Local Author To Discuss Sag Harbor Whaling Captain During HarborFest Weekend

The Sag Harbor Whaling and Historical Museum will welcome Rosemary McKinley on Sunday, September 9 who will discuss Captain Henry Green, a Long Island whaler and treasure hunter.

McKinley, an author and storyteller, has done extensive research on Captain Henry Green, a whaler born in Sag Harbor in 1794.

Captain Green went to sea for the first time in 1817 on the Fair Helen and worked his way up to captain aboard many ships and accumulated success and wealth before his death in 1873. He notably kept a detailed log on his last voyage aboard the Sabina to California.

McKinley has kept close to his honor in her book that is just as much about the whaling industry as it is about the man who had an extraordinary career in it.

“Captain Henry Green was an ordinary man who lived an extraordinary life. Remarkably the man had ties to the infamous slave ship the Amistad and the California Gold Rush,” she noted.

McKinley, a writing and history teacher turned writer, has penned three books about the North Fork to date, including The Wampum Exchange, Captain Henry Green, A Whaler and 101 Glimpses of the North Fork and Islands. She also takes part in book presentations, and talks, in costume, with artifacts at schools, libraries, historical societies, the Long Island Aquarium, Shinnecock Museum and the Children’s Museum on the East End.

Captain Henry Green, Long Island Whaler And Treasure Hunter: A Lecture By Rosemary McKinley will take place from 5 to 7 p.m.

The Sag Harbor Whaling and Historical Museum is located at 200 Main Street in Sag Harbor. For more information, visit www.sagharborwhalingmuseum.org.