Invisible People of Color: Whaling Captains, & Crew on All Sides of Long Island Sound

Sandi Brewster-Walker, Chair and Executive Director of the L.I. Indigenous People Museum & Research Institute, will give a talk about the people of color whaling captains, and crew on all sides of the Long Island Sound.  She will highlight the genealogies and experiences of the local men of color, who hunted the whale during the peak years (1840-1860) of the industry.  The type of whaling vessels, journey, destinations, ship wrecks, and desertions will be discussed.

Sandi will talk about her experience researching ship records, logbooks, crew lists, seaport custom house records, US Federal Census, newspaper archives, Seaman Protection Certificates, family papers, and more.

Brewster-Walker is an independent historian, genealogist, freelance writer and business owner.  She has served in the President William Jefferson Clinton administration as deputy director of the Office of Communications, United States Department of Agriculture.

As a columnist, her writings are found in Amityville Record, Babylon Beacon, and Massapequa Post weekly newspapers, as well as articles in LI Boating World, Sound Boating World, and Hudson Boating World monthly newspapers.  Recently, she became a winner of the Press Club of Long Island’s 2017 Media Award – 3rd Place for Narrative:  Column.