by Athenaeum Photographs | Aug 27, 2020 | Announcements, Manuscripts
By Archivist Susan Kindstedt Each collection at the Athenaeum holds the potential to tell many stories. One such collection arrived at the Athenaeum in 2019 during the exhibit “By the Bottle or the Barrel: 400 Years of Brewing in Portsmouth.” The gift of a...
by Athenaeum Photographs | Aug 11, 2020 | Announcements, Manuscripts
By Keeper Tom Hardiman In 2011, the Portsmouth Athenaeum received a remarkable bequest from the estate of long-time Athenaeum Proprietor Dudley Stoddard (1915-2009). Dudley descended from Portsmouth’s Warner family, and he left to the Athenaeum a collection of...
by Athenaeum Photographs | Jul 29, 2020 | Announcements, Photographs
By Photographic Collections Manager James Smith The history of the Rev. Samuel Langdon House is linked to two recent social media posts: Wentworth Cheswill (posted July 21) and the First Natonal grocery store (posted May 22). Serendipitously, these two social...
by Athenaeum Photographs | Jul 21, 2020 | Announcements, Manuscripts
By Archivist Susan Kindstedt The Athenaeum has two documents signed by Wentworth Cheswill (or Cheswell), a biracial Revolutionary War veteran born in Newmarket, NH, in 1746. Wentworth Cheswill was the son of Hopestill Cheswill and his wife, Katherine Kennison....
by Athenaeum Photographs | Jun 25, 2020 | Announcements, Library, Manuscripts
In the midst of re-numbering the entire library catalog, Librarian Robin Silva has uncovered some interesting history. In October 1907, a book had been discovered in the Athenaeum’s stock room, left there anonymously. Published in 1905, the book was The...
by Athenaeum Photographs | Jun 16, 2020 | Announcements, Manuscripts
By Archivist Susan Kindstedt No collection at the Athenaeum provides the names of more individuals of African descent living in Portsmouth than the MS036 North Church Papers, 1640-1970 collection. Although the papers include the names of individuals, the...
by Athenaeum Photographs | Jun 11, 2020 | Announcements, Photographs
By Photographic Collections Manager James Smith Pictured here is the relic of the former Portsmouth Bath House in the North End, as identified in this c. 1898 photo album. [Small photograph collection, PS855] In the summer of 1804, the Portsmouth Bath House...
by Athenaeum Photographs | Jun 8, 2020 | Announcements
A plea for wisdom These are stormy days. Many of us mourn for friends and family lost to the Covid-19 pandemic. We mourn the cruel and senseless death of George Floyd. We also grieve for the deepening divides and ever-coarsening discourse in our society. We hope that...
by Athenaeum Photographs | May 28, 2020 | Announcements, Library
Review by Proprietor Gerald W. R. Ward For more than fifty years, the Dietrich American Foundation of Pennsylvania has played an important role in the world of early American art and material culture. Established in 1963 by H. Richard Dietrich Jr., the collection now...
by Athenaeum Photographs | May 21, 2020 | Announcements
By Proprietor Sherry Wood I miss (and worry about) my 7-month-old granddaughter Eleanor, who lives in Brooklyn with her RN mom and IT guru dad. But I also miss libraries, which closed in March when Gov. Chris Sununu’s stay-at-home order was issued. I was smitten at 6...
