Please note that for large, indoor gatherings such as these, we are requiring visitors to be provide proof of COVID vaccination, or a negative COVID test from the past 48 hours upon entry. Masks are required indoors, regardless of vaccination status.
Meet Sue Ann!
Portsmouth Historical Society is pleased to announce the appointment of Sue Ann Pearson as our new Director of Development. Pearson comes to PHS with a full resume of non-profit organizations as director in both fundraising and marketing. We look forward to a productive fall as the Advancement Office is busy with mailings and end of year appeals!
Join in on the Sweet Fun!
IT’S GINGERBREAD TIME! Sign up today to enter your own gingerbread creation in the 31st Annual Gingerbread House Contest and Exhibition! Don’t know where to start? Come see our current exhibitions for some inspiration! This year’s theme is Our Favorite 603 Things!
The John Paul Jones House will be open to the public only one more day this year – Veterans Day! Keeping this local landmark looking it’s best is a lot of upkeep. This summer, thanks to funds received through the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance from the 1772 Foundation and hard work by the Portsmouth Painting Company, the house got a fresh coat of paint! Plus, Portsmouth Painting Company had a little fun… they did a remake of a classic paint ad from 1989 that featured JPJ. Check it out here!
J. Dennis Robinson will be here to sign copies of his new, thrilling murder mystery that takes place in Portsmouth (and features our very own John Paul Jones House!) Can’t make it? Get your copy at the online Museum Shop.
We’ll also be announcing the winners of this year’s Young Writer’s Contest and handing out the fabulous prizes!
John Paul Jones House Last Day of the Season: Monday, October 11
The leaves are turning, and it’s time to close up for the season! The John Paul Jones House will be closed to the public after Monday, October 11, with one exception. We will be open on the afternoon of Veterans Day to honor those who dedicate themselves to the service of their country.
Gingerbread is Coming Soon!
Fall is here, and that means we’re gearing up for the sweet extravaganza that is the annual Gingerbread House Contest & Exhibition!
This year’s theme is all about New Hampshire. What’s your favorite 603 thing? Of course, we’ll be doing the raffles, scavenger hunts, and awards, so start thinking about your entry today!
Tom Glover. Gear in the Port. Acrylic, charcoal, collage, 30 x 40 inches.
A brief note about health and safety:
For large events such as this, all guests are requested to wear masks, and we are requiring proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test from the past 48 hours upon entry.
We will be serving food and drink in a socially distant manner.
Portsmouth Advocates Awards for 2021
Portsmouth Advocates, a key program of the Portsmouth Historical Society, is joining in on awards season! Since 1989, Portsmouth Advocates has honored individuals and projects that enhance the city’s unique historic character and make Portsmouth a better place to live and work. This year we are delighted to have responsibly resumed our awards ceremony in-person at GoodWork’s Carey Cottage at Creek Farm, a 2020 Advocates award recipient.
Portsmouth Advocates is pleased to announce the following award winners: For “Restoring the Integrity of a Resource,” Stephen Foster and the Tobias Lear House, 49 Hunking Street. For the “Continued and Sensitive Maintenance of a Historic Property,” South Church at 292 State Street, Harry Furman and Kathleen Straube for the Ebenezer Hanes House at 557 State Street, Keith and Christina Wilkinson at 62 Winter Street. The recipient of the Arthur J. Gerrier Memorial Award, given to an individual of long demonstrated commitment to preserving and enhancing the unique historical character of this city, is Vincent Lombardi. The John Grossman Memorial Award, which recognizes an individual who makes a reality of an organization’s mission by bridging the theoretical and practical, is Barbara McLean Ward.
We’ll be highlighting each of the winners in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!
October is the Last Month for Walking Tours This Year!
October is the last month to get a walking tour before it get’s too cold! Book your tickets today. Portsmouth is beautiful in the fall!
If you can’t make one of our regularly scheduled tours, book a private tour! Just contact walking tour manager Robin Lurie-Meyerkopf!
Photo Caption: Paint on the 1758 John Paul Jones House has not yet begun to dry. Photo courtesy of Portsmouth Painting Company.
Watching Paint Dry at the John Paul Jones House
The John Paul Jones House is still yellow. All of it, now.
In 1989, a well-known paint company featured the building in its national TV commercials. “Enduring centuries of New England’s harsh winters, stands the great American home of John Paul Jones,” the announcer intoned. “Today, we’re repainting it with new advance formula Weatherbeater!”
