Douglas Armsden Photograph Project
Douglas Armsden in his studio at 240 Whipple Road, Kittery, Maine, c. 1940s.
Between 2018 & 2021, the Athenaeum received the photograph collection of prolific photographer Douglas J. Armsden (1918-2009). Born in England and raised in upstate New York, Armsden and his family settled in Kittery Point, Maine. Armsden’s work captured the essence of the mid-20th century Seacoast region of New England and beyond. His work included wedding photography, family portraits, early documentation of historic houses, commercial and scenic images of Maine and New Hampshire, and editorial work for local newspapers and magazines such as New Hampshire Profile and Down East.
This collection also includes Armsden’s years of service in World War II documenting the Pacific Theater, and his daily life with his wife, Alice Decatur, and their three daughters as well as family and friends in their “little piece of heaven” along Fernald Cove in Kittery Point.
The photographic images in the collection include print photographs, color transparencies, 35 mm film, and both medium- and large-format negatives.
When cataloged, this single collection will double the Athenaeum’s entire photographic collection!
In 2018, the archival supplies for the collection were estimated to cost over $6,500. We received generous donations from members of the Athenaeum, the local community, and Seacoast businesses. In 2019, we were awarded a $1,500 grant from the Rosamond Thaxter Foundation, and on Sept. 8, 2020, the Athenaeum held a Bake Benefit at the Portsmouth Flatbread Company. For every pizza sold between 5 and 9 p.m., a portion of the proceeds went towards purchasing archival supplies. Combining all of these efforts, the Athenaeum raised the necessary funds needed to preserve the initial Armsden donation. Thank you!
While we met our goals for the 2018-2019 material, subsequent Armsden material was donated in late 2020 and 2021. We need an additional $2,500 for archival supplies.
If you would like to contribute to preserving this collection, click on the “Armsden Donate” button to go to PayPal. Remember, you don’t have to be a PayPal member to use PayPal. You can donate as a guest.
If you would prefer to pay by check, please make it out to to the Portsmouth Athenaeum with “Armsden” in the memo line and mail it to “Portsmouth Athenaeum, P.O. Box 366, Portsmouth, NH 03802.”
Thank you for your support!
Preserve Local History
Does Armsden Sound Familiar?
You may have come across Armsden’s photographs already in our collection. During his lifetime, Armsden donated a collection of negatives (P15 Armsden Photograph Collection). These invaluable historic images depict mid-20th century Portsmouth and other Seacoast locales. While there are duplicates in both collections, the images in P15 are an example of what the new complete Armsden collection will offer.
The existing P15 collection will also be reprocessed. Click here to view the P15 collection.
ARMSDEN PROJECT IN THE NEWS
FEATURED IMAGES BY ARMSDEN
![Happy Thanksgiving!🦃
Here is one of several photos of a Thanksgiving party hosted by the Smith family at the Rockingham Hotel on State Street in Portsmouth, c. 1960s.
Margaret Tasher Smith (1907-1995) is seen holding her plate while an unidentified chef carves into the turkey. Margaret and her husband James Barker Smith operated the Wentworth-by-the-Sea Hotel in New Castle from 1946 until 1980. From all appearances, the Smiths loved a themed party, and this feast was no exception. Other photos include a female bartender dressed as a Pilgrim serving drinks.🥂
[Photo by Douglas Armsden, Wentworth-by-the-Sea Photograph Collection, P24.599]
Margaret originally gave the hotel's records (including the photograph collection) to the Henley Corporation, the new hotel owners, believing that the collection should stay within the hotel. When the hotel operations declined and the building was threatened with demolition, the material was given to the Friends of the Wentworth, an organization dedicated to preserving the Wentworth-by-the Sea. In 1994, the Friends brought the collection to the Athenaeum, which we are thankful.🙏
#happythanksgiving #rockingamhotel #WentworthbytheSea #MargaretTasherSmith #DouglasArmsden #collectpreserveshare📖 #localhistory #PortsmouthNH #NH #Maine #Seacoast❤](https://i0.wp.com/portsmouthathenaeum.org/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed-pro/img/placeholder.png?w=1080&ssl=1)
Happy Thanksgiving!🦃
Here is one of several photos of a Thanksgiving party hosted by the Smith family at the Rockingham Hotel on State Street in Portsmouth, c. 1960s.
