New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park ⓘ

New Bedford’s rise as the world’s whaling capital not only drove its economic prosperity but also transformed its social and cultural landscape. Long before the city’s whaling success, Wampanoags communities inhabited and stewarded the land traveling between their coastal summer homes and inland winter agricultural lands. For thousands of years, the Wampanoag people sustained their communities with deep connections to the land and sea. Their legacy as the original caretakers of this region is integral to understanding New Bedford’s full history. As European settlers arrived and New Bedford grew into a global whaling hub in the 19th century, the city attracted a diverse range of cultures and communities, becoming more ethnically varied than even Boston or New York. Sailors, entrepreneurs, abolitionists, formerly enslaved men, women, and children and immigrants from across the globe contributed to New Bedford’s dynamic identity, while Indigenous peoples, including the Wampanoag, continued to play vital roles in the city’s evolving industries, particularly as skilled whalemen. Their connection to the sea, passed down through generations, remained crucial to the success of the whaling ships. Beyond the whaling industry, New Bedford became a beacon of progress. It served as a refuge for freedom seekers, with many African Americans escaping slavery via the Underground Railroad. Immigrants from Portugal, Cape Verde, and the Azores also brought their skills and labor, further enriching the city’s cultural and economic fabric. This diverse population championed social justice, contributing to movements like abolitionism and workers’ rights, and helped shape New Bedford’s identity as a place of resilience, innovation, and inclusion. As you explore the stories below, you’ll meet some of the remarkable individuals who lived in or journeyed to New Bedford. From indigenous caretakers of the land to freedom seekers and immigrant laborers, these pioneers shaped the city in profound ways. Their legacies of courage, ambition, and cultural fusion continue to resonate today. New Bedford’s story is one of human endeavor—where indigenous heritage, diverse communities, and forward-thinking ideals came together to shape a remarkable city and its future. Discover how these unique contributions laid the foundation for New Bedford’s lasting legacy.

By the 1820s, the growing whaling industry attracted workers from all different backgrounds, including free and escaped African Americans, Pequot and Wampanoag natives, Cape Verdeans, Pacific Islanders, and Europeans. The job opportunities and diversity within the city fostered a civil rights movement and opportunities for people of all backgrounds. In 1830, New Bedford's population totaled 7,592 residents; by 1834, the number of black seamen in the city nearly quadrupled. By 1837, the population and economy had grown so much that New Bedford officially became a city. Its 16,000 residents included 1,047 African Americans, 400 of whom were fugitive slaves. Black men owned property, paid taxes, and could vote. Black families lived among white ones in some neighborhoods, and black children attended schools with white children, although they were seated separately. In 1833, African Americans created the New Bedford Union Society, an antislavery group. The following year local black and white abolitionists created the New Bedford Anti Slavery Society. When Congress approved the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, which required citizens to return runaway slaves to their masters, New Bedford Quakers Sarah Arnold and Elizabeth Rodman gathered 1,729 signatures to petition for its repeal. By 1853, New Bedford housed 1,008 African American inhabitants; 700 of them were escaped slaves. By 1855, the city had 20,389 residents.

Dressed as a mariner and carrying another seaman’s protection papers, Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey boarded a train in Baltimore, Maryland in September 1838. As a slave, this escape attempt was a federal crime. Bailey was born into slavery in Talbot County, Maryland in 1818. Later, his master leased him out as a caulker in Baltimore, where he worked on the wharves to make ships water-tight. In the 1830s, he met Anna Murray, a free woman who would aid his escape. Murray worked as a domestic servant in Baltimore; she sold a feather bed to buy Bailey's train ticket north. At 20 years of age, Bailey traveled from Maryland to Delaware, and then to Philadelphia, before landing in New York City. In New York, Bailey sent for Murray. The two married in New York on September 15, 1838 − 12 days after Bailey had set off from Maryland. New York was a free state, but it was still not safe for the newlyweds. The couple took the name Johnson, and caught a steamer bound for Newport, Rhode Island. Frederick and Anna Johnson landed in Newport the next morning. There, they met Quakers William C. Taber and Joseph Ricketson of New Bedford, Massachusetts. With their help, the couple boarded a stagecoach and traveled north to New Bedford. They arrived on September 17, and were welcomed by African-American abolitionists Nathan and Polly Johnson . While in their home at 21 Seventh Street, Nathan Johnson encouraged Frederick to adopt the surname Douglass. As Frederick Douglass , the escaped slave would earn his first wages, start a family, and become an internationally-renowned speaker and abolitionist.

