To the editor:

The Portsmouth Historical Society needs your help. A recent letter sent to all Portsmouth residents described the reasons for this. The Christian Union Church (circa 1864) that houses the Society’s museum and meeting room is in need of major restoration. Our museum houses many documents, artifacts and photographs from Portsmouth’s past and we need to better protect and preserve them. We want to install climate control equipment to preserve our historic documents and artifacts, and we hope to make the building accessible to all.

All of this requires support from the community. Most of the grants that we apply for require that we show an indication of strong public support, such as memberships and public donations. To be considered for such grants, we need to continue to expand our membership and support base. That’s why your membership or contribution is so important to us.

The Society will continue to provide historical exhibits at the Portsmouth Free Public Library, lectures on genealogy and educational programs to Portsmouth schools. We will sponsor a series of events in the coming year, beginning in March with the first in an annual town event that we are sponsoring, called “Founders Day,” which will include a public showing of the original Portsmouth Compact of 1638 (currently stored in the state archives in Providence). We plan to show the town’s original copy of the Declaration of Independence later in the year, and we hope to open the museum additional hours to make visiting it more convenient.

Please join us as a member or support us with your donations; you will be helping us preserve and explain our proud history to future generations of Portsmouth residents. Find out more about the value of a Portsmouth Historical Society membership by visiting our website at www.portsmouthhistorical.com. Also, please take our survey from the link on website and tell us what kind of events and activities you would like to see us provide in the future.

Doug Smith

58 Heritage Drive

Portsmouth

Mr. Smith is a board member of the Portsmouth Historical Society.