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Walking in the Footsteps of a Patriot

by Portsmouth Athenaeum | Jun 17, 2025 | Announcements, Exhibits

By Sherry Wood Soon after George Washington was named commander of the Continental Army in 1775, Portsmouth’s Jonathan Mitchel Sewall wrote the words to a song that would be sung in taverns and on battlegrounds during the Revolutionary War. Sewall, the subject...

The Lunch Hour: Portsmouth, 1800 to 1950

by Portsmouth Athenaeum | Mar 1, 2025 | Announcements, Exhibits

Samuel Johnson in his 1755 dictionary defined the word lunch: “as much food as a hand can hold,” in other words a snack. The main meal of the day, dinner, was a hot meal eaten at home with family and apprentices or field hands, at approximately 2pm. For travelers...

First in the Nation: New Hampshire Presidential Primaries – 1920 to 2020

by Portsmouth Athenaeum | Jan 26, 2024 | Announcements, Exhibits

Since 1920, New Hampshire has hosted the first presidential primary in the nation. As a small state with a long tradition of political engagement, New Hampshire has an extraordinarily successful record picking the primary candidates who ultimately win their respective...

Peace, Love & Portsmouth: Celebrating the City’s Cultural Renaissance through the Lens of J. D. Lincoln

by Portsmouth Athenaeum | Jul 28, 2023 | Announcements, Exhibits

If there was a bird’s eye view of Portsmouth’s sea change in the 1970s, it was from Grace Casey’s peacock chair at the River House on Bow Street. The work of the photographer she chose to document the decade is featured in a free exhibit opening Aug....

The Wentworth Takeover: How One Family Dominated Portsmouth and New Hampshire 1715-1775

by Portsmouth Athenaeum | Mar 31, 2023 | Announcements, Exhibits

Exhibit Curator Sandra Rux said that after arriving in New Hampshire in the 1630s, the Wentworth family gradually became more important through the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries. Friends and adversaries referred to the family as the “Wentworth...

George S. Wasson, Artist & Author of Kittery Point

by Portsmouth Athenaeum | Jul 26, 2022 | Announcements, Exhibits

The works of noted maritime artist and writer George S. Wasson (1855-1932) of Kittery Point will be exhibited in the Randall Gallery beginning Aug. 5. The exhibit is being put together by a group of admirers of Wasson, including Proprietors Wendy Lull and Lauren...
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Events Calendar

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5:30 PM - Franklin Club
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5:00 PM - Art 'Round Town for the exhibit "Portsmouth in the Age of Jonathan Mitchel Sewall"
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5:30 PM - 2025 Lecture Series: “The Lady Pepperrell House and Gardens” with Anne Mankin Masury
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5:30 PM - 2025 Current Events Lecture Series: "The Heat is on: Climate Changes Deadly Toll on Human Health"
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3:00 PM - 2025 PACM Series: Balourdet String Quartet
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5:30 PM - Franklin Club
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5:00 PM - Art 'Round Town for the exhibit "Portsmouth in the Age of Jonathan Mitchel Sewall"
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Franklin Club
Franklin Club
September 3, 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 "Portsmouth in the Age of Jonathan Mitchel Sewall"
Art 'Round Town for the exhibit "Portsmouth in the Age of Jonathan Mitchel Sewall"
September 5, 2025    
5:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Portsmouth Athenaeum
  • Art Round Town
  • Exhibit Events
Art 'Round Town, Exhibits, Jonathan Mitchel Sewall 1748-1808, Portsmouth in the Age of Jonathan Mitchel Sewall, Randall Gallery
Please join us for Art 'Round Town for our latest exhibit, "Portsmouth in the Age of Jonathan Mitchel Sewall (c.1770-1808)," curated by Nancy Hammond in [...]
More Info
2025 Lecture Series: “The Lady Pepperrell House and Gardens” with Anne Mankin Masury
2025 Lecture Series: “The Lady Pepperrell House and Gardens”  with Anne Mankin Masury
September 17, 2025    
5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Portsmouth Athenaeum
  • Discussions
  • Lecture Series
2025 Lecture Series: Beauty on the Seacoast and Beyond, Anne Mankin Masury, Architecture and Gardens, Art Architecture and Gardens, Gardens, Horticulture, Kittery Point, Lady Pepperrell House, Maine, Shaw Research Library
Just across the Piscataqua, the Lady Pepperrell House and Gardens of Kittery Point is noted as one of the most high style pre-Revolutionary Georgian houses [...]
More Info
2025 Current Events Lecture Series: "The Heat is on: Climate Changes Deadly Toll on Human Health"
2025 Current Events Lecture Series: "The Heat is on: Climate Changes Deadly Toll on Human Health"
September 25, 2025    
5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Portsmouth Athenaeum
  • Current Events Series
  • Discussions
2025 Current Events Series, Climate Change, Public Health, Rich DiPentima, Shaw Research Library
The Current Events Lecture Series presents the "The Heat is on: Climate Changes Deadly Toll on Human Health" with Rich DiPentima. Rich is a proprietor [...]
More Info
2025 PACM Series: Balourdet String Quartet
2025 PACM Series: Balourdet String Quartet
September 28, 2025    
3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
South Church
  • PACM Concert Series
  • Performance & Concert Series
2025 PACM Concert Series, Balourdet String Quartet, Concerts, South Church
Winners of the 2024 Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Cleveland Quartet Award, the Balourdet String Quartet is known for its fearless creativity and tight-knit [...]
More Info
Franklin Club
Franklin Club
October 1, 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 "Portsmouth in the Age of Jonathan Mitchel Sewall"
Art 'Round Town for the exhibit "Portsmouth in the Age of Jonathan Mitchel Sewall"
October 3, 2025    
5:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Portsmouth Athenaeum
  • Art Round Town
  • Exhibit Events
Art 'Round Town, Exhibits, Jonathan Mitchel Sewall 1748-1808, Portsmouth in the Age of Jonathan Mitchel Sewall, Randall Gallery
Please join us for Art 'Round Town for our latest exhibit, "Portsmouth in the Age of Jonathan Mitchel Sewall (c.1770-1808)," curated by Nancy Hammond in [...]
More Info
Events on September 3, 2025
Franklin Club
Franklin Club
3 Sep 25
Portsmouth
Events on September 5, 2025
Art 'Round Town for the exhibit "Portsmouth in the Age of Jonathan Mitchel Sewall"
Art 'Round Town for the exhibit "Portsmouth in the Age of Jonathan Mitchel Sewall"
5 Sep 25
Portsmouth
Events on September 17, 2025
2025 Lecture Series: “The Lady Pepperrell House and Gardens”  with Anne Mankin Masury
2025 Lecture Series: “The Lady Pepperrell House and Gardens” with Anne Mankin Masury
17 Sep 25
Portsmouth
Events on September 25, 2025
2025 Current Events Lecture Series: "The Heat is on: Climate Changes Deadly Toll on Human Health"
2025 Current Events Lecture Series: "The Heat is on: Climate Changes Deadly Toll on Human Health"
25 Sep 25
Portsmouth
Events on September 28, 2025
2025 PACM Series: Balourdet String Quartet
2025 PACM Series: Balourdet String Quartet
28 Sep 25
Portsmouth
Events on October 1, 2025
Franklin Club
Franklin Club
1 Oct 25
Portsmouth
Events on October 3, 2025
Art 'Round Town for the exhibit "Portsmouth in the Age of Jonathan Mitchel Sewall"
Art 'Round Town for the exhibit "Portsmouth in the Age of Jonathan Mitchel Sewall"
3 Oct 25
Portsmouth

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