In 1839, Frederick and Anna Douglass moved to 157 Elm Street, their first home located in an African American neighborhood in the West End of New Bedford. Douglass’ daughter, Rosetta Douglass Sprague, later recorded in a memoir of her mother, Anna Murray Douglass: My Mother as I Recall Her, 1900, reprint 1923:

“In 1890 I was taken by my father to these rooms on Elm Street, New Bedford, Massachusetts, overlooking Buzzards Bay. This was my birthplace. Every detail as to the early housekeeping was gone over, it was indelibly impressed upon his mind, even to the hanging of a towel on a particular nail. Many of the dishes used by my mother at the time were in our Rochester home and kept as souvenirs of those first days of housekeeping.”

In 1841, Douglass moved his growing family to larger quarters in the northern end of town. Their new home at 111 Ray Street (now Acushnet Avenue) was located near the wharves where Douglass often worked. Shortly after arriving in New Bedford, Douglass headed toward the wharves, but stopped short after spotting a pile of coal outside a Union Street home. At 174 Union Street, he met Mrs. Ephraim Peabody and asked if he could put the coal away for her. She consented, and paid Douglass two silver half-dollars for his work. This was his first paid job.

Douglass also worked as a laborer on the wharves for Rodney French and George Howland. There, he had wanted to work as a caulker, making the ships water-tight. However, he encountered resistance from white caulkers. Douglass also worked at Anthony D. Richmond’s foundry.

In New Bedford, Frederick and Anna Douglass maintained their commitment to the Methodist faith. They attended several Methodist churches in New Bedford before joining the newly established African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and became active “in the several capacities of sexton, steward, class leader, clerk and local preacher.” ( Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself , 1845). Meanwhile, Douglass avidly read The Liberator , an abolitionist paper, and was increasingly fueled by New Bedford’s strong anti-slavery activity.

Douglass himself registered to vote less than a year after arriving in New Bedford, and the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church became his platform for articulating his beliefs about slavery and freedom. Local banker William C. Coffin heard Douglass speak, probably in 1841 when the church was located on North Second Street, and was so impressed by Douglass’ sermon that he invited Douglass to speak in Nantucket. Douglass traveled to Nantucket in August 1841, and there delivered an impassioned address that launched his career as an antislavery lecturer.

Frederick Douglass used his personal experience to give a human face to the sufferings of slavery. He rose quickly to prominence as a favorite abolitionist and anti-slavery speaker, traveling throughout the country and world to shed light on the horrors of America’s “peculiar institution.” He campaigned tirelessly across the country, speaking nearly every day to audiences large and small in public parks, town squares, lecture halls, churches, schoolhouses, and any place an audience could be assembled.

Douglass also worked hard for the equal treatment of all. He was one of the few men who attended the first Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848. He fought for black men’s right to serve in the Union Army during the Civil War, encouraging the formation of the 54 th Massachusetts Regiment in 1863. He served as a political delegate in the Reconstruction South to ensure black suffrage. He spoke out frequently in support of equal employment and social opportunities, and against lynchings, discrimination, and “ Jim Crow .” Frederick Douglass will long be remembered as a noted orator, writer, publisher, politician, entrepreneur, political activist, national celebrity, and historical figure. He left an indelible mark on the social, economic, and political landscape of the nineteenth century.

Frederick Douglass hated slavery and dreamed of freedom from an early age. His desire to know a better world triggered his effort to learn to read and write long before he was able to escape slavery — but his exposure to a community of politically aware and active people of color in New Bedford gave life to the idea that he might himself become an effective foe of slavery and advocate for freedom. Douglass was not the only fugitive to go from a life in New Bedford to antislavery activism. But his presence and prominence helped to stamp the city as a refuge for fugitives, a past of which the city remains proud to this day. Three of Douglass’ five children were also born in New Bedford. Rosetta Douglass was born on June 24, 1839. Lewis Henry Douglass was born on October 9, 1840. Frederick Douglass, Jr. was born on March 3, 1842 before the Douglass family moved to Lynn, Massachusetts. Charles Remond Douglass was born on October 21, 1844 in Lynn. Annie Douglass was born on March 22, 1849 in Rochester, New York; she died at the age of 10 years old.

