PACM: Omer String Quartet

SUNDAY, SEPT. 22, 3 p.m.at the North Church of Portsmouth (2 Congress St.)(two violins, viola, cello)This September, the Portsmouth Athenaeum Chamber Music 2019 invites you to listen to the Omer String Quartet.The Omer Quartet received rave reviews from New York Times...

August New Books

A little late summer reading with the August books now in the Athenaeum!   Proprietors and Subscribers, click on the link below to discover the new books now available in the library:   August New Books 2019  

The Case Against Sambo

By James Smith, photographic collections manager   This past week marked the 400th anniversary of the first enslaved Africans brought to the English colonies. These “20. and odd Negroes” landed at Point Comfort, Virginia, where they were traded for...

Athenaeum Receives $50,000 Grant

Exciting news! The Athenaeum has again landed a federal grant to complete the final step in our plan to improve environmental conditions for our museum and library collections.  The $50,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) will fund...

Temperance in Portsmouth

By Athenaeum Archivist Susan Kindstedt   Alcohol consumption has always been a part of America’s history. In the early years of colonial settlement, alcohol was consumed with most meals by all members of the family as it was believed to be safer than water....