Portsmouth
- Elizabeth Ann Virgil (1903-1991) was a music teacher from Portsmouth, NH. She was the first Black woman to graduate from the University of New Hampshire (Class of 1926). This collection contains correspondence, cookbooks, pamphlets and miscellanious…
- Phineas Press was a letterpress and graphic design company established in 1979 in Portsmouth, NH. The owners were Susan Kress Hamilton and Bill Hamilton. The press was operational until ca. 2021. This collection consists of organizational files, art…
- Special CollectionsThe NH and Durham Vertical Files were collected over ca. 30 years and contain materials accumulated mostly by subject rather than creator. The New Hampshire and Durham vertical files contain historical information and publications covering a very wide…
- Special CollectionsWalter H. James (1873-1965) married Ida Rachel Butterfield James (1875-1966) in 1899. Together with Ida's sister Lucy Ardena Butterfield (1871-1955) and Walter and Ida's children Ruth and Arthur, they traveled all around the White Mountains and NH/VT hiking, camping, and taking photographs. This…
- Special CollectionsRear Admiral William Branford Shubrick (1790-1874) was in the U.S. Navy from 1806-1861 when he retired. He seems to have been stationed at the Charlestown MA Naval Shipyard for most of the period of this collection. Other individuals mentioned in the…
- Special CollectionsValerie Cunningham, award-winning historic preservationist and Portsmouth native, has spent more than forty years researching and writing about northern New England’s Black history. An energetic community activist, she is the founder of the Portsmouth…
- Special CollectionsThe Parsons family of Rye, New Hampshire consisted of the descendants of Dr. Joseph Parsons, including his son John Wilkes Parsons (1778-1849) and John's wife Abigail Garland, John's son Col. Thomas Jefferson Parsons (1804-1890), Charles Parsons (1808…
- Special CollectionsJohn Hamm Miller (1838-1887) was a printer from Portsmouth, Rockingham Co., New Hampshire. He was the son of Tobias Hamnn Miller (1801-1870) and Mary Moses (1805-1845). He also served on the Portsmouth Volunteer Fire Department. Miller's scrapbook…
- Special CollectionsJoseph Haven was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1757 to Samuel Haven, Jr. and Abigail Marshall. He became a preacher, and died in 1829. The six manuscript letters, written to niece Elizabeth H. Wardrobe, often contain advice, in particular on…
- University ArchivesJames Horrigan led a distinguished career as a Professor of Accounting and Finance. He taught at Notre Dame from 1956 to 1966, and then at the University of New Hampshire for 30 years until his retirement in 1996. Teaching and community files of…
- Special CollectionsThe New Hampshire Account Book Collection creaters made their living through a variety of rural professions, mostly farmers, blacksmiths, doctors, town officials, tanners, cobblers, and other mixed income streams. The account books are organized by town within New Hampshire, Maine, Massachussetts…
- Special CollectionsThe Pearl of Portsmouth is the only historic African-American church structure in the state of New Hampshire. The Friends of The Pearl began as a volunteer committee concerned with the long-term future of the Pearl Street Church. The ad hoc group…
- Special CollectionsThe author and illustrator of this manuscript is self-identified as “Professor” R. W. Souter, A.M., R.A.Q. All geographical reference are to the New Hampshire seacoast and Salisbury/Newburyport, Massachusetts. According to the creator, it was “…
- Special CollectionsHarry David Dufresne, Jr. was born on April 23, 1919 in Dover, New Hampshire. He married Anna F. Laderbush in Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1938. He died in September 1965. The Harry Dufresne papers are mostly made up of correspondence…
- Special CollectionsThe Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail was incorporated in 1995 as a non-profit organization. The Trail researched and created a self-guided walking tour and resource book emphasizing black heritage in Portsmouth and the New Hampshire seacoast area. The organization…
- Special CollectionsThomas Bailey Aldrich was a New Hampshire-born author, poet and editor. Hist most noteable works are The Story of a Bad Boy and An Old Town By The Sea. Two letters written by Thomas Bailey Aldrich. One letter describes some of his works in progress; the other, written from the office of the…
