☘️ “Voyage of Mercy: The USS Jamestown, the Irish Famine & America's First Humanitarian Mission"

About this event

Please join members and friends of the Museum of Newport Irish History for the 3rd talk of its 25th Annual Lecture Series with Stephen Puleo , whose lecture is titled:

“Voyage of Mercy: The USS Jamestown, the Irish Famine, and the Remarkable Story of America’s First Humanitarian Mission”

The talk with Q&A to follow will be presented at 6:00 p.m . in person at the Wyndham Newport Hotel and live-streamed via Zoom.

• Doors open at 5:30 pm • Light hors d’oeuvres & cash bar available • $10 per person fee to attend in person (cash or check @ door). • No fee/$0 to participate via Zoom. • Copies of Voyage of Mercy will be available for sale and signing after the talk, courtesy of Charter Books

Reservations are required for both in-person and virtual participation:

CLICK to reserve IN-PERSON: tinyurl.com/InPersonPreserv CLICK to participate via ZOOM: tinyurl.com/virtualreserv

Questions/Assistance with Reservations: Please write Ann at NewportIrishHistory@gmail.com or phone (401) 841-5493. Note: If you are hosting a group of 4 or more and would like to pay by card, please contact Ann at least 24 hours BEFORE the event to make arrangements. Cards are not accepted at the door.

TALK OVERVIEW: Stephen Puleo’s book VOYAGE OF MERCY tells the incredible story of the Great Famine, the Jamestown voyage, and the commitment of thousands of ordinary Americans to offer relief to Ireland, a groundswell that provided the collaborative blueprint for future relief efforts and established the United States as the leader in international aid.

More than 5,000 ships left Ireland during the Great Potato Famine in the late 1840s, transporting the starving and the destitute away from their stricken homeland. The first vessel to sail in the other direction, to help the millions unable to escape, was the USS Jamestown, a converted warship that left Boston in March 1847, loaded with precious food for Ireland. Captain Robert Bennet Forbes and the crew of the USS Jamestown began a massive eighteen-month demonstration of soaring goodwill against the backdrop of unfathomable despair—one nation’s struggle to survive, and another’s effort to provide a lifeline. Forbes’ undertaking inspired a nationwide outpouring of relief that was unprecedented in size and scope, the first instance of an entire nation extending a hand to a foreign neighbor for purely humanitarian reasons. It showed the world that national generosity and brotherhood were not signs of weakness but displays of quiet strength and moral certitude. Through July 1848, some sixteen months after the assistance began, Americans donated a massive amount of food, more than 9,900 tons, to sustain Ireland. The humanitarian transatlantic convoy from the United States that began with Jamestown’s unprecedented voyage did not stop until upwards of 150 ships from U.S. ports delivered food, clothing, and provisions to starving Ireland.

STEPHEN PULEO is an author, historian, teacher, public speaker, and communications professional. He is the author of eight books, including his most recent, The Great Abolitionist: Charles Sumner and the Fight for a More Perfect Union, published by St. Martin’s Press in 2024, and nominated for the prestigious Mark Lynton History Prize offered by the Columbia School of Journalism and Harvard’s Nieman Foundation for Journalism. His ninth book, The Penicillin Miracle: A Deadly Fire, World War II, and the Dawn of the Antibiotics Age , will be published in late summer 2027. To learn more about his work, please visit StephenPuleo.com .

SERIES SPONSORS: For a list of our generous 25th Annual Lecture Series sponsors, please visit: newportirishhistory.org/lectures/

ABOUT THE MUSEUM-Celebrating 30 years The Museum of Newport Irish History, a volunteer-driven, non-profit 501c3 organization, was founded in 1996 and now boasts over 900 members. In addition to operating an Interpretive Center on Lower Thames Street, the organization sponsors numerous educational, cultural, social, and fundraising events throughout the year, including its popular Annual Lecture Series , now in its 25th season. The organization also restored and maintains the historic Barney Street Cemetery at the corner of Barney and Mt. Vernon Streets, steps from Washington Square. It is the final resting place of many of Newport’s earliest Irish residents. The cemetery was established to support Rhode Island’s first Roman Catholic parish, the forerunner of the current Saint Mary’s Church at the corner of Spring Street and Memorial Boulevard.

To learn more or to join the Museum, please visit NewportIrishHistory.org or write us at newportirishhistory@gmaiLcom