Nantucket, in cultural memory, will always be the island of whaling. But in spite of Herman Melville’s panegyrics, it was the center of the whaling world for only a brief historical moment.
Take Note: New York’s Merchant’s House Museum
The Merchant’s House in New York City is a federal, state, and city landmark that dates from 1832 and contains an excellent collection of fine and decorative art. ANTIQUES spoke with Margaret Halsey Gardiner, who’s been its director for nearly thirty years.
Celebrating Walt Whitman’s 200th Birthday
Three New York cultural institutions—the New York Public Library, the Grolier Club, and the Morgan Library and Museum—as well as the Library of Congress, are putting on summer exhibitions to honor the poet of democracy, empathy, and “the body electric.”
Dada’s and Surrealism’s Poetic Roots at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco
Both Dadaism and surrealism were movements started not by visual artists but by poets; it was the book, not the canvas, that was terra firma.
Frank Lloyd Wright buildings on UNESCO World Heritage List
What’s old is new, what’s new is old. Eight of architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s idiosyncratic modern buildings have been added to the UNESCO World Heritage List, the international preservation organization announced on Sunday.
NASA’s Nerve Center Gets a Lift
The Apollo Mission Control Center is back in all its midcentury glory following a comprehensive restoration project.
The Iron Is Hot at the Smithsonian
The most abundant element on earth, iron played a key role in early human agricultural, military, and religious development, and in Africa, where smelting and forging can be traced back to the sixth century BC, it still forms an important part of indigenous culture in many Sub-Saharan countries.
Volcanic Activity at the Getty Villa
Known for being home to treasures of the ancient world, the Getty Villa is itself modeled on one: the Villa dei Papiri in Herculaneum. The institution is mounting a collaborative exhibition this summer focusing on those Roman roots.
The Golden Spike and Powerful Pics at the Crocker
Andrew Russell’s “East and West Shaking Hands” is the most famous transcontinental rail photo, but Alfred Hart’s stereograph captures the moment.
Saving Cradles of the Civil Rights Movement
At about the midway point between Selma and Montgomery, in White Hall, Alabama, a one-story cottage—hardly more than a shack—squats on cinder blocks.