are born with an innate sense of fairness and justice. Maybe that partially explains why Lafayette, a very wealthy, very young Frenchman jumped into our nascent revolution. Lafayette forfeited his fortunes but maintained his idealism throughout his long life. He was a hero of the Revolution, revered when he returned to the US in 1824, and is admired to this day.

We're looking forward to two exhibitions opening this week presenting a retrospective of the works of Robert Hauschild.

Bob was friendly, talented, and positive. Back in 2009 he was about the first person to congratulate the Society on acquiring New London Harbor Light. Bob just showed up at the Custom House door with a large, framed watercolor painting of the lighthouse, saying: I think you should have this.

--Susan