History & Preservation - Lighting the Way, Historic Women of the SouthCoast

Mary T. Vermette

Deeply rooted in her Azorean heritage, Dr. Mary T. Vermette (1934-2003) worked with the Azorean Maritime Heritage Society and the New Bedford Whaling Museum to promote Azorean culture and the shared whaling heritage between New Bedford and the Azores.

Sarah R. Delano

“If you bulldoze your heritage, you become just anywhere,” have become the most repeated words of Sarah R. Delano (1904-1994).

Photograph Of Hellen Ellis - A Young Woman Wearing A Dark Cap, Leaning Against Another Woman Out Of Frame

Helen Elizabeth Ellis

What do a tea room in Westport, a bookstore in New Bedford, special exhibits at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, and a children’s museum in Dartmouth all have in common?

Emily Howland Bourne

Emily Howland Bourne (1835-1922) showed the same careful planning in her inspired philanthropy as her father Jonathan showed as one of New Bedford’s most successful whaling merchants.

Elizabeth Carter Brooks

Equality was the vision of Elizabeth Carter Brooks (1867-1951) in her work as educator, social activist and architect.

Caroline Leonard Goodenough

Rochester’s Caroline Leonard Goodenough (1856-1946) and her husband spent 35 years as missionaries to the Zulus in Africa.