This online exhibit was built from material assembled for a live exhibition at the Westport Historical Society August 26, 2006, to September 4, 2006. (See announcement and slide show.) While there are obvious differences – the Web site can’t contain artifacts, for example, and the live exhibit has no “search” function – there is a general similarity in that the material is designed to be browsed at your pace and according to your interests.
To that end, the major organizational structure is a series of entries that are grouped under general and specific topics. A single entry may appear under several different topics. When you click on a topic heading you will get a list of links – a menu of sorts – annotated with brief excerpts from the entry. Entries may be a few sentences long – or 1,000 words or more.
There is no “correct” way to go through the material. You are encouraged to browse. But if you click on each of the major topics and visit each entry under that topic, you will have covered the entire exhibit. (Major topics include People, Head of Westport, Westport Point, and Whaling Disasters.)
The online exhibit offers several advantages, of course. The material can be reached from anywhere in the world; it may be updated and/or edited at any time by those with appropriate access; and it may be searched. One suggestion regarding searching: If you are looking for a specific word or phrase and your search takes you to a lengthy entry, use the “search this page” feature of your Web browser to get you to exactly what you want. Such search capabilities are usually found in the “Edit” menu of your Web browser.
Aside from that, enjoy, there is a smorgasbord here of original material and images, providing an intimate entry into the era of Westport whaling where you can satisfy your curiosity about everything from cannibalism to learning where the homes once occupied by the whaling masters and owners are today. Make your own delightful discoveries about the people, places, and events of this “perilous life.”