Henry L. Ferguson Museum

Holiday Sale!
2024-11-29 10:00 - 13:00, 2024-11-30 10:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York) | Henry L. Ferguson Museum, 1109 Equestrian Ave, Fishers Island, NY, 06390, United States
Holiday Sale! Get 20% off all items in the Museum Gift Shop this Friday and Saturday, from 10am to 1pm.
We’ve got tons of new items in stock, from books to posters to stationary to educational toys to stuffed animals, and more. There’s something for every naturalist in your life, no matter the age. The large format images on the second-floor gallery are also for sale and proceeds benefit the Museum’s Art Fund.

19th Annual Thanksgiving Trail Clearing & Beach Clean Up
2024-11-29 14:00 - 16:00
The Henry L. Ferguson Museum
Presents the
19th Annual
Thanksgiving Trail Clearing, Beach Clean Up, Invasive Removal
(NO OYSTER AFTERPARTY THIS YEAR)
Friday, November 29, 2024
UPDATED TIME: 2 – 4 p.m.
WE NEED YOUR HELP! You and your family and friends are invited to join the rest of the HLFM community for some hale and hearty in-the-field-fellowship on the Friday afternoon after Thanksgiving. Together we’ll clear invasives from trails, de-vine trees, and pick up debris along the beach. It’s a wonderful tradition, now in its 19th year—as good for the soul as it is for the Island. ALL are WELCOME!
Please note that the Oyster Afterparty at the Museum will not occur this year out of respect for the remembrance of Dee Ross being held at the American Legion Post #1025 from 3 – 5 p.m.
WHERE / WHAT:
Be sure to arrive promptly at 2 p.m. for hot cider and autumn treats as you get your team assignments and pep talk from Board Member Scott Reid before proceeding to the Museum’s Land Trust trails and beaches. This year we will be expanding assignments to include invasive plant control in order to clear vines on select trails, as well as clean-ups at several beach areas.
TOOLS:
Please bring tools you can handle safely (clippers, loppers, etc.) NO CHAINSAWS. We will provide heavy-duty garbage bags for beach and path cleaning.
DRESS:
We suggest you wear long pants, long-sleeved shirts, socks and gloves to battle beastly thorns and poison ivy.
Please take photos of your team in action and share them with the Museum.
We look forward to resuming the popular Oyster Afterparty again next year.
Community members gather at the Museum for the 18th Annual Trail Clearing in 2023.
For further information please contact:
Scott Reid
646.431.8536
bsr1265@gmail.com
or
Pierce Rafferty
631.788.7239
info@fergusonmuseum.org
Happy Thanksgiving!
And as a reminder if you’re holiday shopping. . .
The Museum store will also be open Friday/Saturday and it’s filled with gifts for naturalists of all ages. The large format images on the second floor gallery are for sale and proceeds benefit the Museum’s Art Fund.
While at the Museum, please check out and enjoy the current annual exhibit on display “A Birds’ Eye View – Aerial and Drone Photography of Fishers Island”, curated by Pierce Rafferty and generously sponsored by Altus Partners.
The Land Trust’s trail system is maintained throughout the year by the HLF Museum and volunteer opportunities are also always available.
Interested in learning more about invasive plant management?
Trail guides Terry McNamara (pictured at the top of this page) and Diana Fiske (pictured below) recently led thirty community members on a guided trail walk through Clay Point Road Trail. For more information on plants encountered during this Invasive Plant Guided Trail Walk view the article by clicking the photo below.
Trail photos by Hannah Vagts, FISM Coordinator

The 12th Annual HLFM Holiday Party
2024-12-22 17:00 - 19:00 | Henry L. Ferguson Museum, 1109 Equestrian Ave, Fishers Island, NY, 06390, United States
Join us for an evening of Holiday cheer, convivial conversations, and tasty light fare by Karla Heath. Adults and children of all ages are welcome, as are visiting relatives and house guests!
While at the Museum, be sure to visit (or revisit) the 2024 annual exhibit.
We hope to see you there!

Winter Waterfowl of Fishers Island and the Surrounding Region
2025-01-19 16:00 - 17:00
Join us for a Virtual Illustrated Talk by Kim Hargrave, interim executive director of the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center, Mystic, Conn.
Kim Hargrave
TIME: Sunday, January 19, 2025 @ 4:00 – 5:00 P.M.
PLACE: Virtual via Zoom
Discover the wondrous world of winter waterfowl as we explore the unique species that grace Fishers Island and the surrounding coastlines during the colder months. Learn more about their remarkable cold-weather adaptations and incredible migration patterns. From the elegant long-tailed duck to the striking red-breasted merganser, learn basic identification tips for a variety of species.
Goldeneye photo by Todd McCormack
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Winter Birds and Waterfowl Walk
2025-01-25 10:00 - 11:30
Join us for an in-the field Water Fowl Watch led by birder and naturalist Maggie Jones. Meet at the Museum at 10 a.m.and we’ll drive to the first site from there. (If you don’t have a car, you can carpool with others.)
DATE: Saturday, January 25th, 2025
TIME: 10 a.m.
LOCATION: Meet at Museum Parking Lot
Please dress for the weather and don’t forget your binoculars! Length of walk is one hour to one hour and half.
This Penni Sharp Nature Walk is sponsored in loving memory of Penelope “Penni” Sharp, birder, botanist & HLFM president from 2003 until 2014.
Brant photo by Justine Kibbe