- Special CollectionsThomas Bailey Aldrich (1836-1907) was a New Hampshire-born author, poet and editor. His most noteable works are The Story of a Bad Boy and An Old Town By The Sea. Letter written by Thomas Bailey Aldrich in 1904 to Reverend John M. Milson that promises him a copy of the poem “Two Moods.” Included is…
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- Special CollectionsFort Constitution was built in 1632 on the island of New Castle, New Hampshire. Through several centuries, the post served as a trading port, a target of warfare, and a training ground for the military. It was a center of rebellion several months…
- Special CollectionsBetty and Barney Hill lived in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Betty (1919-2004) was a social worker, with a degree from the University of New Hampshire, and Barney (1923-1969) was a postal worker. The couple were catapulted into the international…
- Special CollectionsThe Portsmouth Council of Defense was part of the federal hierarchy for civilian defense during World War II. Each state had its own council to coordinate civilian defense within its borders. The Civil Defense Corps, run by the Office of Civilian…
- Special CollectionsThe Works Projects Administration (WPA) was created under President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal program in 1935. The Historical Records Survey of New Hampshire, established in 1936, was one of its public works projects. The University of New Hampshire assumed…
- Special CollectionsGeorge R. Thomas (1906-1988) was in Portsmouth, Virginia, the son of George John and Ida Rixse. George Thomas married Naomi “Billye” Williams on September 11, 1931, and daughter Ann Lee was born in 1944. The George Thomas Letters were donated to Special…
- Special CollectionsThe Historic American Buildings Survey of New Hampshire was one of the WPA’s many projects that compiled information of historical significance. Carried out between 1933 and 1939, it was supervised by Professor Eric T. Huddleston, Chairman of the…
- Special CollectionsThis collection was primarily assembled by Mary P. Thompson (1825- 1894) and her nephew Lucien Thompson (1859-1924), Durham historians. Their prominent ancestors included “Judge” Ebenezer Thompson (1737-1802), and Benjamin Thompson (1806-1890). This…
- Special CollectionsResident of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The initials "P.F." do not match current documentation of residents of Portsmouth at that time. Four letters to Mrs. P. F. Harrington, Middle Street, Portsmouth, NH, one from her daughter Ethel and one from her daughter [-in-law?] Helen Nelthropp Harrington,…
- Special CollectionsThe Works Project Administration (WPA) was created under President F. D. Roosevelt’s New Deal Program in 1935. Designed to provide relief for the Nation’s unemployed, the WPA provided jobs on public work projects. The photographers on the Federal Art…
- Special CollectionsThis collection consists of assorted eighteenth, nineteenth, and some twentieth-century New Hampshire newspapers, mostly from Dover, Exeter, and Portsmouth. These are rarely complete runs, and often only individual issues. Also included in the…
- Special CollectionsHarold Caswell Sweetser, son of John P. Sweetser, who was born May 19, 1897 in Portsmouth, N.H. He was employed as a Helper General at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in May of 1917 and graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 1918. After enlisting…
- Special CollectionsJoseph Foster was a colonial MA ship captain who served in the American Revolution. Lyman Spauling was a doctor in Portsmouth around the same time. Their families (including Elizabeth Coues, Adelade Spaulding, and Joseph Foster III) intermarried over…
- Special CollectionsSon of Thomas Bailey Aldrich who was a New Hampshire-born author and poet. His mother was Mary Elizabeth "Lillian" Woodman. Three page letter from Talbot Bailey Aldrich to Pauline Robinson regarding photos Robinson took of Thomas Bailey Aldrich. Of one photo in particular Talbot Bailey Aldrich…
- Special CollectionsManufacturer of marble and granite monuments, headstones, table tops, and mantelpieces in Portsmouth from around 1860-1895. March 9, 1871 receipt for an advertisement from Silas Philbrick to W.A. Greenough that promises payment for a half-page advertisement in the Portsmouth Directory.