Henry Brown was born into slavery in Virginia in 1815. Brown dreamed of freedom, and convinced a storekeeper to ship him to freedom in a crate. On March 29, 1849, Brown climbed into a wooden box that was 3-feet and 1-inch long, 2-feet and 6-inches high, and 2-feet wide, and had three holes for air. Brown carried water and a tool for boring more holes with him into the box. His friends sealed the box with nails, and Brown was shipped express from Richmond, Virginia to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The box traveled onto a wagon and steamboat. Though marked "this side up," Brown's box was turned downward twice during the 27-hour ride, and once remained so for 18 miles.

"I felt my eyes swelling as if they would burst from their sockets; and the veins on my temples were dreadfully distended with pressure of blood upon my head. —Henry Brown, Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown, Written by Himself

Upon arriving in Philadelphia, the city's vigilance committee sent Brown on to New York City. From there, he was sent to Joseph Ricketson in New Bedford. “I received your very valuable consignment of 200 pounds of Humanity last evening and as merchants say will dispose of it to the best advantage,” Ricketson wrote to New York abolitionist Sydney Howard Gay on March 30, 1849. Following his arrival in Massachusetts, Brown joined the growing abolitionist movement. He attended meetings in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and New York. There, he found support from friends and other anti-slavery advocates.

On January 3, 1841, the 359-ton square-rigged whaleship Acushnet left New Bedford harbor for the Pacific Ocean. This scene had played out many times before in the seaport, but this particular vessel had among its crew the 21-year-old Herman Melville. Desiring adventure and still reeling from his father’s death, Melville sought to pacify his “reckless and rebellious side”; he signed onto the whaling crew on December 30, 1840. In the following 18 months, Melville not only learned about the whaling trade, but found inspiration for the American novel Moby Dick . It was not surprising that Melville chose New Bedford as his point of embarkation. In 1841, the port was the whaling capital of the world. Its waterfront teemed with sailors and tradespeople, drawn by the industry’s promise of prosperity and adventure. By 1823, New Bedford had surpassed Nantucket in the number of whaling ships leaving its harbor each year. By 1840, with the arrival of the railroad and easier access to New York and Boston markets, New Bedford became the dominant port. A decade after his whaling adventure, Melville wrote Moby Dick at his home in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Structures like the Seamen’s Bethel , Custom House, and the Benjamin Rodman house may have inspired Melville to write so vividly about the New Bedford landscape in Chapters 2 and 13 of the novel. Though some buildings are long-gone, the city of New Bedford retains some of the landmarks and a good deal of the character that sparked Melville’s imagination.

John James Audubon (1785-1851) was one of America’s greatest scientists. An immigrant to America and with no formal education, he revolutionized the field of ornithology (the study of birds). He was the first person to create images of birds in full-scale, using exact measurements. In his pictures, he also painted the birds in their natural habitat, showing how they are part of a larger ecosystem. These techniques were revolutionary in the sciences. And his greatest work, The Birds of America, is considered a masterpiece of science as well as art. Today, there are only 117 complete, original copies of The Birds of America double elephant folio (2 feet by 3 feet pages) and one is in New Bedford.

A massive undertaking in 1826, publishing the book cost a tremendous amount of money. To pay for his work, Audubon sold pre-order subscriptions around the country. Since New Bedford was one of the wealthiest cities in America, he came here seeking buyers. James Arnold was the only person in town to preorder a copy of the double-elephant folio, an extra-large, life-size print of each image for $870 ($22,890.14 in 2021). Audubon stayed in the Arnold Mansion on County Street ( Home - James Arnold Mansion, Inc. ) during this time. That original copy is still in New Bedford today. It is in the collection at New Bedford Free Public Library ( Main Library - Library - City of New Bedford Official Website (newbedford-ma.gov) ). Fifty years after his death, a society of ornithologists named their organization after him, The Audubon Society.