Beyond Your Back Door: Connecting with Nature Where You Live
2025-02-23 16:00 - 17:00
A virtual illustrated talk by trained naturalist and master gardener Jim Sirch, who will use his blog to take a deeper dive into the amazing natural events happening right in our own backyards – and beyond – throughout the seasons.
During the pandemic, people working from home found themselves spending more time in their yards and local green spaces. They began to look beyond the grass that needed mowing and leaves that needed raking, and started to notice the wildlife that lived there. They observed songbirds, raptors, snakes, toads, tiny native bees and more, often marveling at what they saw. In response to questions about what they were observing, Jim Sirch created a nature blog to help others better understand and learn about phenological changes – natural events happening throughout the year. In this talk, Jim will share his broad understanding of geology, plants and wildlife and their interconnectedness within particular ecosystems.
WHEN: Sunday, February 23, 2025
TIME: 4 p.m.
PLACE: Virtual via zoom
Join Zoom WebinarAbout Jim Sirch
Vice President of the Connecticut Horticultural Society, Jim Sirch is a UConn Master Gardener, past president and board member of his local land trust, and on the board of the Mountain Laurel chapter of Wild Ones, a nonprofit dedicated to native plants. Recently retired from his position as Education Coordinator for the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, he founded the Peabody-Beardsley-Maritime chapter of the citizen science program Frogwatch USA, the country’s largest chapter.
Jim is passionate about helping others decrease their lawns and re-wild their yards. He co-founded a native plant seed library at his local public library. Jim holds a B.S in Forestry from West Virginia University, a B.S. from Miami University in Science Education; and an M.S. in Environmental Studies Administration from Antioch University. He is also a recipient of the Sigmund Abeles Award from the Connecticut Science Teachers and Supervisors Association for outstanding science teaching and professional development. Jim lives in a 19th century farmhouse in Connecticut with his wife and daughter.
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Between Land and Sea: The Atlantic Coast and the Transformation of New England
2025-03-09 16:00 - 17:00
A virtual illustrated talk by Christopher L. Pastore, author and Assistant Professor of History at the University at Albany, State University of New York based on his book “Between Land and Sea: The Atlantic Coast and the Transformation of New England”
One of the largest estuaries on the North Atlantic coast, Narragansett Bay served as a gateway for colonial expansion in the seventeenth century and the birthplace of American industrialization in the late eighteenth. Christopher Pastore presents an environmental history of this watery corner of the Atlantic world, beginning with the first European settlement in 1636 and ending with the dissolution of the Blackstone Canal Company in 1849. Between Land and Sea traces how the Bay’s complex ecology shaped the contours of European habitation, trade, and resource use, and how littoral settlers in turn reconfigured the physical and cultural boundaries between humans and nature.
Narragansett Bay emerges in Pastore’s account as much more than a geological formation. Rather, he reimagines the nexus of land and sea as a brackish borderland shaped by the tension between what English settlers saw as improvable land and the perpetual forces of the North Atlantic Ocean. By draining swamps, damming rivers, and digging canals, settlers transformed a marshy coastal margin into a clearly defined edge. The resultant “coastline” proved less resilient, less able to absorb the blows of human initiative and natural variation than the soggy fractal of water and earth it replaced.
Today, as sea levels rise and superstorms batter coasts with increasing ferocity, Between Land and Sea calls on the environmentally-minded to make a space in their notions of progress for impermanence and uncertainty in the natural world.
WHEN: Sunday, March 9, 2025
TIME: 4 p.m.
PLACE: Virtual via zoom
Join Zoom WebinarAbout the Author
Christopher L. Pastore is Associate Professor of History at the University at Albany, State University of New York, where he teaches courses in environmental history, early America, and the Atlantic world. He holds a Ph.D. in American History and M.S. in college teaching from the University of New Hampshire, an M.F.A. in nonfiction Creative Writing from New School University, and a B.A. in Biology from Bowdoin College. He has held research fellowships at the University of Munich, Trinity College Dublin, and most recently at the Yale Center for British Art and as a Fulbright scholar at the University of the Andes in Bogotá, Colombia.
A Rhode Island native, Pastore grew up sailing, fishing and exploring Narragansett Bay. His journalistic work has appeared in the New York Times, Boat International, Cruising World, Newport Life, Offshore, Restoration Quarterly, Real Simple, and Sailing World, where he worked as Associate Editor. He also served as Editor of American Sailor and Junior Sailor, the official publications of U.S. Sailing, the sport’s national governing body. In 2005, he published a biography of Rhode Island yacht designer Nathanael G. Herreshoff (1848-1938) titled Temple to the Wind: The Story of America’s Greatest Naval Architect and His Masterpiece, Reliance (Lyons Press, 2005), early selections from which earned him the 2003 National Arts Club Annual Award for Nonfiction. He is currently writing an environmental history of the early modern Atlantic world with a special focus on slimy things in the sea.
PHOTO CREDIT: Martin Johnson Heade, Rhode Island Shore, 1858, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Gift of Charles C. and Elma Ralphs Shoemaker.
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Webinar ID: 845 8512 2588
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Earth Day Battle of the Invasives: Buckthorn and Bittersweet Blitz
2025-04-19 14:00 - 16:00
In honor of Earth Day, please join the Fishers Island Conservancy and the H.L. Ferguson Museum and Land Trust in tackling invasive plants and cleaning up beach debris.
WHEN: Saturday, April 19
TIME: 2-4 PM
PLACE: Meet at the Museum at 2 p.m. to get an assignment before hitting the trails and Parade Grounds.
Reception with light snacks at the Museum to follow.
Please bring tools that you can handle safely (clippers, loppers, etc.) NO CHAINSAWS. We’ll have some tools available.
We suggest you wear long pants, long-sleeved shirts, socks and gloves to battle beasts thorns and poison ivy.

