A special exhibition of selections from the Historical Graphic Novel Quaker Whaler Traitor Spy! by Dr. Sarah Crabtree, Illustrated by Melissa Philley.
William Rotch was one of the unluckiest men of the eighteenth century. Accused of treason four times by three governments in two decades (1775 – 1795), he became a cautionary tale for any who dared dissent. A member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and thus a pacifist, he vehemently opposed the wars for independence and empire during the late eighteenth century. But William Rotch was also one of the luckiest men of the eighteenth century. Whaling was an exceptional industry in that the factory was a floating one. Ships could be at sea for years at a time, staffed with a motley crew, frequenting ports the world over. Rotch shrewdly used these factors to his advantage, amassing a fortune by exploiting the very political fragmentation he so adamantly protested. Beginning with the Boston Tea Party, the Rotches stretched the bounds of acceptable business practice by claiming residency – simultaneously – in three different countries. This tactic landed Rotch in court almost as frequently as his antiwar stance, but here too he won acquittal.
So was William Rotch a Quaker? A whaler? A traitor? A spy? This exhibit invites the viewer – you! – to decide which label best describes him. Along the way, we’ll revisit some famous (and infamous!) events and we’ll hear from a few characters you’ve definitely heard of and some maybe you haven’t. What we hope is that you’ll agree his-story is a way of reapproaching how history is made – a story that is as much about who and what we remember as how and why we remember them.
