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Use this guide to complete a self-guided tour of the house and grounds. It includes both the permanent and temporary exhibitions of the museum. As you tour the Museum, please do not touch the furnishings, displays, or wall coverings. Thank you for helping us to preserve the mansion for others to enjoy.
Celebrating 40 Years of Collecting
Curated by Sage Lamade, Manager of Collections & Interpretation
As we celebrate the RJD’s 40th anniversary in the year 2025, we look back on four decades of collecting. The house as you see it today—with historic rooms furnished to recall life during New Bedford’s “golden age” of whaling, and detailed exhibitions curated to teach visitors about those who once lived and worked here—was not always this way. It is only through the generosity of our donors that we’ve been able to acquire historic objects for study and display, and thus tell a fuller story of this unique site. On your next visit the Museum, look out for special labels marked with the Anniversary logo throughout the historic mansion and learn more about these notable donations in our 40 year history.
The Revolutionary Journey of William Rotch Sr.
Selections from the Historical Graphic Novel Quaker Whaler Traitor Spy! by Dr. Sarah Crabtree, Illustrated by Melissa Philley
William Rotch was one of the unluckiest men of the eighteenth century. Accused of treason four times by three governments in two decades (1775 – 1795), he became a cautionary tale for any who dared dissent. A member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and thus a pacifist, he vehemently opposed the wars for independence and empire during the late eighteenth century. But William Rotch was also one of the luckiest men of the eighteenth century. Whaling was an exceptional industry in that the factory was a floating one. Ships could be at sea for years at a time, staffed with a motley crew, frequenting ports the world over. Rotch shrewdly used these factors to his advantage, amassing a fortune by exploiting the very political fragmentation he so adamantly protested. Beginning with the Boston Tea Party, the Rotches stretched the bounds of acceptable business practice by claiming residency – simultaneously – in three different countries. This tactic landed Rotch in court almost as frequently as his antiwar stance, but here too he won acquittal.
So was William Rotch a Quaker? A whaler? A traitor? A spy? This exhibit invites the viewer – you! – to decide which label best describes him. Along the way, we’ll revisit some famous (and infamous!) events and we’ll hear from a few characters you’ve definitely heard of and some maybe you haven’t. What we hope is that you’ll agree his-story is a way of reapproaching how history is made – a story that is as much about who and what we remember as how and why we remember them.
This exhibition was created with the help of staff members Lauren Pothier and Rick Finneran, Executive Director Dawn Salerno, author and illustrator of Quaker, Whaler, Traitor, Spy! Dr. Sarah Crabtree and Melissa Philley. It is supported in part by a grant from Eastern National, a nonprofit partner of the National Parks.
Quakers of New Bedford
Costume, furniture and other domestic objects give the viewer a glimpse into the life style of a New Bedford Quaker.
Ties That Bind: The Jones Sisters
Curated by Sage Lamade, Manager of Collections & Interpretation
With Assistance from Catherine Adamowicz and Lauren Prescott
The 1834 Greek Revival mansion and garden estate now known as the RJD has been preserved for both its historical value and its enduring significance to present-day communities. But for three young girls born in the mid-19th century, 396 County was simply “home”. Ties That Bind explores the unique—and in some ways, unconventional—upbringings of Emma, Amelia, and Sarah Jones during the second era of residency in the site’s history. Over 100 objects from the museum’s collection are featured, including photographs, diary entries, letters, scrapbooks, illustrations, clothing, jewelry, personal items, and family heirlooms. The exhibition gives an intimate glimpse into the lives of these young women, their joyous triumphs and profound losses as experienced within the walls of the house on County Street. Discover the unwavering bond between three sisters: one which evolved over time as each chose distinct yet complementary paths.