Questions?
Contact Jessica NeJame at jnejame@fergusonmuseum.org
Courtney MacDonald at courtneymacdonald@gmail.com

Bittersweet Berries

Buckthorn Berries

Bittersweet girdling

Buckthorn

This event is co-hosted by
the Fishers Island Conservancy and the H.L. Ferguson Museum and Land Trust

The Rumrunner Wrecks of Fishers Island
2025-04-27 16:00 - 17:00
In this virtual illustrated talk, Museum director Pierce Rafferty utilizes and expands selected portions of his 2019 talk on prohibition entitled “Scotch on the Rocks” with a focus on the five rumrunner wrecks on Fishers Island, especially Steam Yacht Thelma Phoebe on Chocomount Beach, April 1923.
WHEN: Sunday, April 27, 2025 (Moved from April 20)
TIME: 4 p.m.
PLACE: Virtual via zoom
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Webinar ID: 817 0154 6488
International numbers available: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kc35uI0rZs

American Seacoast Defenses and the Long Island Sound
2025-05-18 16:00 - 17:00 | Zoom
Join us for a VIRTUAL illustrated talk by Mark Berhow, author and chairman of the publications committee for Coast Defense Study Group
WHEN: Sunday, May 18, 2025
TIME: 4 p.m.
PLACE: Virtual via zoom
From the establishment of the United States in 1790 through 1950 the federal government fortified its major deep water harbors to deter attack from foreign navies. Long Island Sound has been a prominent location for these defense programs because of its many natural harbors and its “back door” access to New York. Rapid developments in warship and artillery technology during this time led to an evolution of seacoast fortifications with increasing effective range as reflected in the Long Island defenses. The saga of these forts and the changes that led to their eventual closure will be covered in this presentation.
Mark Berhow is a retired research chemist who worked for the USDA Agricultural Research Service in Pasadena, California and Peoria, Illinois. He has had a long interest in American military history and the defenses of United States. He is actively involved with the Coast Defense Study Group as the chairman of its publications committee and is currently the editor in chief of the Coast Defense Journal and the CDSG Newsletter. He has written both books and articles on American seacoast and air defenses.
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Webinar ID: 896 8205 2336
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Right Place, Right Plant - Native Plants and Practical Uses
2025-05-24 11:00 - 13:00
Native plants are essential to repairing and sustaining our fragile ecosystem on Fishers Island. But what makes them unique, and how can we use them effectively? Join us, at the Museum for a discussion of native plants and practical gardening tips!
WHEN: Saturday, May 24, 2025
TIME: 11 am – 12 pm (Talk), 12-1 pm (Reception)
PLACE: In person at the Museum, 2nd Floor and virtual via zoom
By understanding the impact of our actions on land, we can make a significant difference. Non-native plants often require extra maintenance, like fertilizer and pesticides, which can harm our delicate ecosystem. Fishers Island’s sandy, porous soil does not retain these chemicals once applied; instead, they flow into our waters. Fertilizer runoff is a significant source of nitrogen pollution that damages marine habitats and creates algal blooms. The fertilizer and pesticides that do not run into the water damage soil quality and harm native insects. Planting native is an easy win for our entire ecosystem.
At this event, we will hear from experienced peers and professionals to discover more about Fishers Island’s native landscape, the role of invasive plants in the food chain, and how we can use native plants within our landscaping projects. Dr. Adam Mitchell, Terry McNamara, Dianne Crary, Diana Fiske, and Melie Spofford will each give a lightning talk about native plants and happily answer your questions.
After our speakers take you on a journey to learn about Fishers Island’s native plants, we will hold a reception that will host various Fishers Island contractors, lots of helpful handouts, and a plant sale.
Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity! Space for the in-person talk is limited, so secure your spot today.
RegisterJoin Zoom WebinarDownload Flyer

