 The collection speaks volumes about Long Island's vibrant whaling past and the process by which America was put on the economic world map, including letters recording daring rescues at sea, photographs showing the economic growth of whaling villages, crew lists with signatures of multicultural crew members, iron harpoons revealing the evolution of innovation, glass bottles of amber whale oil which facilitated the Industrial Revolution, and modern whaling tools which pushed whale populations to the brink of extinction.These artifacts show the complexity of whaling and its regional importance – and more importantly, its timely lessons for today