Though born into a prosperous whaling family, Rodman committed himself to the city's working poor. He and his wife Susan were founding members of the New Bedford Benevolent Society, created "to devise some means for the relief of the physical and moral wants of the poor of this town." In the 1830s he began championing the abolition of slavery. While whaling wealth is apparent in the city's historic houses, the owners' lives reflected some of the powerful social issues of the time.
Yesterday I suppose you know was an awful storm, but I went in the evening to Ben Rodman party. All that clique were there and all talking abolition.
Deborah Weston, April 15, 1839
By the 1890s Rodman house was hemmed and on all sides by storefronts and warehouse space. Used as a warehouse for forty years, the mansion was purchased and donated to the Waterfront Historic Area League (WHALE) in 1965. WHALE removed the structures modern additions and restored the building.
| HM Number | HM1GIT |
|---|---|
| Tags | |
| Placed By | National Parks Service |
| Marker Condition | No reports yet |
| Date Added | Sunday, September 28th, 2014 at 5:33am PDT -07:00 |
| UTM (WGS84 Datum) | 19T E 339726 N 4611190 |
|---|---|
| Decimal Degrees | 41.63635000, -70.92430000 |
| Degrees and Decimal Minutes | N 41° 38.181', W 70° 55.458' |
| Degrees, Minutes and Seconds | 41° 38' 10.86" N, 70° 55' 27.48" W |
| Driving Directions | Google Maps |
| Area Code(s) | 508, 774 |
| Which side of the road? | Marker is on the right when traveling North |
| Closest Postal Address | At or near 70 N 2nd St, New Bedford MA 02740, US |
| Alternative Maps | Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap |
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