Twenty-five years later, the Portsmouth Historical Society received a New Hampshire Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP) grant that permitted it to repaint most of the historic 1758 house (in which the famous naval hero lived, for a while, at least).
Now, with funds recently received through the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance from The 1772 Foundation, the Historical Society has been able to complete the job, painting the remaining portions of the house, including its addition (or “ell”) and its matching carriage house.
Even advance-formula paint does not last forever, but periodic coats of paint have protected the clapboard siding of Portsmouth’s old landmark for more than 250 years. Preservation is an on-going process, but fortunately, public nonprofits like the Portsmouth Historical Society have patiently assumed responsibility for maintaining these familiar connections with our earliest history. Funders like The 1772 Foundation, however, insist that the Historical Society raise matching funds from the public for work like this.
These contributions also permitted the Portsmouth Historical Society to repair several windows of the old structure. Because outside and inside air have different temperatures and humidity levels, and they most often come into contact at a building’s windows, these are the places where moisture frequently condenses, and are therefore the first places in old houses to decay. Sash & Solder Window Restoration, a local studio housed in the Button Factory, did the work to repair the windows.
Painting was performed by the Portsmouth Painting Company, the same family business that painted the main part of the house five years ago and has done work on various other historic structures in the city. They have even been sponsored by Sherwin Williams Paint Company to re-create that classic commercial featuring the old house.
Portsmouth Historical Society also maintains the historic Morton-Benedict House and the Portsmouth Academy building, both dating from the very early 19th century. Together with a modern addition constructed when the complex served as Portsmouth’s public library, today they serve as the headquarters of the Historical Society, with its exhibition galleries, visitor welcome center, and unique museum shop.
Walking tour tickets, Society memberships, and information on the latest events and virtual lectures are all available at: www.portsmouthhistory.org or by calling 603-436-8433.
PHOTO CAPTION: Barbara Adams. Tugs Two. Oil on canvas. Photo by Ken Goldman (kenphotogeek.com)
“Abstracting the Seacoast” at Portsmouth Historical Society
On October 1, the work of five contemporary artists will be on display in “Abstracting the Seacoast” at Portsmouth Historical Society. The artists—Dustan Knight, Tom Glover, Peter Cady, Barbara Adams, and Brian Chu—have challenged themselves to create new ways of portraying and abstracting their appreciation of this unique coastal area.
In five highly individual styles, “Abstracting the Seacoast” evokes the smell of the salt marsh, the call of seagulls, and the crash of the waves along the coast. It brings to mind the bustle of the docks loading and unloading, while the ubiquitous Moran tugboats chug down the river. Historic Portsmouth, with its venerable red brick buildings, narrow side alleys, and bright, busy Market Square dissolves into the softer natural world of silver pocket beaches and deep pine and birch woods. All these impressions have been incorporated into this inspiring exhibition by these artists.
Each artist approaches the possibilities of abstracting the Seacoast differently. Peter Cady has spent a lifetime observing the marshes, woods, and shore of the Seacoast, while recently he has been exploring use of collage to express his vision of these treasured places. Tom Glover works to incorporate into his paintings what he has learned from John Laurent, Walt Kuhn, Charles Woodbury, and Richard Diebenkorn, and then tries to keep in mind the historical context of this area as he works. Barbara Adams has always treasured the historic buildings of Portsmouth; the connection with her fellow artists in working on this exhibition inspired her to newly creative and energetic visions of the city. In yet another approach, Dustan Knight explores the territory between a literal representation of her Seacoast home and her non-representational emotional experiences living beside the sea. Dustan’s work is loose and easy feeling with nuanced colors and suggested images. Brian Chu paints vernacular cityscapes in active textured colors. He maintains a perspective on subjectivity and objectivity which gives each painting a quiet suspense in his negotiation between the two.
A brochure accompanies this exhibition and highlights several works of each artist. An essay entitled “Seacoast Abstraction” by professional art critic and artist Christopher Volpe is also included.
The opening reception for “Abstracting the Seacoast” is Friday, October 1, from 5 pm to 7 pm, during the Portsmouth-wide monthly open-studio event Art ‘Round Town. The exhibition will be on display through November 18 at Portsmouth Historical Society’s Discover Portsmouth Welcome Center, which is open to the public from 10 am to 5 pm, daily, at 10 Middle Street. Additional information can be found at PortsmouthHistory.org or by calling 603-436-8433.
