Overview of the Collection
Founded in 1917, the Portsmouth Historical Society opened the John Paul Jones House as a museum in 1920. For more than a century, the Society has gathered a diverse body of material, almost exclusively by gift from generous donors, which fulfills its mission to illustrate and understand the history and material life, broadly conceived, of Portsmouth and the immediate Seacoast area from the seventeenth century to the present. Such objects include artifacts that were made in Portsmouth and the region, as well as those created elsewhere that have a documented history of ownership in the area. The Historical Society is the only institution that collects materials from the full trajectory of Portsmouth’s history. Today, the collection comprises about three thousand objects, including paintings and portraits, works on paper, furniture, silver, ceramics, glass, base metals, textiles, needlework, and fashion arts. A subset of the collection is devoted to objects of all types associated with John Paul Jones, both the man and the legend.
The Historical Society’s holdings of documents and manuscripts, photographs, and related materials are on deposit at the nearby Portsmouth Athenaeum. For information about the Athenaeum and a checklist of Historical Society materials, see their website and online database. The Historical Society’s collection is catalogue number MS023.
Where to see the Collection
Since 1920, many objects from the Historical Society’s collection have been displayed at the John Paul Jones House, which is open to the public during the summer season. A portion of the collection, including selected recent acquisitions, is also on view in the Program Room at the Historical Society’s building at 10 Middle Street. Other materials from the collection are also used frequently in the annual exhibitions organized by the Historical Society.
Gifts to the Collection
We are always glad to hear about proposed gifts to the collection, which are subject to the approval of the Society’s curator, director, and Committee on the Collections. For such inquiries, please fill out the form linked below.
Inquires about the Collection
We welcome queries about objects in our collection. They can be directed to info@portsmouthhistory.org.
For many historical questions, especially those pertaining to genealogy, house histories, and other broad topics, we suggest consulting the Portsmouth Public Library, Portsmouth Athenaeum, and New Hampshire Historical Society in Concord.
