The Whaling Museum's New Wing "True Hall"
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ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON, June 12, the Whaling Museum's new addition was formally opened as the "True Hall." A large crowd of over 500 members and friends of the Nantucket Historical Associa tion were on hand, gathering in the main room and hallways of the Museum, where the ceremonies were conducted, with Renny A. Stackpole, Chairman of the Whaling Museum Committee. The pro gram began with an invocation by the Rev. J. Everett Bodge, pastor of the First Congregational Church. Several speakers then followed with tributes to Mr. True. Thomas McAuley, who served as an instructor in metal work at the Coffin School at the same time that Mr. True was an instructor in wood working; Mrs. Cecilia Huyser, of the staff at the Nantucket Cottage Hospital, who was also active during the term of Mr. True's tenure as the Hospital's adminstrator; Edouard A. Stackpole, the Association's Historian, who recalled the people of the past and present who con tributed to the growth of the Whaling Museum; and Walter Beinecke, Chairman of the Association's Executive Committee, who conducted the ceremony which officially dedicated the new Museum wing as "True Hall," and called upon Mrs. True to unveil the bronze plaque to be placed therein. Following the ceremonies, Mr. and Mrs. True, with their daughters and families, led the way into the Whale Room and down the ramp to the entrance of the new Hall. Within minutes, the crowd had complete ly filled the Hall, where they lingered at some length, enjoying the ex hibits and displays. The enthusiastic groups made an excellent complement to the busy scene, and the approval was warming, indeed, to the people who have worked so diligently to create an important and attractive addition to. the Whaling Museum. In the records of our Association's efforts to preserve the history of Nantucket, this Hall is a notable achievement. No more glorious an age in the Island's whaling traditions was that period when the ships from this tiny port roamed the oceans of the world in pursuit of the great sperm whale. Rounding the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn ranging from tropical waters to Arctic and An tarctic seas, they gave American maritime history some of its most adventuresome pages. As the whaling pioneers they revealed new areas, such as the central Pacific, the Japan Grounds, and the Australian and East Indian seas; after reaching the African coasts and the Falkland Islands before the Revolutionary War touched them in the South Atlantic. "Like so many Alexanders... they conquered the watery world"-so Melville termed it. The new structure has provided opportunity to present visually the great extent to their voyages. The Hadwen & Barney ship Alpha has become an excellent vessel to illustrate this point, as Hadwen & Barney
