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Episode 217: Whaling Songs w Stephen Sanfilippo
Long Island played a major role in the development of whaling in the Americas. Native Americans along the south shore were well practiced in harvesting whales near the coast. They shared their knowledge with early settlers, leading to chartered companies and competition for what became, for much of the 19th century, a very lucrative industry. And nowhere was this industry more visible than out of Sag Harbor. Men boarded ships for multi-year voyages around the globe, in a dangerous pursuit to hunt, kill, and dismember giant creatures of the sea. And while they worked at this pursuit, they sang. Stephen Sanfilippo has been tracking whaling songs for the better part of sixty years, preserving and performing them with his wife Susan at festivals, libraries, and historical societies. Some his best finds have come from reading the private journals of seaman in the Sag Harbor whale fishery. These literate young men recorded life on ship, including the lyrics to many of the ballads, shanties, and ditties sung by the crew in the course of their work. On today’s episode, Stephen relates the history and preservation of these songs along with what the sources can and cannot tell us about oral traditions and the life of a whaler. Along the way you’ll get a masterclass in the history of Long Island whaling and the chance to sing along. Related Research Isle of Beauty, Fare-Thee-Well (Long Island History Journal) “Seasongs” newsletter: email seasonghistory@gmail.com Sag Harbor Whaling and Historical Museum The Whaling Museum and Education Center (Cold Spring Harbor) Whaling bibliography Moby Dick, or The Whale by Herman Melville (find in a library via WorldCat) Songs the Whalemen Sang by Gale Huntington (find in a library via WorldCat) Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana (find in a library via WorldCat) The Sea Lions or The Lost Sealers by James Fenimore Cooper (find in a library via WorldCat) LogBook for Grace by Robert Cushman Murphy (find in a library via WorldCat) Into the Deep: America, Whaling and the World (PBS) Audio Footnotes John Strong, Tracing the Whale Design Brenna McCormick Thompson, We Were the Whalers Music Intro: https://homegrownstringband.com/ Outro: Capering by Blue Dot Sessions CC BY-NC 4.0; Isle of Beauty, Fare-Thee-Well (Susan and Stephen Sanfilippo)
The Long Island History Project
http://longislandhistoryproject.org
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