The story of James Audubon’s time in New Bedford paints a broader picture about how wealthy people are often patrons of the arts and sciences. In the 1800s, artists found patronage among the many tremendously wealthy people living here. Much of this art is still in the collection of the libraries and museums of New Bedford today.

was born on October 9, 1840 in New Bedford, Massachusetts to Frederick Douglass and Anna Murray Douglass . Lewis was a member of Company F of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War. The infantry was one of the first official black units in the United States armed forces. Lewis Douglass was promoted to Sergeant Major on March 25, 1863. Led by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw — formerly a young white officer whose parents were wealthy and prominent abolitionists, Lewis Douglass participated in the assault on Fort Wagner on July 18, 1863. Of the 600 men that Shaw led over the Confederate stronghold in Charleston, South Carolina, 281 were killed, wounded, or captured. Lewis was one of those wounded during the battle. Despite being outnumbered by the 1,700 Confederate soldiers waiting at the fort, the battle secured the 54th Massachusetts’ place in history. The infantry went on to participate in successful sieges in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, and returned to Boston in September 1865. Lewis Douglass died on September 19, 1908.

As a free African American woman, Mary J. "Polly" Johnson was devoted to assisting those in slavery. The Johnson home at 21 Seventh Street sheltered Frederick Douglass (1838-1839), as well as others seeking freedom.In the early 19th century, Polly established a confectionary business in her home. The New Bedford community was rich and prosperous due to the lucrative whaling industry. People had money to spend on extravagances, such as entertaining guests, providing the ideal environment for Polly’s catering business. By 1835, Polly had established herself as a prominent confectioner. Her skill as a candy and pastry maker helped support her family during the years her husband was purchasing properties on Seventh and Spring Streets.In the 1840s, several of Nathan’s business endeavors failed. He traveled to California during the gold rush in an attempt to reverse his fortunes. While Nathan was away Polly took responsibility for the family home and other properties. She was a strong and independent woman. Polly died in 1871, beloved within the African American community as a steadfast abolitionist, and within the larger community as a successful confectioner.

Though Bostonian socialites, the famed Weston sisters actively supported the anti-slavery movement. Maria Weston Chapman was the eldest of eight children born to Warren and Nancy Bates Weston in Weymouth, Massachusetts. The Weston family — descendants of the Pilgrims — lived on a farm, and the children went to local schools. Maria completed her education in London, and became principal of a girls' high school upon her return to Boston in 1828. In 1830, Maria and Henry Grafton Chapman married. Her father-in-law Henry Chapman, a wealthy Boston merchant, refused to participate in the cotton trade and supported the immediate abolition of slavery. Maria became a founder of the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society, and occasionally edited the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator for friend and publisher William Lloyd Garrison. Maria Chapman also organized and ran 22 yearly anti-slavery fairs in Boston beginning in 1834. In 1843, Maria opened a girls' school in Boston alongside her sisters Caroline, Anne, and Deborah. The Weston sisters taught at the Boston school, as well as at Friends Academy in New Bedford. Deborah Weston came to New Bedford in the 1830s. She gathered signatures and raised funds for antislavery work. She also boycotted the Lyceum for refusing to admit blacks, and attended lectures by Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, and Wendell Phillips.

The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment was one of the first federally recognized African American regiments that fought in the Civil War. An enlistment station for Company C was located in downtown New Bedford, adjacent to the U.S. Custom House. More than 60 New Bedford men enlisted in Company C or other companies of the 54th Regiment. A brick walkway with their names was dedicated at the former recruitment site in 2016.

In February 1999, the city of New Bedford dedicated this William Street plaza as a memorial to New Bedford people of color who fought for the Union Army during the Civil War. More than 100 years prior, the site served as a recruiting station for those troops. The 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was the first African American regiment ever commissioned in United States history. In 1863, some 50 New Bedford men of color enlisted in the 54th and 55th regiment, the latter formed from the surplus of recruits. In total, more than 350 New Bedford men of color served in the Union forces between 1861 and 1865 in the 54th and 55th Regiments, the 5th Cavalry, and the U.S. Navy. Some soldiers are known to have escaped slavery before enlisting, including William Carney, John L. Wright, and Wesley Furlong.

Tobey & Coggeshall was a successful New Bedford tinsmith and plumbing storefront located directly west of the U.S. Custom House . In 1863, the building also served as the recruiting office for Company C of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry . The 54th Massachusetts Infantry was the first African-American regiment in U.S. history. Opening on February 10, 1863, 120 men enlisted in this building, with more than 25 percent being New Bedford residents. The building was later demolished and the site is now home to the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Plaza.