Margaret Tasher Smith (1907-1995) is seen holding her plate while an unidentified chef carves into the turkey. Margaret and her husband James Barker Smith operated the Wentworth-by-the-Sea Hotel in New Castle from 1946 until 1980. From all appearances, the Smiths loved a themed party, and this feast was no exception. Other photos include a female bartender dressed as a Pilgrim serving drinks.🥂
[Photo by Douglas Armsden, Wentworth-by-the-Sea Photograph Collection, P24.599]
Margaret originally gave the hotel's records (including the photograph collection) to the Henley Corporation, the new hotel owners, believing that the collection should stay within the hotel. When the hotel operations declined and the building was threatened with demolition, the material was given to the Friends of the Wentworth, an organization dedicated to preserving the Wentworth-by-the Sea. In 1994, the Friends brought the collection to the Athenaeum, which we are thankful.🙏
#happythanksgiving #rockingamhotel #WentworthbytheSea #MargaretTasherSmith #DouglasArmsden #collectpreserveshare📖 #localhistory #PortsmouthNH #NH #Maine #Seacoast❤
Harvesting up another image for #TransparencyTuesday 🦀🍎
Pictured are a group of children gathering crab apples in the front yard of the Armsden residence on Pepperrell Road, Kittery Point, Maine. Undated.
The two girls are the daughters of Douglas (the photographer) and Alice Decatur Armsden. On the left is Gay and on the right is Catherine. In the foreground, the two boys are neighbors Larry Forbes, left, and Tommy Struzenski, right.
[Douglas Armsden Transparencies, P0061_00501]
You can learn more about the Armsden Photograph Project on our website. Link in bio.
#kitterypointmaine #harvest #crabapples #DouglasArmsden
#collectpreserveshare📖 #localhistory #PortsmouthNH #Maine #Seacoast❤
An autumn view of the oldest surviving wood-frame house in New Hampshire.🍂 #TransparencyTuesday
Built circa 1664, the Richard Jackson House still stands on Northwest Street along the north shore (also known historically as the Christian Shore) of the North Mill Pond in Portsmouth.
For seven generations, the building remained in the Jackson family until 1924 when the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (now known as @historicnewengland) purchased the property. Today, the historic house museum is opened seasonally.
The undated image was taken by local commercial photographer Douglas Armsden (1918-2009). You can learn more about the Armsden Project on our website. Link in bio.
[Douglas Armsden Transparencies, P0061_00185]
#RichardJacksonHouse #JacksonHouse #historicnewengland #DouglasArmsden #collectpreserveshare📖 #localhistory #PortsmouthNH #NH #Maine #Seacoast❤
Have you picked out your pumpkins yet? 🎃🍂🍁 #TransparencyTuesday
Here an older man carves into a pumpkin while a young boy, possibly his grandson, looks on. Both are unidentified, but they may be related to the Armsden family of Kittery Point, Maine, and the image may have been taken in the Kittery vicinity, c. 1950.
UPDATE: A similar image (though printed in b/w) was used as the cover of Shoreliner magazine in October 1951. The photo caption was the following:
"October means just one thing to a small boy... Halloween! And Halloween means, of course, jack-o-lanterns. Not every small boy is as fortunate as the tow-headed lad in our picture in having a willing friend, wise in the ways of carving pumpkin heads, to wield the jackknife. Percy Amee, well known resident of Kittery Point, Me., is carving the orange pumpkin for his young neighbor, John Rice, in this appealing photo by Douglas Armsden."
James Percy Amee (1871-1960) was a lifelong resident of Kittery Point and worked at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard as a marine engineer until he retired in 1937. He and his wife, Grace Hoyt, raised their family on their farm on Chauncey Creek Road where this photo was taken.
Local commercial photographer Douglas Armsden (1918-2009) lived near Mr. Amee. You can learn more about our ongoing project to process the Armsden collection, an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 images, by clicking on the link in our bio.
[Douglas Armsden Transparencies, P0061_00500.]
Thank you to @bevdan48 for the update!🙏
#jackolantern #pumpkins #ameefamily #ricefamily #Shoreliner #Halloween #DouglasArmsden #kitterypointmaine #chaunceycreek #collectpreserveshare📖 #localhistory #PortsmouthNH #nh #Maine #seacoast❤
Do you recognize this view?👁🐦👁
From an aerial image, we've zoomed into sections of the old North End neighborhood, c. 1967. And they are in color!🥰
By the early 20th century, the North End had become a true American melting pot, with a richly diverse population, and while predominately Italian, the neighborhood included Yankee-born, Greek, Polish, Chinese, Swedish and African-American families. This image is historically significant since almost the entire North End was demolished during the Vaughan Street Urban Renewal Project, c.1968-1973.
