The Town Of Stonington Celebrates Nathaniel Palmer Day

Press release from the Town of Stonington:

November 18, 2020

200 years ago a 21-year-old ship captain from Stonington sighted the last continent, and the state of Connecticut is commemorating the anniversary.

Capt. Nathaniel Palmer is credited with sighting and charting Antarctica in November 1820. He also contributed 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, who was 21 years old, 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.

• Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 6:30 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. Please register here.
  • 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.
• Friday, November 20th, the Mystic Seaport Museum will open a “mini exhibit” in the Thompson Exhibition Building lobby as well as present a series of virtual talks on Antarctica to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Nathaniel Palmer’s sighting of Antarctica. A list of the virtual talks can be found here.

A thank you to the Stonington Historical Society for sharing this information with the Town of Stonington. 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.

Those interested in learning more can also watch our video, found below.

Community Connections: Stonington Historical Society - Captain Nathaniel B. Palmer

This press release was produced by the Town of Stonington.The views expressed here are the author’s own.