As the whaling industry grew, the number of seamen in Bedford Village ranged from 5,000 to 10,000 — nearly equaling the population of the village! Their lives, however, vastly contrasted those of locals. Whalemen sought out gambling dens, brothels, saloons, and dance halls. Leading citizens observed that these establishments were “detrimental to the dignity and good order of our community.” Additionally, Quaker whaling merchants were concerned that whalemen spent the wages of a multi-year voyage in just a few days on such pursuits, leaving them broke and without means of support. In response, town citizens met in 1830 to discuss the situation. The resulting New Bedford Port Society for the Moral Improvement of Seamen was organized. They immediately offered church services to whalemen before they shipped out on whaling voyages. Services were held either at the waterfront or in the Town Hall. Between the impracticality of waterfront services and the difficulty of constantly arranging to use the Town Hall, the Port Society concluded that they needed their own building. In 1832, the Seamen’s Bethel was dedicated as a nondenominational church and serves today in that capacity. The term “bethel” comes from two Hebrew words, “Beth” and “El.” Beth means “House” and El means “God,” so it is a Seamen’s House of God or a Seamen’s Church.

Whaling was dangerous, so many seamen attended services at the Bethel prior to shipping out on whaling voyages. Herman Melville was among those so inclined. The 20-year-old Melville attended Bethel services between his late-December arrival to New Bedford in 1840, and the day he sailed out on January 3, 1841. The pew he sat in is located in the southeast corner of the Seamen's Chapel, and is marked for visitors. The result of Melville’s whaling voyage was Moby Dick. Though a novel, much of Moby Dick is based in fact. Melville writes with such detail about the processing of the captured whale because he lived it for 18 months. That information is based on his experience. The cenotaph of Captain William Swain (next to the northwest window) confirms that Captain Ahab’s entanglement and drowning was in fact the way that some whalemen died. At the end of the novel, Moby Dick rams and sinks the Pequod; this is modeled after the experience of the whaleship Essex, which was rammed and sunk by a sperm whale.

The pulpit described in Moby Dick has helped make the Seamen's Chapel famous, yet it is the result of Melville’s imagination. When Melville describes the Whalemen’s Chapel, he writes that the pulpit is suggestive of the front of a ship. In 1840 however, the pulpit was not prow-shaped; it was most likely a typical New England box-style pulpit. The pulpit in the Seamen's Chapel today was not inspired by Melville's book so much as it was the 1956 film Moby Dick . Director John Huston unmistakedly depicts the pulpit as the prow of a ship, and films the movie in his native country Ireland. As a result of the movie's success, Americans travel to New Bedford to see the famous pulpit, and were peeved to discover that it didn't exist. The New Bedford Port Society listened to visitors' grumblings for years before deciding to build a mock-up of the nautical-themed pulpit. Visitors first viewed the new pulpit in 1961, and the Port Society has reported that the grumblings have since stopped.

The tablets mounted on the side walls look a bit like gravestones. In a sense, that’s what they are. They are called cenotaphs , which translates to “empty grave” in Greek. When a whaleman was lost or buried at sea, family and friends ashore had no grave to visit. If they desired, they could pay to have a cenotaph placed in the Seamen's Chapel. The cenotaph offers them a place to pay respects to loved ones, similarly to visiting a cemetery. Cenotaphs provide insight into the dangerous lives of whalemen, as they often mention how men died. Men fell overboard, or fell from a loft and were drowned. Others were simply “lost at sea.” One cenotaph tells of a young man dying hours after a shark bit him. Disease awaited whalemen visiting foreign ports; consumption (tuberculosis), yellow fever, and malaria (among others) all claimed lives.

Dr. Marie Equi spent most of her life in the Pacific Northwest as a medical doctor and social activist, but her childhood in New Bedford influenced her outlook on life and community. Born in 1872 to John and Sarah (Mullins) Aque (sic), an Italian-Irish immigrant family, Marie fell ill to tuberculosis as a child. While Marie recovered, she lost 3 siblings and 3 cousins to various health conditions. She attended some school while working in the mills, where according to her teachers Marie was outspoken and sharp-witted. In 1889 a school friend, Bess Holcomb, helped Marie find scholarships for boarding and classes at the Northfield Seminary for Young Ladies. Sadly, Marie was not awarded a second year of scholarships so she returned home.

John and Sarah Aque (sic) provided for their family through their work in the masonry trade and textile industry. John Aque (sic) brought his masonry knowledge from Italy and then became active in New Bedford’s worker movement. Marie had memories of him hosting striking laborers at meals when she was young; she along with her family, likely witnessed the Wamsutta Strike of 1877, which took place near their waterfront neighborhood on South Second Street. Sarah Aque (sic) worked in the textile mills, most likely as a weaver. Marie also worked in the mills before leaving New Bedford.