[Douglas Armsden Transparencies, P0061_00010]
To help orientate, the first image is the site of the c. 1972 Portsmouth Herald building at the intersection of Maplewood & Raynes avenues. The next image is mainly the site of the c. 1985 Sheraton Hotel on the corner of Market & Deer streets. We've also included close-ups of Market Square, Prescott Park, and the original aerial shot, which goes beyond New Castle to the Isles of Shoals. #asthecrowflies
The color positive film was taken by local commercial photographer Douglas Armsden (1918-2009). And with the assistance of UNH intern Jess Manning, we've begun cataloging this colorful grouping from the 25,000 to 30,000 images recently donated by his daughters.❤
We are still in need of additional archival supplies to preserve this historically valuable material. On our website you can learn more about the project and how to donate.🙏👉Link in bio.
Going forward, we'll be using #TransparencyTuesday to share ongoing examples of this new collection.
You can also learn more about the North End neighborhood in our online catalog. If you have North End photographs we would love to preserve or create a digital scan of them for future generations. Please contact James at jsmith@portsmouthathenaeum.org.
#DouglasArmsden #aerialphotographs #NorthEnd #LostPortsmouth #lostneighborhood #collectpreserveshare📖 #localhistory #PortsmouthNH #nh #Maine #seacoast❤
For #nationallobsterday🦞 we are traveling back to 1953 and walking down to Dan LaCava & Sons wholesale fish and lobster pound off Mechanic Street in the South End.
The photographs were taken by local commercial photographer Douglas Armsden (1918-2009) as part of the featured article "Winter Lobstermen" in New Hampshire Profiles, February 1953.
Seated in front of the business is owner Dan LaCava, left, with fisherman Louis Pento.
Born in Italy, Daniel LaCava (1893-1971) was described by Profiles as "one of the finest lobstermen on the coastline." His wholesale business supplied lobsters to hotels and restaurants all along the east coast, and his lobster pound served as headquarters for individual fishermen by supplying them with bait, gear, and gasoline.
Dan and his wife, Grace Galvagno, raised their family on Mechanic Street. According to Profiles, son Sam "learned the trade from his father, Dan— learned it well enough, incidentally, to retire from active fishing in his early thirties and buy out the wholesale firm of Dan LaCava & Sons."
Many of the photos here feature Louis F. Pento (1924-2002), a mid-twenties, father of three who was described as "a big man, his hands toughened to a mitten of callouses from constant contact with ropes." The son of Italian immigrants, Louis grew up in the Puddle Dock neighborhood (now mostly @strawberybankemuseum). Later in life, he owned the North End Lobster Pool, the China Sea Lounge, and the Starlight Club, formerly the Italian-American Club, on State Street.
[Armsden Photograph Collection, P15.512]
As you may know, in the last few years, we have received an additional 25,000 to 30,000 images by Douglas Armsden. While we have previously processed Armsden images (P15) in this Profiles article, there are more found in this new collection. We still need to purchase archival supplies for preserving this new, expansive collection. On our website, you can learn more about the Douglas Armsden Photograph Project and donate. Link in bio.😊🙏
#lobsters #southend #italianamerican🇮🇹 #lacavaandsons #danlacava #louispento #DouglasArmsden #collectpreserveshare📖
#localhistory #PortsmouthNH
#nh #Maine #seacoast❤
We are phoning it in for #throwbackthursday to Market Square in April 1956.☎️
A banner hangs across Market Square as part of a massive marketing campaign by New England Telephone and Telegraph Company alerting Seacoast residents to a major phone system change to DIAL calling. No more "hold, please while we connect you" operator assistance for most local calls. Just "Dial 2 letters, 5 digits" with your rotary phone. Simple. Until you misdial on that rotary phone and have to start all over.😑 Everyone's phone number changed overnight on April 15, 1956.
Proprietor Sherry Wood writes about the big switch for the April "At the Athenaeum" @seacoastonline. We can connect you to Sherry's fabulous article on another line. 👉Link in bio.📞
2. An unidentified telephone repairman stands with Frank and Grace Reda of Holly Lane on Pleasant Street. [The couple was recently identified thanks to Sherry's article 🥰.]
