The third-floor Shaw Research Library and Randall Gallery are open to the public from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday thru Saturday. For elevator access, please call (603) 431-2538.
CLOSED on Saturday, June 3 (Portsmouth 400th parade) and Saturday, June 10 (Market Square Day). Check our calendar for tours of the first-floor Sawtelle Reading Room.
UPCOMING EVENTS
- June 10, 2023
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- June 15, 2023
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Fred Schubert talk "Advances in Understanding and Treating Disease in the 19th Century with Lessons that Still Resonate"
June 15, 2023 @ 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Portsmouth Athenaeum, 9 Market Square, Portsmouth, NH 03801, USAScience educator and Proprietor Fred Schubert will give a talk on "Advances in Understanding and Treating Disease in the 19th Century with Lessons that Still Resonate." In 1880, the world biology had yet to be defined. By 1900, vaccines for many serious illnesses were being developed. The work of John Snow, Louis Pasteur, Joseph Lister, Robert Koch, Max von Pettenkofer and other remarkable figures will be considered.
The talk begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Shaw Research Library on the third floor of the Athenaeum. Reservations are required for this free event. Please call (603) 431-2538 to RSVP.
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HOURS
Shaw Research Library &
Randall Gallery
Tuesday through Saturday
1 to 4 p.m.
&
Reading Room Tours
Saturdays
Second & Fourth Thursdays
1 to 2 p.m.
(Check our calendar.)

From the Mouth of Babes
By Tom Hardiman, Keeper and Executive Director Over the past couple of weeks, Proprietor Ellen Fineberg and I gave tours of the 1805 building to twenty groups of Portsmouth 3rd graders. Telling the kids about our history is always fun, rewarding, and exhausting! I...
“Advances in Understanding and Treating Disease in the 19th Century with Lessons That Still Resonate” with Fred Schubert
Thursday, June 15, 2023 5:30 p.m. Shaw Research Library Science educator and Proprietor Dr. Fred Schubert will give a talk on "Advances in Understanding and Treating Disease in the 19th Century with Lessons That Still Resonate." In 1880, the world biology had...
Author Tom Curren’s “All Join Hands” Book Talk with Proprietor Peter Randall
Thursday, May 25, 2023 5: 30 p.m. Sawtelle Reading Room Join Peter Randall, publisher and photographer, in conversation with author Tom Curren about his new book All Join Hands: Dudley Laufman & the New England Country Dance Tradition. All Join Hands is a...
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.