This exhibition draws from the NHA’s collections of portraits to highlight both famous and lesser-known Nantucketers whose life stories intersect with the themes and currents of the island’s history. The NHA’s collection contains hundreds of painted portraits representing people from the island’s past.
An exciting new addition this year will be the newly conserved 1851 painting called Nantucket Indian Princess by Hermine Dassel, on loan from the Rhode Island Historical Society. This portrait depicts eleven-year-old Isabella Draper, a young islander of mixed Nantucket Wampanoag and African American heritage.