Backyard Birding with Ken
2025-06-01 09:00 - 10:00
Join us at the Museum for coffee, pastries, and birdwatching with local naturalist Ken Edwards, Sr.
When: Sunday, June 1, 2025
Time: 9-10 am
Place: At the Museum, Gazebo (back deck)
Ken is well-known on the Island and beyond for his wide breadth of wildlife knowledge and his particular passion for birds. Together, we’ll watch the feeder at the H. Lee Ferguson, Jr. Sanctuary and identify birds as they flit through the canopy. All ages welcome.
American Goldfinch (male) photo by Dave Menke, USFWS

2025 Annual Exhibitions Opening Reception
2025-06-28 17:00 - 19:00
Join us for our opening reception:
Saturday, June 28th, 5 to 7 PM
All are Welcome!
Refreshments will be served on the deck, weather permitting, or inside, if need be.
The Henry L. Ferguson Museum • 2025 Exhibitions
The Cottage Colonies of Fishers Island
Ist Floor Main Gallery
The Longer Look: Photographs by John Wilton
2nd Floor Main Gallery
Passages: A Public Sculpture Over Time, 1980–2025
2nd Floor Side gallery
Steps of Battery Marcy, Parade Ground, 1997.
People viewing sculpture by artist Harriet Brickman, South Beach, Sept. 1980
2025 Annual exhibitions sponsored by ALTUS Partners

Nibbling on the Wild Landscape of Fishers Island
2025-06-29 16:00 - 17:00
Join us for an illustrated talk with Russ Cohen, author of the book Wild Plants I Have Known…and Eaten, to learn about at least two dozen of the tastiest wild plant species the Island has to offer.
Fishers Island is home to over 70 species of edible wild plants, many of which are more nutritious and/or flavorful than their cultivated counterparts. These include native species, like Fox Grape and Beach Pea; non-native weeds, like Chicory and Burdock; and invasive species, like Autumn Olive and Japanese Knotweed.
This presentation will include plant species everyone knows well, like Daisies and Dandelions, to species people may have never even heard of, like Nannyberry and Meadow Beauty. Keys to the identification of each species will be provided, along with info on edible portion(s), season(s) of availability and preparation methods, as well as guidelines for safe, ethical and environmentally-responsible foraging.
When: Sunday, June 29, 2025
Time: 4-5 pm
Place: At the Museum, 2nd floor and virtual, via zoom
Reception to follow – Russ will accompany his talk with handouts and samples of goodies made with wild foraged ingredients for people to sip and nibble on.
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International numbers available: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcLhrVPzMF
(Please note also the related “Wild Edible Plant Excursion on Fishers Island” Nature Walk that Russ will lead the following day, June 30, 2025.)
Russ Cohen, naturalist and wild foods enthusiast, grew up in Weston, Mass., where he spent much of his free time in the woods, thereby cultivating a strong spiritual connection to nature. Russ’ first formal exposure to edible wild plants occurred while a sophomore at Weston High School, where he enrolled in an “Edible Botany” mini-course offered by the high school biology department. The course taught him about two dozen edible species that grew around the high school grounds, and the class finished with a “big feed”: a communal meal prepared from these plants, at the end of the course. Russ got turned on to the subject, went to the local library and took out every book he could find on the topic, taught himself over fifty more species, and, in his senior year of high school (1974), he taught the Edible Botany class he had taken as a sophomore. Russ added edible wild mushrooms to his teaching repertoire in 1989 after returning home from a trip to the Soviet Union, where he caught the mushroom hunting bug from the Russians.
Russ received his bachelor’s degree in land use planning from Vassar College in 1978, and received a masters in Natural Resources and a law degree from The Ohio State University in 1982. Until retiring from state service, Russ was employed by the Riverways Program (now part of the Division of Ecological Restoration) of the Mass. Department of Fish and Game since 1988, and served as its Rivers Advocate from 1992 until June of 2015. Other past employers have included the Nature Conservancy, the Land Trust Alliance, The Hillside Trust, a land trust in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the Massachusetts Audubon Society.
Since his retirement in June 2015, while continuing to offer walks and talks on foraging for wild edibles, Russ is now playing the role of Johnny Appleseed for native edible species. He has set up a nursery (near his childhood home in Weston, MA) where he is growing over 1,000 plants, representing more than a third of the more than 190 species native to Northeast ecoregions that are edible by people. Many of these plants were propagated from seed Russ gathered himself. Russ is then collaborating with land trusts, municipalities, state and federal agencies, schools and colleges, tribal groups, organic farms and others, to plant plants from his nursery on appropriate places on their properties. You can learn more about this endeavor in the article Russ Cohen’s Wild Edible Adventures, by Cathy Walthers, which ran in the Summer 2018 issue of Edible Boston Magazine; Meet the ‘Johnny Appleseed’ of Edible Native Plants, by Barbara A. Schmitz, which ran in the Spring 2019 issue of the Wild Ones Journal; a March 2020 video podcast interview with Kim Eierman of EcoBeneficial; or, most recently, the profile of Russ and his native edible plant propagation and planting that ran in the January 2024 edition of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s The Leaflet newsletter.

