The Whaling Museum’s current exhibition, “Whalers of the African Diaspora,” brings to light an important yet largely unrepresented aspect of Long Island’s history. The two-year special exhibition employs artifacts, videos, and art to explore the history of African American mariners and their contributions to the whaling industry.

The show was curated by Eastville Historical Society’s Dr. Georgette Grier-Key, whose scholarship seeks to preserve and celebrate Long Island’s BIPOC heritage. Asserting the whaling industry as one of the first true meritocracies, “Whalers of the African Diaspora”  provokes a dialogue about upward mobility in the power of oppression.

The exhibition is an immersive celebration of African American whalers, without which, the whaling industry would be at a disadvantage. Highlighting the pivotal voyages, inventions, and discoveries pioneered by Black whalers, the show strives to emphasize a previously overlooked, yet highly influential demographic.

Most importantly, “Whalers of the African Diaspora” shines a light on the discrimination that permeated the industry, despite the opportunities it offered. The inclusion of these details can be dark and uncomfortable, but their presence is a necessary step in confronting our past. Illustrating these notions are the show’s wide array of artifacts. Harpoons, letters, and footage of sea shanties create a fascinating narrative of life for African American whalers. The show does not shy away from the harsh realities of racism in Long Island, featuring accounts of prejudice aboard whaling ships and advertisements calling for the capture of those who fled enslavement. The show uses these items to bring a contemporary understanding to Long Island’s history, pertaining both to race and the whaling industry. The intersection of these two facets is an essential detail to acknowledge when considering the
trade’s impact on our region’s economy and culture. The raw nature of this exhibition is powerful, both in its ability to lay bare Long Island’s history, and to call attention to the significance of whaling as a transformative process.

At the center of the exhibition’s narrative is Pyrrhus Concer, an accomplished whaler from Long Island who became the first African American to visit Japan. Concer’s story exemplifies the powerful contributions of Black whalers, and the rare opportunities presented by the maritime industry. The formerly enslaved Concer began going on whaling voyages at the age of 18 and quickly rose to prominence among his peers. His extensive skills and experience allowed him to excel despite the discrimination prevalent in American society. On display in the museum are artifacts from Concer’s Southampton home, each fragment indicative of his life. House tools, medicine bottles, and porcelain shards paint a picture of Concer’s autonomy, health, and success. The inclusion of such objects is not only a testament to Concer’s outstanding skills, but an act of resistance against the oppressive
circumstances he was forced to overcome.

What's cookin'? How about Joe Frogger cookies?

While developing content for our new special exhibit, "From Sea To Shining Sea: Whalers of the African Diaspora," museum staff came across a recipe for for an oversized ginger cookie dating back to colonial times -- the Joe Frogger Cookie. 

​The cookie's creation is attributed to Lucretia Young, who was born in 1772 to two formerly enslaved people in Marblehead, Massachusetts, a seaport. She married Joseph Brown,  the son of an African American mother and Wampanoag Nation father, and who had been born into slavery to Rhode Island sheriff slaveowner Beriah Brown II. Little is known of Joe's early years, but he enlisted as a soldier in the Revolutionary war to take the place of his enslaver's son, who Joe said "left the company to go privateering." Beriah promised his liberty if he would serve out his son's time. Joe completed his enlistment in 10 months and 20 days, serving with 60 other men, and left the war a free man. 

During a time when unemployed freed Black people had to leave Marblehead, Lucretia and Joe operated a successful and busy tavern serving sailors. The building still stands today. 

There, Lucretia mixed sea water, rum, molasses, and spices to create a large, gingerbread-like cookie which sailors bought by the barrel - The Joe Frogger. While the exact origin of the name is unclear, as legend has it, she named the cookie after her husband and the nearby pond's wide, flat lily pads. Because the cookies lacked milk or eggs, the rum-preserved cookies had a long shelf life suitable for sea voyages, and were popular with fishermen and sailors.  
 
Joe and Lucretia were free people and property owners in a time when most African Americans were enslaved, yet its star ingredients— rum and molasses—are inextricably tied to the brutality of slavery.    

Find out more about Joe and Lucretia's life, including archival materials, from a post by the Marblehead Museum.