May 8 | 6:30pm | 213 Water Street | Free
Discover New York City’s connections to historic exploration of both the North and South Poles in this mini-symposium presented by the South Street Seaport Museum and the polar social club, Terror and Erebus Society.
Moderated by Allegra Rosenberg, the founder and director of the Terror Camp virtual polar conference, the evening will include three short presentations by Julian Sancton, Laurie Gwen Shapiro, and Erin L Thomson followed by a group discussion, and a Q&A with the audience. Topics will include Frederick A. Cook (1865–1940), the American explorer and physician who claimed to be the first explorer to reach the North Pole in April of 1908; William “Billy” Gawroński (1910–1981), a New York City teenager who attempted to stow away on the first American expedition to Antarctica, which was led by naval officer, aviator, and polar explorer Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr. (1888–1957) from 1928 to 1930; and Admiral Robert Edwin Peary’s (1856–1920) forced relocation of six Inughuit individuals and the theft of culturally significant objects from Greenland, undertaken on behalf of the American Museum of Natural History.
A wine reception will follow the program. Advanced registration is encouraged, and walk-ups will be accommodated as space allows.
This event will include discussion of sensitive topics that may be disturbing or upsetting to some attendees.
About the Speakers
Julian Sancton has been an editor at Vanity Fair, Esquire, and Departures, and written for such publications as The New Yorker, Wired, and Playboy. He has reported from every continent, including Antarctica, which he first visited while researching his book Madhouse at the End of the Earth: The Belgica’s Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night.
Laurie Gwen Shapiro is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and journalist whose writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, New York Magazine, The Daily Beast, Slate, and others. Shapiro is the 2021 winner of the Damn History Award for “The Improbable Journey of Dorothy Parker’s Ashes” for The New Yorker and gold medallion winner in the People Profiles category for the Silurian Press Club’s 77th annual Excellence in Journalism Awards. She is the author of The Stowaway a best seller and an Indie next selection. She is an adjunct professor of journalism at The NYU Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute in the graduate program.
Erin L Thomson is America’s only professor of art crime, studying the black market for looted antiquities, museum collections of human remains, controversial public monuments, art made by detainees at Guantánamo Bay, and a variety of other overlaps between art and crime. Thomson is currently working on a book about art forgery. She is a member of the Advisory Committee for the Nepal Heritage Recovery Campaign and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.
Allegra Rosenberg is the Community Editor at Atlas Obscura and the founder and director of the Terror Camp virtual polar conference. She has published on polar topics in the New York Times, Atavist Magazine, MIT Technology Review, National Geographic, and elsewhere, and given talks at the Explorers Club, the Shackleton Autumn School, and the Royal Geographical Society. Her debut nonfiction book is forthcoming from WW Norton.
Enjoy More That the Museum Offers
Access to the historic ships and exhibition galleries at the Seaport Museum is not included with this event. If you would like to explore more that the Museum has to offer, book in advance or ask Museum staff about admission tickets, available Wednesday through Sunday from 11am to 5pm when you check in.
Museum admission tickets grant access to the 1885 tall ship Wavertree and 1908 lightship Ambrose at Pier 16 as well as all current exhibitions on view in the introduction galleries inside Schermerhorn Row located at 12 Fulton Street.
Admission tickets also include entry to the new Maritime City exhibition in A.A. Thomson & Co. located at 213 Water Street.
Ready for more?
Head over to our Programs and Events page to see what else is happening at the Museum. Sign up for an upcoming talk, learn more about visiting Wavertree, or explore our virtual offerings.