Wild Edible Plant Excursion on Fishers Island
2025-06-30 10:00 - 12:00
Join us for a two-hour ramble through some of the shaggier parts of the Island with naturalist and wild food enthusiast, Russ Cohen to encounter and learn the comestible virtues of at least eighteen species of edible wild plants.
Species expected to be spotted include Black Elderberry, Common Milkweed, Black Locust, Sassafras, Burdock, Chicory, Autumn Olive and Japanese Knotweed. We may even have an opportunity to get down to the shoreline to see some coastal plants like Beach Pea and Sea Rocket. Keys to the identification of each species will be provided, along with info on edible portion(s), season(s) of availability and preparation methods, as well as guidelines for safe, ethical and environmentally-responsible foraging.
Russ will provide handouts and offer some samples of foraged goodies made with wild edibles for people to sip and nibble on.
When: Monday, June 30, 2025
Time: 10 a.m. to approx. 12 noon
Place: Meet at the Museum
Limited to 30 people. To assure a spot, please sign up by contacting the Museum by phone (631-788-7239) or by e-mail (info@fergusonmuseum.org)
(Please note also the related talk “Nibbling on the Wild Landscape of Fishers Island” that Russ is giving on June 29, 2025 at the Museum.
Russ Cohen, naturalist and wild foods enthusiast, grew up in Weston, Mass., where he spent much of his free time in the woods, thereby cultivating a strong spiritual connection to nature. Russ’ first formal exposure to edible wild plants occurred while a sophomore at Weston High School, where he enrolled in an “Edible Botany” mini-course offered by the high school biology department. The course taught him about two dozen edible species that grew around the high school grounds, and the class finished with a “big feed”: a communal meal prepared from these plants, at the end of the course. Russ got turned on to the subject, went to the local library and took out every book he could find on the topic, taught himself over fifty more species, and, in his senior year of high school (1974), he taught the Edible Botany class he had taken as a sophomore. Russ added edible wild mushrooms to his teaching repertoire in 1989 after returning home from a trip to the Soviet Union, where he caught the mushroom hunting bug from the Russians.
Russ received his bachelor’s degree in land use planning from Vassar College in 1978, and received a masters in Natural Resources and a law degree from The Ohio State University in 1982. Until retiring from state service, Russ was employed by the Riverways Program (now part of the Division of Ecological Restoration) of the Mass. Department of Fish and Game since 1988, and served as its Rivers Advocate from 1992 until June of 2015. Other past employers have included the Nature Conservancy, the Land Trust Alliance, The Hillside Trust, a land trust in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the Massachusetts Audubon Society.
Since his retirement in June 2015, while continuing to offer walks and talks on foraging for wild edibles, Russ is now playing the role of Johnny Appleseed for native edible species. He has set up a nursery (near his childhood home in Weston, MA) where he is growing over 1,000 plants, representing more than a third of the more than 190 species native to Northeast ecoregions that are edible by people. Many of these plants were propagated from seed Russ gathered himself. Russ is then collaborating with land trusts, municipalities, state and federal agencies, schools and colleges, tribal groups, organic farms and others, to plant plants from his nursery on appropriate places on their properties. You can learn more about this endeavor in the article Russ Cohen’s Wild Edible Adventures, by Cathy Walthers, which ran in the Summer 2018 issue of Edible Boston Magazine; Meet the ‘Johnny Appleseed’ of Edible Native Plants, by Barbara A. Schmitz, which ran in the Spring 2019 issue of the Wild Ones Journal; a March 2020 video podcast interview with Kim Eierman of EcoBeneficial; or, most recently, the profile of Russ and his native edible plant propagation and planting that ran in the January 2024 edition of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s The Leaflet newsletter.

Creature Camouflage Colors
2025-07-09 14:00 - 15:00
Meet live animals and learn how they use unique colors and patterns to camouflage for survival.
Explore different types of camouflage and discover the importance of hiding for both predators and prey. Meet DPNC’s ambassador animals with excellent camouflage.
WHEN: Wednesday, July 9, 2025
TIME: 2 to 3 p.m.
LOCATION: In person at the Museum
Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center (DPNC) family program for ages five and up.
Suggested donation $10.

