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...
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...
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...
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....
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...
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...