Introduction Part Two: A History of Whaling & Maritime Commerce

Hudson logo paying homage to Hudson's whaling history

Everyone who drives through the city of Hudson sees signs with the whale logo paying homage to Hudson's beginnings. The early history of whaling has captured people's collective imaginations for centuries. From Herman Melville's classic American novel, Moby Dick, to the widely circulated whaling engravings of Frederick Marten's Peche du Cachalot, whaling has been romanticized in movies, art, literature and song. 

The Hudson City seal

In preparation for this exhibit we researched as institutions and repositories in the Northeast and obtained facsimilies of documents from Hudson's early history. This exhibit covers the story of the birth and early years of Hudson and attempts to give a vivid sense of what Hudson was like when its river port was the heart of the city. 

We also focus on individual captains and crew members, the women who became head of their household while their husbands were at sea or accompanied their husbands on voyages, and Black mariners who risked their lives, in an industry that was dangerous but had a place for them to find their fortunes. 

Moby Dick

Our hope is that this exhibit will lead to more research, exploration, contextualization, and understanding of this period in the history of our city and ournation. 

Note: Hudson: A History of Whaling & Maritime Commerce is based on extensive research by independent researcher Richard Bazelow as well as the work of staff and volunteers at our three institutions. It is a coordinated 3-site exhibit celebrating one of the most interesting parts of our local history. Each site focuses on a specific aspect of whaling: 

• The Hudson Area Library explores the early years of Hudson and the role whaling and maritime commerce played in forming our city;

• The Hendrick Hudson Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution focuses on women in whaling and explores the untold stories of the wives who remained on shore and those who set sail with their sea-captain husbands. It looks at how women in this era and this place lived, adapted, survived and thrived; 

• The Columbia county Historical society exhibit features an immersive, illustrated timeline from the 1600's to present day bringing to life the historical context of whaling. The exhibit highlights captivating whaling stories from the origins of Moby Dick, the unique opportunities for Black Mariners to the gripping accounts of whaling ships of the Port of Hudson. 

We invite you to step back in time and join us on this voyage of early Hudson and Columbia County, when hopes were high, yet nothing was certain.