All Wednesday children’s programs are in person at the Museum.
Attendance is limited to 15 children so advance registration is recommended.
Please phone: 631-788-7239 or email info@fergusonmuseum.org
(note the name and date of the specific program and the name and age of the attendee/s).
PHOTO CREDIT: Eastern box turtle, Larry McGahey, Creative Commons

FI Treasure Hunt: 7-10 Year Olds
2025-07-13 08:00 - 2025-07-17 12:00
Arrr, the wind’s pickin’ up and the tide be right—our Pirate Treasure Hunt sets sail soon! Sharpen yer wits and ready yer boots. Clues, riddles, and cursed gold await…

Team Registration & More Info

FI Treasure Hunt: 11-14 Year Olds
2025-07-13 08:00 - 2025-07-17 12:00

Temple to the Wind: The Story of America's Greatest Naval Architect and His Masterpiece, Reliance
2025-07-13 16:00 - 17:00
Join us for an illustrated talk by author Christopher Pastore, who will share the story of Reliance drawing from Nathanael G. Herreshoff’s sketches, photos, original models and plans, as well as Herreshoff’s personal papers and letters.
WHEN: Sunday, July 13, 2025
TIME: 4 p.m.
PLACE: In person at the Museum, second floor and virtual, via zoom
Book signing and reception to follow.
Join Zoom WebinarDesigned and built in 1903, Reliance was a yacht like no other. A marvel of her time, Reliance’s topsail yard towered nearly 190 feet above the water, with sails stretching 202 feet from the bowsprit to the boom’s end. Many said Reliance, carrying more sail than any single-masted boat before, was simply too dangerous to sail, but the stakes were awesome. By the turn of the century racing for the America’s Cup had become more than a gentleman’s game. In 1903 it was an all-or-nothing contest—fraught with political tension—between two great rivals, Britain and America. Anticipating the acrimonious battles over the America’s Cup today, the story of Reliance explores the ways big yachts and even bigger personalities have defined the contest since its inception.
PHOTO CREDIT: Reliance Crossing Finish Line, photo work of Detroit Publishing Co., collection at the Library of Congress, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
About the author
Christopher Pastore is Associate Professor of History at the University at Albany, State University of New York, where he teaches courses in environmental history, early America, and the Atlantic world. He holds a Ph.D. in American History and M.S. in college teaching from the University of New Hampshire, an M.F.A. in nonfiction Creative Writing from New School University, and a B.A. in Biology from Bowdoin College.
A Rhode Island native, Pastore grew up racing sailboats on Narragansett Bay just down the road from the Herreshoff Marine Museum and America’s Cup Hall of Fame. His journalistic work has appeared in the New York Times, Boat International, Cruising World, Newport Life, Offshore, Restoration Quarterly, Real Simple, and Sailing World, where he worked as Associate Editor. He also served as Editor of American Sailor and Junior Sailor, the official publications of U.S. Sailing, the sport’s national governing body. He is the author of Temple to the Wind: The Story of America’s Greatest Naval Architect and His Masterpiece, Reliance (Lyons Press, 2005), early selections from which earned the 2003 National Arts Club Annual Award for Nonfiction, and Between Land and Sea: The Atlantic Coast and the Transformation of New England (Harvard University Press, 2014), which earned a spot on the shortlist for the Turku Book Prize, awarded for best book by the European Society for Environmental History.
Reliance passing the Brenton Reef light ship at high speed, 1903. Photograph by Nathaniel Livermore Stebbins, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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Bird’s Eye View
2025-07-16 14:00 - 15:00
Meet live birds and explore the ways bird vision differs from humans.
Learn how birds perceive colors and ultraviolet light, and how they use this special sense to find food, attract mates, avoid danger, and more. Encounter one of DPNC’s resident birds of prey and make a bird feeder to attract colorful birds to your own home!
WHEN: Wednesday, July 16, 2025
TIME: 2 to 3 p.m.
LOCATION: In person at the Museum
Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center (DPNC) family program for ages five and up.
Suggested donation $10.

All Wednesday children’s programs are in person at the Museum.
Attendance is limited to 15 children so advance registration is recommended.
Please phone: 631-788-7239 or email info@fergusonmuseum.org
(note the name and date of the specific program and the name and age of the attendee/s).
PHOTO CREDIT: Common grackle bird, courtesy of National Park Service

FI Treasure Hunt: 6 & Under
2025-07-17 10:00 - 12:00

FISM 3rd Annual Fishers Island Eelgrass Boat Tour
2025-07-18 08:30 - 10:30
Join the Fishers Island Seagrass Management Coalition for its 3rd Annual Eelgrass Boat Tour with guest speaker Jamie Vaudrey, Ph.D., Assistant Research Professor of Marine Sciences, University of Connecticut.
WHEN: Friday, July 18, 2025, @ 8:30 -10:30 am
LOCATION: Fishers Island Ferry District (CT attendees can come over on the charter from New London!)
TICKETS: $50/per person – plus processing fees
We will board at the Fishers Island Ferry Dock and cruise to some of our island’s best eelgrass locations. Dr. Vaudrey will discuss eelgrass around Fishers Island, its importance in the Long Island Sound ecosystem, and what threatens its survival. Learn to identify and distinguish these amazing plants from salt marsh grasses, widgeon grass, and seaweeds. Discover the newest methods scientists are using to restore and protect Long Island Sound eelgrass! Attendees will take home a special FISM gift to commemorate this can’t-miss experience.
Seating is limited to 28 people, so reserve your spot today!
REGISTER TODAY!About Our Speaker:
Jamie Vaudrey, Ph.D.
Dr. Vaudrey’s research interests are in ecosystem dynamics in the coastal zone, specifically in the effect of land use on the coastal environment and how anthropogenic changes to the landscape may change our coastal ecosystems. She is specifically interested in the relationship between human activities and the expression of eutrophication in large systems (Narragansett Bay, Long Island Sound) and small embayments of these larger systems. She also has an interest in seagrass systems as indicators of a desirable state of water quality and inputs to coastal systems. She has been involved with a variety of seagrass projects throughout New England, including assessing the genetic diversity of eelgrass, evaluating restoration projects, and developing a model to assist with the siting of restoration projects.
Vaudrey received a B.A. in Biology with a minor in Philosophy from Wellesley College, MA, and a Ph.D. in Oceanography from the University of Connecticut. She is currently a research faculty member in the Department of Marine Sciences at UConn and has recently been the UConn lead for the establishment of a National Estuarine Research Reserve in Connecticut, which opened its doors in July 2022.

