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1623: The Untold Story of New Hampshire’s Founding Family by J. Dennis Robinson

by Portsmouth Athenaeum | Nov 8, 2023 | Announcements, Events

November 30, 2023 5:30 p.m. Shaw Research Library   Why do we know so little about David and Amias Thompson of Plymouth, England? And why is the little we know so often wrong? Our first European couple “settled” at Rye, NH in 1623. Within five years the Thompsons...

2023 Lecture Series: Water Has a Memory: Sea Level Rise, Our Past, Our Future with Rodney Rowland

by Portsmouth Athenaeum | Nov 2, 2023 | Announcements, Events

Wednesday, November 15, 2023 5:30 p.m. Shaw Research Library & Zoom   This year’s series concludes on November 15 when Rodney Rowland presents Water Has a Memory: Sea Level Rise, Our Past, Our Future. Strawbery Banke Museum is confronting the impacts of and...

2023 PACM Concert: ASMI Trio

by Portsmouth Athenaeum | Oct 13, 2023 | Announcements, Events, Performance

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 29, 3 p.m. ASMI TRIO at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 101 Chapel Street, Portsmouth The Altschuler Summer Music Institute develops musicians of all ages through participation in masterclasses, private lessons, and performances with renowned...

2023 Lecture Series: At Home in Portsmouth, 1750 – 1850, with Jane C. Nylander

by Portsmouth Athenaeum | Oct 6, 2023 | Announcements, Events

Wednesday, October 18, 2023 5:30 p.m. Shaw Research Library & Zoom   A long-time student of New England interiors, Jane C. Nylander’s talk on October 18, At Home in Portsmouth, 1750 – 1850 will weave together a host of primary sources to expand our...

2023 PACM Concert: Rasa String Quartet

by Portsmouth Athenaeum | Sep 26, 2023 | Announcements, Events, Performance

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 8, 3 p.m. RASA STRING QUARTET at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 101 Chapel Street, Portsmouth Currently in residence at Philips Exeter, Boston-based Rasa String Quartet violinists Maura Shawn Scanlin and Kiyoshi Hayashi, violist Emma Powell, and...

Nancy R. Hammond Book Signing and Talk

by Portsmouth Athenaeum | Sep 21, 2023 | Announcements, Events

Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023 5:30 p.m. Shaw Research Library   A presentation and book signing by Proprietor Nancy R. Hammond, whose new book, The Life and Times of Jonathan Mitchel Sewall, 1748-1808, Poet – Lawyer – Patriot, resurrects a forgotten Portsmouth...
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Recent News

  • July 2026: The Red Light District
  • Exhibit Shines the Red Light on City’s Past
  • Portsmouth Athenæum Chamber Music 2026
  • Athenæum Interim Director
  • A Letter from Tom Hardiman, Keeper and Executive Director

Events Calendar

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Tue
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Sat
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5:30 PM - Franklin Club
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5:00 PM - Art 'Round Town for the exhibit "The Lunch Hour: Portsmouth"
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1:00 PM - Closing Day for the exhibit "The Lunch Hour: Portsmouth"
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5:30 PM - 2025 Lecture Series: “Bedrock Gardens: The Journey from a Privacy Sanctuary to a Public Garden” with Jill Nooney
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5:00 PM - Opening Reception for the exhibit "Portsmouth in the Age of Jonathan Mitchel Sewall"
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5:30 PM - Franklin Club
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Franklin Club
Franklin Club
June 4, 2025    
5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Portsmouth Athenaeum
  • Franklin Club
Franklin Club, Sawtelle Reading Room
The Junto, also known as the Leather Apron Club, was a club for mutual improvement established in 1727 by Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia. The Leather [...]
More Info
Art 'Round Town for the exhibit "The Lunch Hour: Portsmouth"
Art 'Round Town for the exhibit "The Lunch Hour: Portsmouth"
June 6, 2025    
5:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Portsmouth Athenaeum
  • Art Round Town
  • Exhibit Events
Art 'Round Town, Exhibits, Randall Gallery, The Lunch Hour: Portsmouth
Please join us during Art 'Round Town and see our latest exhibit, “The Lunch Hour: Portsmouth," curated by Proprietor Judy Groppa in the Randall Gallery. [...]
More Info
Closing Day for the exhibit "The Lunch Hour: Portsmouth"
Closing Day for the exhibit "The Lunch Hour: Portsmouth"
June 7, 2025    
1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Portsmouth Athenaeum
  • Exhibit Events
Exhibits, Randall Gallery, The Lunch Hour: Portsmouth
Please join us for the last day for the exhibit, “The Lunch Hour: Portsmouth," curated by Proprietor Judy Groppa in the Randall Gallery. To learn [...]
More Info
2025 Lecture Series: “Bedrock Gardens: The Journey from a Privacy Sanctuary to a Public Garden” with Jill Nooney
2025 Lecture Series: “Bedrock Gardens: The Journey from a Privacy Sanctuary to a Public Garden” with Jill Nooney
June 18, 2025    
5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Portsmouth Athenaeum
  • Discussions
  • Lecture Series
2025 Lecture Series: Beauty on the Seacoast and Beyond, Architecture and Gardens, Art Architecture and Gardens, Bedrock Gardens, Gardens, Horticulture, Jill Nooney, Shaw Research Library
Jill Nooney, the creator of Bedrock Gardens, will talk about the 40-year journey she and her co-creator husband, Bob Munger, have taken to turn their [...]
More Info
Opening Reception for the exhibit "Portsmouth in the Age of Jonathan Mitchel Sewall"
Opening Reception for the exhibit "Portsmouth in the Age of Jonathan Mitchel Sewall"
June 27, 2025    
5:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Portsmouth Athenaeum
  • Exhibit Events
Exhibits, Jonathan Mitchel Sewall 1748-1808, Portsmouth in the Age of Jonathan Mitchel Sewall, Randall Gallery
Please join us for the opening reception for our latest exhibit, "Portsmouth in the Age of Jonathan Mitchel Sewall (c.1770-1808)," curated by Nancy Hammond in [...]
More Info
Franklin Club
Franklin Club
July 2, 2025    
5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Portsmouth Athenaeum
  • Franklin Club
Franklin Club, Sawtelle Reading Room
The Junto, also known as the Leather Apron Club, was a club for mutual improvement established in 1727 by Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia. The Leather [...]
More Info
Events on June 4, 2025
Franklin Club
Franklin Club
4 Jun 25
Portsmouth
Events on June 6, 2025
Art 'Round Town for the exhibit "The Lunch Hour: Portsmouth"
Art 'Round Town for the exhibit "The Lunch Hour: Portsmouth"
6 Jun 25
Portsmouth
Events on June 7, 2025
Closing Day for the exhibit "The Lunch Hour: Portsmouth"
Closing Day for the exhibit "The Lunch Hour: Portsmouth"
7 Jun 25
Portsmouth
Events on June 18, 2025
2025 Lecture Series: “Bedrock Gardens: The Journey from a Privacy Sanctuary to a Public Garden” with Jill Nooney
2025 Lecture Series: “Bedrock Gardens: The Journey from a Privacy Sanctuary to a Public Garden” with Jill Nooney
18 Jun 25
Portsmouth
Events on June 27, 2025
Opening Reception for the exhibit "Portsmouth in the Age of Jonathan Mitchel Sewall"
Opening Reception for the exhibit "Portsmouth in the Age of Jonathan Mitchel Sewall"
27 Jun 25
Portsmouth
Events on July 2, 2025
Franklin Club
Franklin Club
2 Jul 25
Portsmouth

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