Captain William A. Martin of Edgartown was that rarest of things, an African American Whaling Captain.
As difficult, dangerous, and sometimes financially unrewarding as whaling was, it still beat slavery by miles. By some estimates thirty percent of the thousands of whalers before the Civil War were minorities. A few even overcame all the odds and rose through the ranks to command ships. More than thirty African American whaling captains have been identified, one of whom, William A. Martin, was born on Martha’s Vineyard.
Skip Finley
In the Northeast, it is considered the great storm of the twentieth century, a hurricane that came crashing up the Eastern Seaboard without warning on September 21, 1938.
Tom Dunlop
Charlotte Perkins was in her early twenties when she came to the Vineyard for two weeks. Initially she stayed in Cottage City (Oak Bluffs).
Wendy Palmer
Known by a lyrical name – the Place on the Wayside – this tablet, set in granite in 1901 and rededicated in 2008 by the Daughters of the American Revolution, marks the earliest event recalled by a monument on the Island.
Tom Dunlop
A creative scientist perfected his formula in Edgartown.
Lorraine St. Pierre
Due west of Portugal, this archipelago of nine volcanic islands holds strong family and cultural connections for a number of Martha’s Vineyard residents.
Phyllis Meras
Late in the afternoon of January 17, 1944, two young servicemen died in an accident at what is now the Martha’s Vineyard Airport.
Tom Dunlop