Ambassador of Portugal to Speak at New Bedford Whaling Museum, Feb. 16

The Ambassador of Portugal, Nuno Brito, is scheduled to speak at a presentation celebrating the American publication of a major anthology on the diplomatic history between Portugal and the United States, on Saturday, February 16 at 2:00 p.m. in the Cook Memorial Theater, New Bedford Whaling Museum. The public is invited to attend.

Titled, “The Dabneys: A Bostonian Family in the Azores 1806-1871,” the anthology deals with the historic American Consulate of the Dabney family at Horta, Faial – Açores. For most of the 19th century, the family made the island of Faial their home. Merchants with elite social connections, three generations of Dabneys were United States Consuls. Their impact on the growth of trade and their humanitarian activities earned them admiration throughout Portugal and America.

Ambassador Brito will be joined by local elected officials and community leaders at the event, which is sponsored by the New Bedford Whaling Museum and UMASS Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture.

Originally compiled by Roxana Lewis Dabney (1827-1913) from decades of letters and journals and privately printed for the family in 1899 as “The Dabney Annals,” the new 250-page American edition is illustrated with dozens of photographs from the era.

The February 16 program will include historian Maria Filomena Mónica, editor of the unabridged Portuguese edition of “The Dabney Annals,” which was published in 2009; she is also editor of the American edition, with annotation and selections by Paulo Silveira e Sousa.

“For the American reader, this book sheds new light on a re­markable but little known chapter in the history of United States foreign relations,” said James Russell, museum president and CEO.

A partnership of the Luso-American Development Foundation and the New Bedford Whaling Museum, the book is available for purchase following the program or online at: www.whalingmuseumstore.org.

The New Bedford Whaling Museum is the world’s most comprehensive museum devoted to the global story of whales, whaling and the cultural history of the region. The cornerstone of New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, the Museum is located at 18 Johnny Cake Hill in the heart of the city’s historic downtown.