Palmer Day Commemorates 19th Century Stonington Explorer

Information via Stonington Historical Society

STONINGTON, CT — It was 200 years ago that a 21-year-old ship captain from Stonington sighted the last continent on Earth, and the state of Connecticut is commemorating the anniversary.

Capt. Nathaniel Palmer, the ambitious young man credited with sighting and charting Antarctica in November 1820, contributed much to the seafaring industries of the 1800s. His designs of clipper ships during the 1840s and 1850s put trade with China on the fast track, but it was a sealing expedition near the Earth’s southern pole that grabbed headlines.

Palmer, all of 21 years of age, was captain of the Hero when he spotted a peninsula jutting into the icy waters at the bottom of the Earth. A portion of the continent is named for him and, now, Connecticut lawmakers celebrate the anniversary of this exploration.

Senator Heather Somers visited the Capt. Nathaniel Palmer House, which is now a museum owned and operated by the Stonington Historical Society, to deliver Gov. Ned Lamont’s proclamation that Nov. 18, 2020, is Nathaniel Palmer Day. The senator was joined by Aimee Newell, executive director of the Historical Society, and Dan McFadden, director of communications for Mystic Seaport Museum. Both the Seaport and Stonington Historical Society have events scheduled for the week of Nov. 18 in celebration of Palmer’s legacy.

On Wednesday, Nov. 18, the Stonington Historical Society is wrapping up a three-part lecture series commemorating the life of Capt. Palmer, and the icy land at the southern pole. The final lecture features Dr. Glenn Gordinier. This presentation will get into the details of the voyage Palmer took when he sighted Antarctica, as well as the other competing claims to sighting the continent.

Mystic Seaport Museum is hosting several lectures on Friday, Nov. 20.

Gordinier is the Robert G. Albion Historian at Mystic Seaport and serves on the faculty of the Williams College-Mystic Seaport Maritime Studies Program. He has co-authored the book Fishing out of Stonington: Voices of the Fishing Families of Stonington, Connecticut.

Founded in 1895, the Stonington Historical Society preserves, interprets and celebrates the history of all of Stonington, Conn. The Historical Society owns and operates the Captain Nathaniel B. Palmer House, the Lighthouse Museum and the Woolworth Research Library, as well as maintaining its collection of objects and documents, and offering educational programming throughout the year. For more information, visit stoningtonhistory.org.