Homegrown National Park
2025-07-20 16:00 - 17:00
Join us for an illustrated talk by Doug Tallamy, founder of Homegrown National Park whose goal is to create a national movement to restore 20 million acres with natives, an area representing ½ of what is now in lawn, as well as millions more acres in agriculture and woodlots.
WHEN: Sunday, July 20, 2025
TIME: 4 p.m.
PLACE: In-person at the F.I. Theater and virtual via zoom
Reception to follow.
Join Zoom WebinarOur parks, preserves, and remaining wildlands – no matter how grand in scale – are too small and separated from one another to sustain the native trees, plants, insects, and animals on which our ecosystems depend. We can fix this problem by practicing conservation outside of wildlands, where we live, work, shop, farm, and ranch. Thus, the concept for Homegrown National Park: a national challenge to create diverse ecosystems in our yards, communities, farms, and surrounding lands by reducing lawn, planting native, and removing invasives.
We are at a critical point where we are losing so many native plant and animal species that our life support systems are in jeopardy. However, if many people make small changes, we can restore healthy ecological networks and weather the changes ahead.
Doug Tallamy is the T. A. Baker Professor of Agriculture in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, where he has authored 115 research publications and has taught insect related courses for 45 years. Chief among his research goals is to better understand the many ways insects interact with plants and how such interactions determine the diversity of animal communities. His books include Bringing Nature Home, The Living Landscape, co-authored with Rick Darke, Nature’s Best Hope, a New York Times Best Seller, The Nature of Oaks, winner of the American Horticultural Society’s 2022 book award, and his latest How Can I Help. In 2021 he cofounded Homegrown National Park with Michelle Alfandari. His awards include recognition from The Garden Writer’s Association, Audubon, The National Wildlife Federation, Allegheny College, Ecoforesters, The Garden Club of America, The Herb Society, and The American Horticultural Association.
This event is co-hosted with Fishers Island Conservancy.
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Webinar ID: 884 1011 7213
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Awesome Amphibians
2025-07-23 14:00 - 15:00
We love our slimy friends!
Learn what amphibians are, meet live frogs, and find out why amphibians are so important to the environment.
WHEN: Wednesday, July 23, 2025
TIME: 2 to 3 p.m.
LOCATION: In person at the Museum
Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center (DPNC) family program for ages five and up.
Suggested donation $10.

All Wednesday children’s programs are in person at the Museum.
Attendance is limited to 15 children so advance registration is recommended.
Please phone: 631-788-7239 or email info@fergusonmuseum.org
(note the name and date of the specific program and the name and age of the attendee/s).

Healthy Landscape Ecosystems
2025-07-27 16:00 - 17:00
Join us for an illustrated talk by Jim Sirch, naturalist and President of the Connecticut Horticultural Society, to learn about relationships in nature, and how a healthy landscape ecosystem functions well for people and wildlife.
WHEN: Sunday, July 27, 2025
TIME: 4 p.m.
PLACE: In person at the Museum and virtual via zoom
Join Zoom WebinarNature, like life, is about relationships. When you observe a tree in your landscape, what do you see? Do you see leaves, limbs and bark? Or, do you see, if only in your mind’s eye, the many species that it supports? – the caterpillars that feed on its leaves, the birds that feed those caterpillars to their young, the woodpeckers that drill into its bark for insects or the mammals that make their nests in its branches.
We need to look closely to understand and appreciate how species interact and depend upon one another. For instance, we’ve all observed bees. But did you know that there are more than 400 bee species in New York State alone? They range from large bumblebees to tiny little native bees, and many specialize on specific plants for survival. The same is true of many other kinds of wildlife, such as butterflies, moths, and birds. Many animals have evolved over millennia to specialize on specific native plants. John Muir wrote: “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.” When we begin to appreciate the interconnectedness of all things in nature, we see that everything is interdependent and affects everything else.
In an age in which humans are rapidly unraveling the ecosystem services of the planet, It’s important to understand how we can make a difference in our own landscapes. It matters what trees you plant, what shrubs you install, or how you site a water feature. All these things contribute to having a healthy landscape ecosystem.
Jim Sirch is a trained Naturalist and President of the Connecticut Horticultural Society. He recently retired from the Yale Peabody Museum. Jim is a UConn Master Gardener and board member of his local land trust and the Mountain Laurel chapter of Wild Ones. As a naturalist, he brings a deep understanding of geology, plants and wildlife and how they interact within a particular ecosystem. Jim is passionate about helping others decrease their lawn and re-wild their yard. He founded the Peabody-Beardsley-Maritime chapter of FrogWatch, a national community science program to identify and track frog populations and co-founded a native plant seed library at his local public library. Jim holds a B.S in Forestry from West Virginia University, a B.S. from Miami University in Science Education; and an M.S. in Environmental Studies Administration from Antioch University. He is honored to be a Sigmund Abeles Award recipient from the Connecticut Science Teachers and Supervisors Association for outstanding science teaching and professional development. Jim also authors a nature blog called Beyond Your Back Door at www.beyondyourbackdoor.com.
Healthy Landscape Ecosystems ResourcesWarbler feeding chicks. Photo by Steve Maslowski USFWS
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Webinar ID: 899 5948 6559
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Food Chain Connections
2025-07-30 14:00 - 15:00
Learn about energy flow in an ecosystem and how all living things are interconnected.
Meet live animals and explore predator-prey relationships that exist in the wild and play a fun food chain game.
WHEN: Wednesday, July 30, 2025
TIME: 2 to 3 p.m.
LOCATION: In person at the Museum
Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center (DPNC) family program for ages five and up.
Suggested donation $10.