3. One of several Portsmouth storefront windows announcing the change in 1956. For Portsmouth, you would dial GE (for Geneva) and then the number. In Kittery, you would dial first ID (for Idlewood) and Rye Beach was WO (for Woodlawn)...Rye Beach might have been the trickiest to dial. New England Telephone had a disclaimer warning customers to be careful not to mistake the letter "O" with number 0. But who else can relate and still d0es that from time t0 time?🙋♀️🙋♂️
4. & 5. Article and ad from New England Telephone in Portsmouth Herald announcing the change on April 14, 1956. Courtesy of newspaperarchive.com.
5. & 6. Ads from New England Telephone touting the convenience of multiple household lines (the stair graphic is a relatable 💎). Courtesy of newspaperarchive.com.
The three photographs are from the P15 Armsden Photograph Collection and were taken by commercial photographer Doug Armsden (1918-2009) of Kittery Point, Maine. [P15.536]
If you would like to donate to our current Armsden Photograph Project with materials given between 2018-2020, there is a link in bio.
#newenglandtelephoneandtelegraph #dial #rotary #2letters5digits #DouglasArmsden #portsmouthherald #collectpreserveshare📖
#localhistory #PortsmouthNH #nh #maine #seacoast❤
Happy #nationallibraryweek!
This #throwbackthursday pic shows the Reading Room during the 1950s taken by commercial photographer Douglas J. Armsden (1918-2009) of Kittery Point, Maine. Did you know this room was used as a reading room even before the Athenaeum acquired the space in 1823? Original owner the New Hampshire Fire & Marine Insurance Company used this as their Reading Room starting in 1808, offering their subscribers the usage of newspapers and other periodicals.
[Armsden Photograph Collection, P15.019]
Membership libraries were first created in the 18th century for the mutual edification of their members and to elevate the educational resources available in the community. The name “Athenæum” was used by a number of societies established during the 19th century to describe institutions with broader aims than just a library. The term is derived from Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, and the classical temple of the arts and sciences named to honor her.
While there were once hundreds of membership libraries across America, there are now fewer than twenty left, and we're one of them, right here in your Seacoast community!
The Portsmouth Athenaeum Research Library is open to the public and ready to help navigate your journey through local history. Search our online catalog or make an appointment for in-person research by phone 603-431-2538 or email info@portsmouthathenaeum.org.
Find more info on our website. Link in bio.
#readingroom #marketsquare #DouglasArmsden #collectpreserveshare📖 #localhistory #PortsmouthNH #nh #maine #seacoast❤
Thar be the weekend ahead of ye. 🐳🏴☠️
Ahoy. Um, d-d-did we do that right? No? Argh...or maybe at this point our pirate talk is more of an ugh, but we can't help ourselves when reading this postcard map for the indelible Yoken's Restaurant. #ArchivesYouAreHere
Produced in 1952 by the Georges & Hartford advertising agency, the postcard shows how all roads (and bellies) led to Yoken's on the corner of U.S. Route 1 (Lafayette Road) and Peverly Hill Road. And when you saw the iconic neon whale sign, who couldn't resist a salty sea captain impression of "Thar She Blows!"
[PC0310]
The "Good Things To Eat" restaurant was owned by Harry E. Yoken (1898-1972), the son of Russian immigrants, and as the postcard advertises this was "one of the finest eating establishments on the entire Atlantic Coast."
Built in 1947, the popular restaurant would later expand with a conference center becoming for generations along the Seacoast the site of countless business and social events, family gatherings and class reunions.
The establishment closed in 2004, and the sprawling building was demolished; however, the historic neon sign was saved, restored, and eventually re-introduced in 2015. Restoration was made possible by @newburyportbank and 4 Amigos LLC. The sign, now at Yoken's Common, once again serves as a Seacoast landmark for landlubbers and those salty sea captain impressionists.😏⚓
👋We've included a c. 1960s night shot of the sign by prolific commercial photographer Douglas Armsden (1918-2009) from the P15 Armsden collection [P15.246]. As you know, we are currently processing thousands of additional Armsden negatives donated by his daughters between 2017-2020. We are still in need of funds to properly archive this "treasure chest" of local history. If you'd like to donate, click the link in our bio.🌟
Here's luck 'n fair wind t' ye weekend!🍍
#yokens #tharsheblows #lafayetteroad #usroute1 #DouglasArmsden #ArchivesHashtagParty #collectpreserveshare📖 #localhistory #PortsmouthNH #nh #maine #seacoast❤