The Shaw Research Library & Randall Gallery are open to the public from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday thru Saturday. Masks are required during your visit.
UPCOMING EVENTS
- February 9, 2023
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Reading Room Tour
February 9, 2023 @ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Tour the historic first-floor Reading Room. Donations welcome.
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- February 10, 2023
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Book Signing: Charles Doane "The Boy Who Fell to Shore
February 10, 2023 @ 5:30 pm - 7:15 pm
Portsmouth Athenaeum, 9 Market Square, Portsmouth, NH 03801, USAA seasoned bluewater sailor and author of many books and articles on sailing, Charles Doane’s newest book stitches together first-hand accounts from interviews and letters to paint a portrait of the remarkable and enigmatic Thomas Tangvald. Tangvald literally was born at sea and spent the greater part of his troubled life on the water. He was an intellectual prodigy and master navigator, but early tragedies led to a life of addiction and risky behavior that ultimately contributed to his disappearance in 2014. The most astounding thing about the story is that it is all true and masterfully told by Charles Doane.
The book talk will be on the first-floor Reading Room. To reserve your spot, please call 603-431-2538.
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HOURS
Shaw Research Library &
Randall Gallery
Tuesday through Saturday
1 to 4 p.m.
&
Reading Room Tours
First & Third Saturdays
Second & Fourth Thursdays
1 to 2 p.m.
(Check our calendar.)

Athenaeum Holiday Concert with the Portsmouth Symphony Brass Quintet
Join us for this upcoming free holiday concert on Dec. 16 at 7:30 p.m.
Line of Driftwood: The Ada Blackjack Story
Please join us for the ZOOM discussion on “Line of Driftwood: The Ada Blackjack Story” by Diane Glancy with Proprietor Elizabeth Howard on Wednesday, November 9, 2022 at 6 p.m.
2022 Lecture Series: Architecture I – Imitation and Innovation: Developing a Portsmouth Style of Architecture 1660-1815
The 2022 Lecture series “Portsmouth, NH: Evolution 1623-2023” continues on Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022 at 5 p.m. with “Architecture I – Imitation and Innovation: Developing a Portsmouth Style of Architecture 1660-1815” by Tom Hardiman. Join us the Shaw Reading Room at the Portsmouth Athenaeum.
We, the Proprietors of the Portsmouth Athenaeum, associate to promote learning and advance useful knowledge among our constituents and the wider community by facilitating convivial interchange and intellectual discourse; maintaining our historic buildings and library; and collecting and preserving materials relevant to the history and culture of Portsmouth and the Piscataqua Region.