The Case Against Sambo

By James Smith, photographic collections manager   This past week marked the 400th anniversary of the first enslaved Africans brought to the English colonies. These “20. and odd Negroes” landed at Point Comfort, Virginia, where they were traded for...

Temperance in Portsmouth

By Athenaeum Archivist Susan Kindstedt   Alcohol consumption has always been a part of America’s history. In the early years of colonial settlement, alcohol was consumed with most meals by all members of the family as it was believed to be safer than water....