Author Book Signing: Skip Finley, Whaling Captains of Color, America's First Meritocracy”

Many historic houses decorating author Skip Finley’s native Martha’s Vineyard were built by whaling captains. Whaling was the first American industry to exhibit any diversity, and a man got to be captain not because he was white or well connected, but because he knew how to kill a whale.

Working with archival records at whaling museums, in libraries, from private archives and studying hundreds of books and thesis, Finley culls the stories from the lives of over 50 whaling captains of color.