- Special CollectionsPortsmouth, N.H. newspaper published between July 4, 1827 and Jan. 1, 1828 for the “old school republicans,” dedicated “to the principles of Jefferson, Madison and Monroe.” Broadside announcing the publication of Signs of the Times. It briefly describes the paper, lists the terms of subscription…
- Special CollectionsFree Will Baptist roots can be traced to England as early as 1611. In 1780, under the leadership of Benjamin Randall, Free Will Baptists were established in the northeast at New Durham, New Hampshire. Free Will Baptist churches voluntarily organized…
- Special CollectionsJames T. Fields (1817-1881), author, poet, and publisher, was born in Portsmouth, NH in 1817. At the age of fourteen, he became a clerk in a bookstore in Boston, MA and later a partner in the publishing house of Ticknor and Fields. He edited the Atlantic Monthly, which was published by his firm,…
- Special CollectionsBenjamin Penhallow Shillaber, humorist, newspaperman, and poet, was born in Portsmouth, NH in 1814. He moved to Boston, MA in 1833, where he became a journeyman printer. He worked as a printer and editor of several papers, including the Carpet Bag, a…
- Special CollectionsAlthough the specific creator of this scrapbook is not known, individuals whose work appears in it include Nathaniael Appleton Haven (1790-1826) and Oliver William Bourn Peabody (1799-1848). Scrapbook pertaining to exercises held in Portsmouth, NH on May 21, 1823, “the two hundredth anniversary of…
- Special CollectionsThe creator of this register is anonymous. A register from an unidentified Portsmouth, N.H.-based shipping company which serviced both the Appledore and Oceanic Hotels on the Isles of Shoals. The register, which covers from July 2 to September 3, 1912, documents the movement of people and cargo…
- Special CollectionsSchool register kept by Emily E. Tomlinson, a teacher in Newington, N.H., during the year 1872. New Hampshire school register: for the school in district no. 1 in the town of Newington, county of Rockingham. The register documents student attendance and the class curriculum for the year 1872.
- Special CollectionsThomas Bailey Aldrich was a New Hampshire-born author, poet and editor. His most noteable works are The Story of a Bad Boy and An Old Town By The Sea. Four letters written by Thomas Bailey Aldrich to his good friend and his wife’s obstetrician, Dr…
- Special CollectionsReverend John Lowell, 1704-1767, was the first pastor of Newburyport, Mass. A one page letter from Reverend Lowell to Joshua Brackett of Portsmouth New Hampshire. In the letter of March 13, 1758 Reverend Lowell describes the late arrival of spring and rumors concerning British troop movements…
- Special CollectionsFrancis Wainwright (1687-1772) was the son of Col. John Wainwright and Elizabeth Norton, born in Essex MA. He married Mary Dudley in 1713 and died in Boston in 1772. Letter written by Francis Wainwright of Portsmouth, NH to his brother. In the letter, Wainwright notes that he is uneasy about the…
- Special CollectionsSixty-four images (28 copy negatives and 36 additional contact prints) copied from the original 4 x 5 glass negatives in the collection of the Whalley Masonic Museum in Portsmouth, N.H.. These include images of North Conway, the Seacoast, including…
- Special CollectionsSamuel Swasey (1804-1887) was a New Hampshire politician of the 1840’s, associated with the radical or “locofoco” wing of the Democratic party. He served as Haverhill’s town selectman and moderator and worked ten years as register of probate for Grafton County. Swasey represented Haverhill in the…
- Special CollectionsThe photographer of these images is anonymous at this time. Eighteen copy negatives and thirty three contact prints of Portsmouth buildings, landscapes, and people copied from originals in the collection of the Portsmouth Athenaeum, from whom…
- Special CollectionsThe Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (PNS), often called the Portsmouth Navy Yard, is a United States Navy shipyard located in Kittery on the southern boundary of Maine near the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It is used for remodeling and repairing the…
- Special CollectionsWilliam L. Hill was born on October 17, 1855 in Auburn, Iowa. He served in the United States Navy from 1873 until his death. The papers contain an unusual record of turn-of-the-century American Naval history, including first-hand reports of “The…
- Special CollectionsGeorge Wallis Haven (1808-1895) was a banker and scholar who resided in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Haven served as a director of the Rockingham Bank for forty years, during which time he frequently lectured in Portsmouth. Ralph Waldo Emerson was a…
- Special CollectionsJohn M. Duncan was born in Gardner, Massachusetts in 1902, and died in 1976. He was a Staff Sergeant in World War II and following his discharge he married a librarian, Lillian Perkins (“Perks”), who worked at the University of New Hampshire, and they…
