On Wednesday, July 19, at 6:30 pm, historian and Martha’s Vineyard Museum research librarian A. Bowdoin (“Bow”) Van Riper, will share stories about the William Street Historic District at the Vineyard Haven library. Learn about the streets adjoining the Vineyard Haven library, which are known for their beautiful 19th century houses. Behind the shingle and clapboard walls are a wealth of stories about millionaires and misers, whaling masters and steamboat captains, a merchant prince whose daughter was a wartime saboteur, an ecclesiastical arms race, and a tabletop fleet of 15,000 ships. Van Riper shares these tales and more in a fast-paced talk exploring the extraordinary lives of some of the residents of these deceivingly ordinary streets.
Van Riper started coming to the Vineyard as a summer kid before he could walk. For the next 48 summers, he returned for part or all of the season, eventually moving to the Island full-time in 2011. A former university history professor, and the author, editor, or co-editor of more than 20 books, he has been research librarian at the museum since 2014. Van Riper lives in a 19th century house on Hatch Road where, as far as he can tell, nothing of historical significance ever happened.
This event is free, and sponsored by the Vineyard Haven Library Building Fund, a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization made up of community volunteers. The building fund is undertaking a capital campaign to support the ongoing effort to enhance the library with an additional multipurpose meeting room. To learn more, visit vhlibrarybuildingfund.org. Attendees are invited to stay after the talk for light refreshments hosted by the building fund, and learn about plans for the library addition and renovation.
