National Park to host “Binding Wounds, Pushing Boundaries” Traveling Exhibit

New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park will be hosting “Binding Wounds, Pushing Boundaries,” a free exhibit which explores the participation and contributions of African Americans as nurses, surgeons, and hospital workers during the Civil War. “Binding Wounds, Pushing Boundaries” will be on display in the National Park visitor center from August 1 through September 10, 2016. Curator Jill L. Newmark will speak on the project on September 1, 2016 at the National Park visitor center at 6:00 PM. She will focus her presentation on the Powell family and their connections to New Bedford. New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park is located at 33 William Street in downtown New Bedford. The lecture is a joint event sponsored by the park and the New Bedford Historical Society.

“Binding Wounds, Pushing Boundaries” is a traveling exhibit developed and produced by the National Library of Medicine with research assistance from the Historical Society of Washington, D.C. This six-panel exhibit, curated by Jill L. Newmark of the National Library of Medicine, contains links to New Bedford history. William P. Powell, Jr., born in New Bedford and son of William P. and Mercy (Haskins) Powell served as a contract Union surgeon during the Civil War and the exhibit touches on his history. According to curator Jill Newmark, Exhibition Registrar of the National Library of Medicine, the exhibit “brings a voice to those that have remained silent for nearly 150 years.”

New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park was established by Congress in 1996 to help preserve and interpret America’s nineteenth century whaling industry. The park, which encompasses a 13-block National Historic Landmark District, is the only National Park Service area addressing the history of the whaling industry and its influence on the economic, social, and environmental history of the United States. The National Park visitor center is located at 33 William Street in downtown New Bedford. It is open seven days a week, from 9:00 AM-5:00 PM, and offers information, exhibits, and a free orientation movie every hour on the hour from 10:00 AM-4:00 PM. The visitor center is wheelchair-accessible, and is free of charge. For more information, call the visitor center at 508-996-4095, go to nps.gov/nebe or visit the park’s Facebook page at fb.com/NewBedfordNPS. Everyone finds their park in a different way.

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