As the U.S. marks the 250th anniversary of the American Revolutionary War, local historians have delved deeply into the history of the Revolution in Old Dartmouth. Different approaches reveal new and exciting stories related to the 1770s and 1780s in the areas now called Westport, Dartmouth, New Bedford, Fairhaven, and Acushnet. Join us this March at a virtual program to discuss their projects and the stories they have uncovered.
Local History Guild is the NBWM’s quarterly Zoom program, an informal discussion about art, history, science and culture related to the museum’s mission, collection, and the surrounding region. In this edition of the program, we will be joined by Jenny O’Neill (Executive Director, Westport Historical Society), Diane Gilbert (President, Dartmouth Heritage Preservation Trust), Jonathan Lane (Executive Director, Revolution 250), and Judith Lund (Curator Emerita, New Bedford Whaling Museum) in a discussion that will help listeners take a deeper dive into the past.
Jonathan Lane is Executive Director of Revolution 250 and has more than 30 years of experience in public history, tourism and cultural programming. . While his employment has led him to many leading institutions, including Plimoth-Patuxet, the American Antiquarian Society, Berklee College of Music and the Massachusetts Historical Society, his historical studies have taken him to libraries and archives throughout the U.S. and United Kingdom. He is the author of a monograph on songs for British Soldiers in the 18th century, and is the editor of “From the Potomac to the Etowah, the Civil War Correspondence of Alonzo Hall Quint.”
Diane Gilbert is the president of the Dartmouth Heritage Preservation Trust (DHPT) and with a board of directors has managed the 1762 Elihu Akin House since 2008. She is a self-taught life-long learner in historic preservation and has directed the preservation efforts of the Akin House on the corner of Dartmouth and Rockland Streets. She has curated art exhibitions at the New Bedford Art Museum, served on the Dartmouth Select Board and the Dartmouth Historical Commission, and was a volunteer docent at the NBWM for over ten years.
Jenny O’Neill is the Executive Director of the Westport Historical Society. She has been immersed in the history of Westport for nearly two decades and has been a key player in the restoration of the Handy House, and most recently, in the rehabilitation of the historical society’s headquarters, the Bell School, which in late 2025 reopened as the freshly reimagined Westport History Center. She is a citizen of the world with roots in Australia and the United Kingdom, and currently resides in Fairhaven.
Judith N. Lund is an independent historian and Curator Emerita of the New Bedford Whaling Museum. She has researched extensively and published such volumes as Whaling Masters and Whaling Voyages Sailing from American Ports (2001) and with Beverly Glennon, Greetings from Dartmouth Massachusetts (2003).
