Her Story: How Women Left Their Mark On Sag Harbor

When it comes to recording past events, history has most often been told through the recorded lives of men. All manner of financial transactions, deeds and official documents are the stuff that typically fills in the blanks of what went before and more often than not — perhaps with the exception of birth, death and marriage record — those written documents are by, for and about the business of men. Often missing from the official account is any mention of women, whose very surname ceased to exist upon their wedding day.

But in its new exhibit, “Her Story: A Celebration of Notable Sag Harbor Women, 1800-1970,” the Sag Harbor Whaling and Historical Museum takes a look at history through the artifacts, milestones and lesser known stories of several of its female residents.

Some women featured in the show, like feminist Betty Friedan, author of the groundbreaking 1963 book “The Feminine Mystique,” were internationally recognized in their day. Others, like singer and activist Daisy Tapley, the first African American woman to be recorded on an LP, may have been famous in her day, but now hers is a name largely unknown.

Not every woman highlighted in the show earned or even sought the limelight. In fact, most of those featured went about their business by living quiet, unassuming lives, doing either what they loved, or more often than not, what they had to in order to survive. Among them is Anna Westfall, a young woman left widowed in her early 30s who taught needlework and the domestic arts to successive generations of young women in order to support herself. Also featured in the show is Fannie Tunison who, despite being paralyzed from the neck down shortly after birth, became so adept at sewing, painting and drawing using only her lips and tongue that she became the primary breadwinner for her family and even performed on the vaudeville circuit in New York City.

But despite their diverse interests and accomplishments, the women in “Her Story” have one thing in common — they all once called Sag Harbor home, some for only a few years, others for their entire lifetimes. The other common denominator is that they all did what they had to in order to survive and in many cases, thrive. The show celebrates women who, in the 19th and 20th centuries, left their mark in one way or another through literature, music, social activism, journalism, art and even the more quiet and hidden ways of traditional women’s work.

“Her Story: A Celebration of Notable Sag Harbor Women, 1800-1970” will remain on view at the Sag Harbor Whaling Museum, 200 Main Street, Sag Harbor, until the museum closes for the season on October 17. The exhibit includes both biographical panels as well as physical objects related to the subjects. Also featured are panels and objects related to the Ladies Village Improvement Society and the Sag Harbor American Legion Auxiliary. The museum is open Thursdays through Mondays 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays). For more information visit sagharborwhalingmuseum.org.