Bradley House

On a 1975 goodwill tour to America, Emperor Hirohito of Japan—long interested in marine biology—made a special visit to Woods Hole to talk with scientists at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). This exhibit features archival photos from the visit and historical background about the Japan-Woods Hole science connection, and is part of a collaboration with WHOI, MBL and Highfield Hall and Gardens in Falmouth, which is featuring a Japanese print exhibition over the summer.

Inspired by art collector and summer resident Marcella Garber Polisar Katz, this new exhibit highlights the museum’s collection of paintings, prints and other works on paper by women artists of Woods Hole. The 24 featured artists include Maria Denny Fay (1820-1890), Peggy Clark Kelley (1915-1996), Mary Mavor (1925-2005) and Joan Kanwisher (1924-2019). The exhibit also includes a color illustration by Julie Child from her recent donation of more than 500 works to the museum.

Continuing this season in the museum’s Gallery 1 is The History of Woods Hole, the story of whaling, science, architecture, hurricanes, ferries, railroads, tourism, local industries and more, using photographs, documents, artifacts, recordings and tools. The core of this exhibit is a timeline describing key people and significant events in the settlement and development of Woods Hole, covering the time period from the 1600s to the present.

This impressive, room-size model of Woods Hole Village in 1895 was crafted by 37 museum volunteers in 1982. The year 1895 was chosen because most present-day activities had begun about this time: ferries to the islands, scientific research and summer tourism.