Portsmouth Lyceum, 1834-1853 – MS089
Source: Bequest of Joseph Frost in 2008
Citation: Portsmouth Lyceum Papers, MS089, Portsmouth Athenaeum
Size: 1/2 Hollinger Box (3 linear inches)
Access: No restrictions
Processed by: Susan Stowe Kindstedt in 2009
Summary
Letters and meeting records of the Portsmouth Lyceaum from 1834 to 1853.
Scope and Content
The majority of the collection consists of letters to the Portsmouth Lyceum from potential speakers regarding scheduling speaking engagements. See index for complete list of names and dates. Correspondents include notable American poets, lawyers, doctors and writers. The materials appear to be primarily from the period of John H. Foster being the Lyceum secretary.
Historical Note
The first Lyceum was established in Millbury, Massachusetts in 1826 and quickly spread to other cities. An 1833 article in the Portsmouth Journal states: “…we rejoice in the establishment of a Lyceum in our town, and look with pleasant anticipation for a fund of knowledge to be opened a dispersed among a portion of our citizens…” The Lyceum brought poets, scientists, and nationally known speakers to Portsmouth to lecture. The lectures, held at The Temple were very popular with both men and women in Portsmouth.
Folder List
Folder 1 Correspondence 1848 to 1849
Edwin Percy Whipple
John Neal
Nathaniel Hawthorne
T. S. King
James T. Fields
Oliver Wendell Holmes
John S. Holmes
Thomas H. Hickey
Janius Hall
J. P. Leslie
Folder 2 Correspondence 1850 to 1851
John Godfrey Saxe
George Stillman Hillard
John Neal
Edmund Quincy
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Daniel Kimball
Robert Winthrop
Oliver Wendell Holmes
George Putnam
T. S. King
Rufus Church
Charles W. Upham
W. H. Kennard
Park Benjamin
H. N. Hudson
William Mountford
John Esaias Warren
Harvey Trask
Ephraim Peabody
Dr. Orville Dewey
H. L. Eustis
George N. Briggs
Sylvestor Judd
J. C. Bodwell
Edmund Quincy
Francis Parkman
H. N. Hudson
Folder 3 Correspondence 1852-1853
J. C. Bodwell
H. N. Hudson
Sylvestor Judd
E. W. Whipple
Stephen N. Philips
Cornelius Conway Felton
Sylvestor Judd
John G. Saxe
J. W. Chickering
Oliver Wendell Holmes
J. C. Bodwell
Mrs. Sylvestor Judd
P. W. Chandler
J. C. Bodwell
T. S. King
Edwin Percy Whipple
D. G. Mitchell
A. Bunn
J. G. Hoyt
P. W. Chandler
Joseph H. Williams
George Ticknor
Josiah Quincy
Epes Sargent
Rufus Choate
R. H. Dana Jr.
William E. Armitage
A. L. Stone
S. Johnson
Folder 4 Bound Record Book 1834 – 1853
“Record of the Proceedings of the Board of Directors of the Portsmouth Lyceum, 1834” Includes meeting minutes.
Folder 5 Accounts, Meeting Minutes and Miscellaneous
Nathaniel Hawthorne engraving by Thomas Phillibrown from a portrait by C. G. Thompson
1852 – Agreement for rent of the Cameneum by the Lyceum, including that the room by “lighted and warmed – a door keeper and music.”
1851 – Receipt for tickets sold for the Lyceum
1848 – Treasurer’s Report for the Portsmouth Lyceum
1849 – Minutes for the Portsmouth Lyceum
1852 – Minutes for the Portsmouth Lyceum
1853 – Minutes for the Portsmouth Lyceum
Fragment related to ticket sales [?]