Spend an hour walking through our downstairs exhibition with the experts. Curators and museum staff will highlight behind-the-scenes exhibition creation, point out favorite items included, and add further information that just couldn’t fit within or on the walls of our museum.
Our curator tours are free with museum admission.
This companion exhibition to the recent publication “A History of Portsmouth NH in 101 Objects” encourages visitors to explore our shared past. From the Abenaki, who have inhabited the area for thousands of years, through European settlement, Portsmouth’s generations of families have defined the area in myriad ways.
We challenge visitors to think about the objects that will define “a sense of place” for Portsmouth over the next 400 years.
In the late 1960s and 1970s, the landscape of Portsmouth moved in new directions. A new generation with fresh ideas and entrepreneurial energy cultivated a vision that diverged from earlier approaches to the community’s growth and embraced both historic preservation and modern development.
This story is one that still rings true today—how a group of concerned citizens joined together through public and private partnerships to create community. This is a story of civic engagement and a call to action for all.
2023 is the 400th anniversary of European settlement in Portsmouth. Uncover stories of the region through the many books for sale in our gift shop.
An exhibition to accompany The History of Portsmouth in 101 Objects
Events are being added all the time! Please check back in for updates.
Connect with Portsmouth and our local community through the collection or workshops, lectures, and community conversations we have planned this season.
This companion exhibition to the recent publication “A History of Portsmouth NH in 101 Objects” encourages visitors to explore our shared past. From first being the home of the Abenaki, who have inhabited the area for thousands of years, through European settlement, Portsmouth’s generations of families have defined the area in myriad ways.
This exhibition includes dozens of objects featured in the book, as well as providing its own episodic glimpse into the shadows of our past. From maps to landscape paintings, commemorative items and objects of daily life, our exhibition demonstrates Portsmouth’s history in expressive ways that expand on the typical historical narrative.
We challenge visitors to think about the objects that will define “a sense of place” for Portsmouth over the next 400 years.
“Rock Rest” rocking chair, possibly Grand Rapids, Michigan, ca. 1910; retailed by Margeson Brothers, Portsmouth. Gift of Bob Shouse, 2014. Photo, Ralph Morang.
David Atwater (1901-1981), North End, Grey Day, 1971. Oil on canvas board. Private collection.
As a memento of the 400th anniversary, this volume gives readers a sense of “who we are” and “where we are” as Portsmouth continues its journey from our past before 1623 to our future beyond 2023. Each object is depicted with a full-page photograph accompanied by an essay by a local author – 80 different writers who are the historians, experts, participants and observers of Portsmouth history best able to explain how each object’s story offers a path into our bigger 400+ year history.
Visit “A Sense of Place” to see some of the many objects included in this volume.