New Bedford in the 1870s was city with a changing culture and identity. The discovery of petroleum in 1859, the Civil War, and the Arctic Disaster of 1871 set the stage for urban industrialization in late 19th century New Bedford. The local captains of industry had once funded integrated and international whaleships, and now invested in local mills with a European workforce. Cotton textile mills hired immigrants mostly from England, Ireland, and Germany, and excluded the Black and indigenous Wampanoag communities, who already lived in New Bedford, from employment.

At age 20, Marie left New Bedford and met Bess in Oregon where they took advantage of the Oregon Donation Land Act, which granted Waco and Wishram indigenous land to the mostly white settlers who “improved” the land. By 1901, Bess and Marie had gone their separate ways and Marie went off to excel in medical school, despite never having graduated high school.

As a physician for over 20 years, Dr. Equi was a Fellow of the American Medical Association and was decorated by the U.S. Army. However, her true passion focused on women’s and children’s health. She was known to also provide abortions on a sliding scale and with such discretion that no legal actions regarding this illegal practice were able to be levied against her. Dr. Equi was a known activist, a self proclaimed anti-war radical who advocated for family planning, labor reform, women’s suffrage and rights, fair wages, first amendment rights, and prison reform.

Dr. Equi’s activism revolved around her life in Portland, Oregon. She became a member of the International Worker’s of the World, or Wobblies. She learned of labor abuses and dangerous working conditions from her working class and poor patients, often joining them at protests. She was called “Doc” by family, friends and protesters alike. Dr. Equi used her social capital as a successful medical doctor to speak at protests when union members or other workers would otherwise be pulled own from their soapboxes, fired, beaten, or worse.

For over 10 years, Dr. Equi live openly and infamously with Harriet Speckart, In 1915 they adopted a three-week old girl, named Mary Junior. Speckart was her immediate caregiver and Mary Jr recalled Dr. Equi saying “If the police come, you run.” when she attended events with her “Da”, short for Doc. Dr. Equi knew public attitudes and laws against her activism and sexuality could put her family in danger. After Dr. Equi and Speckart stopped living together, they remained on good terms and co-parented Mary Jr until Speckart’s death in 1927.

By 1918 Dr. Equi had entered a romantic relationship with Irish nationalist and journalist Katherine “Kitty” O’Brennan. However, with the use of wiretaps and holes drilled through the walls of Dr. Equi’s home and office, Margaret Lowell Paul, an acquaintance of O’Brennan’s and undercover federal agent, reported on both of them. The very next year Dr. Marie Equi was arrested for a previous protest at a War Preparedness parade. While awaiting a verdict, Dr. Equi wrote to President Wilson’s office requesting clemency, maintaining that her same-sex relationships- not her participation at protests- were the root of the federal investigation against her.

Under the Espionage Act, she was found guilty of sedition and sentenced to San Quentin Prison in California for a year and a day, though she made early release for good behavior after ten months. Because of this conviction, Dr. Equi did not retain the right to vote that white women had won just two months before her imprisonment. On December 24, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt pardoned her and other Americans convicted of wartime sedition. On July 13, 1952 at the age of 80, Dr. Marie Equi died and is entombed at Portland Memorial along side Harriet Speckart.

1871-1872, 1875-1876, and 1887 City Directories ( http://www.whalingcity.net/city_directories.html )

Behind the Mansions ( https://www.nps.gov/subjects/ugrr/discover_history/upload/NEBEBehindMansions.pdf )

Step into New Bedford, famously known as the "City that Lit the World," where history and culture converge into a powerful and inspirational story. While the city earned its reputation as the heart of the 19th-century whaling industry, its stories go far beyond the whaling ships. Here, you'll uncover the courageous efforts of those involved in the Underground Railroad, understand why immigration brought diverse global communities to its shores, and how the rise of a vibrant textile industry shaped its economic future. Explore the evolution of commerce, industry, and human rights that have left lasting marks on the city's character and community. Each chapter of New Bedford's past tells a story of resilience, innovation, and cultural fusion. Whether you're passionate about maritime history, civil rights, or the industrious spirit that built the city, there’s much to discover. Click through the tabs below to embark on a journey through New Bedford’s extraordinary heritage, where every corner holds a piece of history waiting to be explored.