Portsmouth Athenaeum | Portsmouth Athenaeum

September 2026: National Wilderness Month

by Portsmouth Athenaeum | Sep 3, 2026 | Announcements, Library

By Research Librarian Jessica Zaricki In 2021, President Joseph R. Biden declared September as National Wilderness Month as a recommitment to the Wilderness Act of 1964, which sought to protect millions of acres of undeveloped federal public land from industrial...

Message from Our Interim Director

by Portsmouth Athenaeum | Aug 7, 2026 | Announcements

By Interim Director Catherine Keene Fields My first few weeks at the Portsmouth Athenæum have been a whirlwind. As I learn more and more, I am increasingly excited about the organization and its future. The Athenæum has played an important role in preserving and...

August 2026: Beach Reads

by Portsmouth Athenaeum | Aug 4, 2026 | Announcements, Library

By Research Librarian Jessica Zaricki It’s summertime and our thoughts have turned to the beach and, of course, light, distracting summer reads. Please enjoy this selection from our circulating collection featuring mystery, romance, and New Hampshire’s local beaches...

July 2026: The Red Light District

by Portsmouth Athenaeum | Jul 1, 2026 | Announcements, Library

By Research Librarian Jessica Zaricki This summer and fall the Portsmouth Athenæum presents The Red Light District: Vice in Portsmouth, NH at the Turn of the 20th Century, an exhibit in the Randall Gallery which offers a glimpse at a seedier part of our city’s...

Exhibit Shines the Red Light on City’s Past

by Portsmouth Athenaeum | Jun 25, 2026 | Announcements, Exhibits

By Sherry Wood “The Red Light District: Vice in Portsmouth, NH, at the Turn of the 20th Century,” opens July 10 in the Randall Gallery. It will bring a fresh perspective to Portsmouth’s houses of ill repute, which flourished after the...