Programs & Events Calendar

Granite State Stories
Tuesday, October 10, 2023, 7 p.m.
*Location: Conway Historical Society, Old Firehouse, 111 Main Street, Conway
Oh, the stories we could tell! For such a small state, New Hampshire has a remarkable history, full of interesting people, creative inventions, daring adventures, and astounding beauty. In honor of the New Hampshire Historical Society’s 200th anniversary, Society staffers are touring the state and sharing a collection of stories that capture the iconic spirit of New Hampshire, paired with images from the Society’s collections. The stories at this event will include Mount Washington and the artist Benjamin Champney. This program is free and presented through the Humanities to Go program of New Hampshire Humanities.

Lecture: "Welfare Capitalism at the Brown Paper Company," by Olivia Halle
Saturday, October 14, 2023, 2 p.m.
At the turn of the 20th century, the Brown Paper Company of Berlin adopted a strategy of welfare capitalism to provide social services to its employees, which, in effect, encompassed most of the Berlin community. At the time, some companies in the United States were adopting welfare capitalism as a way to forestall both government interference in their businesses and the development of unions. Explore the Brown Paper Company’s efforts in this area and learn how its efforts compared to those of other manufacturing companies in this period. Admission is free for New Hampshire Historical Society members; $7 for nonmembers.

Virtual Genealogy Workshop: Know Your Neighbors
Wednesday, October 18, 2023, 7 to 8 p.m.
This one-hour virtual workshop describes the tools and techniques for using information about neighbors to solve family history mysteries. Our ancestors often moved in groups and settled near one another. Thus, learning about your ancestors’ neighbors can provide critical information about your own family, particularly women. Genealogist Sheilagh Doerfler of New England Historic Genealogical Society covers sources that may provide information about your ancestors’ neighbors, explains how we can look at traditional sources in new ways to shed light on these relationships, and outlines strategies that can illuminate migration patterns. The workshop is $15 for members of the New Hampshire Historical Society and $25 for nonmembers. Advance registration is required via Eventbrite.com.

Free Lecture and Booksigning: “Wit and Wisdom: The Forgotten Literary Life of New England Villages,” by Jo Radner
Saturday, October 21, 2023, 2 p.m.
Whatever did New Englanders do on long winter evenings before cable, satellite, and the internet? Throughout the 19th century, our ancestors in tiny villages across Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont created joyful neighborhood events to improve their minds. Men and women held debates and composed and read aloud homegrown, handwritten literary newspapers. Oral historian and professional storyteller Jo Radner shares tales from these sometimes serious, sometimes sentimental, and often very funny "papers," which reveal the hopes, fears, humor, and surprisingly daring behavior of our forebears. Copies of Radner's book will be available for purchase. Admission to this program is free, and no registration is required.

Granite State Stories
Tuesday, October 24, 2023, 6:30 p.m.
*Location: Smyth Public Library, 55 High Street, Candia, NH 03034
Oh, the stories we could tell! For such a small state, New Hampshire has a remarkable history, full of interesting people, creative inventions, daring adventures, and astounding beauty. In honor of the New Hampshire Historical Society’s 200th anniversary, Society staffers are touring the state and sharing a collection of stories that capture the iconic spirit of New Hampshire, paired with images from the Society’s collections. The stories at this event will include the Concord coach and the Society’s two Revolutionary War flags. This program is free and presented through the Humanities to Go program of New Hampshire Humanities.

Collections Highlight Talk: "Live Free Then Die: Death and Mourning in the Granite State," by Jonathan Olly
Saturday, October 28, 2023, 2 p.m.
As exemplified in our state motto, death has helped to shape New Hampshire’s history and culture for centuries. Join the Society's Director of Museum Collections Jonathan Olly to hear some of the stories and see some of the objects that shed light on how Granite Staters have experienced death and mourning from the colonial period into the 20th century. Admission is free for New Hampshire Historical Society members; $7 for nonmembers.

Virtual Workshop: Identifying and Caring for Photographs
Wednesdays, November 1 and 8, 2023, 7 to 9 p.m.
Designed for small museums and historical societies, this two-part webinar will introduce participants to the most common types of photographs found in the paper-based collections of historical societies, as well as an overview of the history of photography and an introduction to photographic methods and production. The webinar will also cover best practices for cataloging, care and handling, and preservation and storage of photographic materials. No prior knowledge is required; beginners are welcome. This virtual workshop is offered in two parts, with the first part held on November 1 and the second part held November 8. The presenter is Elena Cordova, an archivist and preservation specialist who was formerly with the Northeast Document Conservation Center. This event is being co-sponsored by the Association of Historical Societies of New Hampshire (AHSNH). The cost is $50 for members of either the New Hampshire Historical Society or the AHSNH and $75 for nonmembers. Advanced registration is required via Eventbrite.com.

Music: Songs of New Hampshire
Saturday, November 4, 2023, 2 p.m.
Folk musician Tom Curren presents a collection of native-grown New Hampshire songs that spring from our landscapes of farms, seacoast, and forests. These tunes span more than 300 years of cultural expression and seek to remind us of the reasons we believe in this place we've come to call home. In addition to charting a career as a conservationist, farmer, historian, town official, and writer, Curren has been singing and archiving regional folk songs for decades. Admission is free for New Hampshire Historical Society members; $7 for nonmembers.

Genealogy Workshop: Tracing Ancestors on the Move
Saturday, November 18, 2023, 1 to 4 p.m.
Our ancestors moved near and far seeking economic opportunities, religious freedom, and connections with friends and family. These mobile ancestors, however, are notoriously difficult to track. We might have an ancestor in our sights and then—poof!—they’re gone. Or we may have an ancestor for whom we have no idea where they came from. Genealogist Ann G. Lawther of the New England Historic Genealogical Society offers context and motivations for migrations across America in the 17th through 20th centuries, strategies for discovering ancestral origins and movements, and provides tools, including go-to sources, to help track your family on the move. The cost of this workshop is $35 for members of the New Hampshire Historical Society and $50 for nonmembers. Space is limited and registration is required. Register online through Eventbrite.com.

Granite State Stories
Tuesday, November 28, 2023, 6:30 p.m.
*Location: Smyth Public Library, 55 High Street, Candia, NH 03034
Oh, the stories we could tell! For such a small state, New Hampshire has a remarkable history, full of interesting people, creative inventions, daring adventures, and astounding beauty. In honor of the New Hampshire Historical Society’s 200th anniversary, Society staffers are touring the state and sharing a collection of stories that capture the iconic spirit of New Hampshire, paired with images from the Society’s collections. The stories at this event will include Benjamin Champney and Mount Washington. This program is free and presented through the Humanities to Go program of New Hampshire Humanities.