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Sunday, September 25, 2011
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Paul Cuffe
gets a national park.
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Paul Cuffe gets a national park. EverythingWestport.com Sunday, September 25, 2011 Photos/EverythingWestport.com
Paul Cuffe (1759-1817) was the free-born son of an African
father and a Native American mother. A skillful mariner, he was also a
successful merchant, philanthropist, community leader, civil rights advocate
and abolitionist. In 1780 he petitioned for the right to vote as a landowner
and taxpayer. He established the first integrated school in America and
became an advisor to President James Madison. And
those are just some of his accomplishments.
More
than 120 guests and the public joined in the dedication ceremonies under a
tent on the upper terrace of the Whaling Museum campus overlooking the park,
which is sited on the southeast corner of the Museum grounds. The site is
also adjacent to the location where Cuffe once kept
a store in New Bedford, Cuffe & Howards. Guests
included Cuffe descendants and Native Americans
representing several tribes in Southern New England. A traditional Native
American smudge ceremony was performed by the members present to bless the
park before local and state officials cut a ribbon opening the new park.
Native
American song began the program with the Nettukkusqk
Singers - Wampanoag and Nipmuc women from Rhode
Island and Massachusetts - performing women’s drumming and singing traditions
from their tribal communities. Students
of the Paul Cuffee Maritime Charter School of
Providence, Rhode Island, read brief essays on the life and work of the
Captain. "Paul Cuffe was
a man whose life and whose legacy affected or involved all people," - Robert Kelley, a descendant of Cuffe
and keynote speaker The
Rev. Pam Cole offered an opening prayer and reflected on the faith of the
Quakers – the Society of Friends – the of tenets of which Cuffe
and his family practiced. Other
speakers included: James Russell, President & CEO, New Bedford Whaling
Museum; James Lopes, Esq., Vice President, Education & Programming;
Daniel Dilworth, Acting Superintendent, New Bedford Whaling National
Historical Park; Lee Blake, President, New Bedford Historical Society; and
New Bedford Mayor Scott W. Lang. "Cuffe was a
man ahead of his time in so many ways. We now have a place to honor
him." - Lee Blake,
president of the New Bedford Historical Society
The
Dedication was the concluding event of “Old Dartmouth Roots,” a free two-day
genealogy and local history symposium at the Museum, and was funded in part
by Mass Humanities. The
New Bedford Whaling Museum is the world's most comprehensive museum devoted
to the global story of whales, whaling and the cultural history of the
region. The cornerstone of New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, the
Museum is located at 18 Johnny Cake Hill in the heart of the city's historic
downtown and is open daily. For more information visit: www.whalingmuseum.org.
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