All Wednesday children’s programs are in person at the Museum.
Attendance is limited to 15 children so advance registration is recommended.
Please phone: 631-788-7239 or email info@fergusonmuseum.org
(note the name and date of the specific program and the name and age of the attendee/s).

Understanding the Global-to-Regional Climate Driven by Atmospheric CO2
2025-08-03 16:00 - 17:00
Join us for an illustrated talk by John P. Jasper Ph.D., Molecular Isotope Technologies, Niantic, Conn., that spans the last 500 million years for perspective, with a focus into the last century for preliminarily considering the health of the southeastern Connecticut coastal environments.
WHEN: Sunday, August 3, 2025
TIME: 4 p.m.
PLACE: In person at the Museum and virtual via zoom
Join Zoom WebinarWith geochemical experience in natural sciences spanning the last forty-five years, Dr. John Jasper will present a summary natural history of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2, the primary driving force of global climate) and a prospectus of these levels based on the major contributions to the contemporary atmospheric CO2 budget (see also https://rdcu.be/eaQu7). With the general perception that eelgrass abundance is inversely proportional to water temperature, these relatively recent records focus interest and discussion into the history and fate of eelgrass in this region.
Dr. Jasper (Ph.D., 1988, M.I.T./Woods Hole Oceanographic Inst.) founded in 1999 and is the Chief Scientific Officer of Molecular Isotope Technologies ℠ LLC (MIT LLC), a company that specializes in pharmaceutical product and process (“Nature’s Fingerprint®” and “Isotopic Pedigree®”) authentication. By training, he is an analytical organic and stable isotope chemist who uses bulk and compound-specific approaches to determine the sources of organic matter via their natural-isotopic “fingerprints,” particularly in pharmaceutical materials.
John P. Jasper Ph.D., aboard WHOI’s R/V Atlantis overlooking the gyrocompass at the Fiftieth MIT/WHOI Reunion.
PHOTO CREDIT: Long eelgrass blades-leaves floating on the surface of the water at low tide, by Emily Bodell
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Webinar ID: 816 6271 6015
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Innovative Animal Adaptations
2025-08-06 14:00 - 15:00
Discover the world of biomimicry and learn about human inventions that were inspired by animals and plants in the wild.
Explore hands-on activities to replicate some of the incredible adaptations that animals have perfected over millions of years. Meet DPNC ambassador animals and observe their innovative adaptations!
WHEN: Wednesday, August 6, 2025
TIME: 2 to 3 p.m.
LOCATION: In person at the Museum
Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center (DPNC) family program for ages five and up.
Suggested donation $10.

All Wednesday children’s programs are in person at the Museum.
Attendance is limited to 15 children so advance registration is recommended.
Please phone: 631-788-7239 or email info@fergusonmuseum.org
(note the name and date of the specific program and the name and age of the attendee/s).

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Returns to Fishers Island!
2025-08-07 17:00 - 19:00 | Fishers Island Theater
The Henry L. Ferguson Museum and Elizabeth and Richard Miller invite you for an update on local and global ocean climate issues by WHOI President and Director, Peter de Menocal and a presentation by Robert L. James Scientist Chair, Camrin Braun on Apex Ocean Predators.
WHEN: Thursday, August 7, 2025
TIME: Reception 5-6 p.m., Presentations 6-7 p.m.
PLACE: In-person at the F.I. Theater
Please note, this is an update to the presentation given in August of 2024 on “Waves of Change: Understanding both local and global ocean climate issues and unexpected solutions”.
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Webinar ID: 882 4692 8539
International numbers available: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdO81tvOPg
