Our Programs

This program has been postponed to Tuesday, February 26 at 7:00pm

THE VIETNAM WAR:   Veteran Voices This 21-minute video features war stories told by American, North Vietnamese, and South Vietnamese soldiers. One story explores moral injury by following a disabled Vietnam Marine veteran who supports young warriors deployed during the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. We’re so pleased to have the discussion facilitated by our friend, Bill Donoghue. Many know him as the former Pastor of the CUCC. He also served as a Marine Corpsman in Viet Nam from 1970-71 and more recently had designed and implemented reintegration programs for service members and their families. (Snow date 2/26).

BENEDICT ARNOLD: PATRIOT OR TRAITOR: Tuesday, April 9 at 7pm: We all think we know the story of Benedict Arnold, the American Revolutionary War general who fought for the Continental Army but then defected to the British. Recalled mainly as a traitor for his 1780 defection, Arnold had risked his life and fortune for American freedom in courageous exploits between 1775 and 1778, when the dream of independence was at its most fragile. As an officer in the Continental Army, Arnold ably led American forces in desperate circumstances against impossible odds, in a blinding snowstorm, through a howling wilderness, and against the extraordinary might of the Royal Navy. George Morrison will take you on a journey through New England, Canada, and New York tracing the complex story of this infamous American icon.

OF PLANTS,PACKETS,POTS AND PROMISE: Tuesday, April 23 at 7pm: The buying and selling of seeds and plants in America. For many, the sowing of a seed or the planting of a tree gives the promise of reward in the future for our optimism and efforts today. Come explore the history of seed and plant commerce in America and the people who sought to satisfy the “plant bug” within us. With names like Bartram, Burbank, Burpee and Ball, learn of the people behind the evolution of America’s plant industry. Hear of presidents, ambassa-dors, a commodore, even those with a “brown thumb” who have influenced our gardening history in unique ways. The evolution of seed packaging and catalogs, the intrigue of plants from “the new world” and afar, scientific advancements and cultural shifts, all create a fascinating story that has led to today’s modern breeding, marketing and selling of plants. Using contemporary accounts, drawings, lithographs and photos, this illustrated presentation follows the development of our horticultural history. From sub-sistence farming to ornamental landscaping, this is the story of the American business behind creating our own garden utopia. Presented by Kevin Bragg, owner of Canterbury Plantation and Fine Gardening Services. With thirty years in the horticultural indus-try and a NH lineage of ten generations back to the Isles of Shoals, Kevin enjoys combining his passion for plants and history and ex-ploring the relationships between them. The ShakersBranding

THE GRAND RESORT HOTELS OF THE WHITE MOUNTAINS - ARCHITECTURE, HISTORY AND THE RPRESERVATION RECORD: Tuesday, May 14 at 7:00pm: Architectural historian Bryant Tolles, Jr. shares the history and architecture of the grand resort hotel phenomenon and hospitality tourism in the White Mountains of New Hampshire from the pre-Civil War era to the present. The primary focus is on the surviving grand resort hotels: The Mount Washington Resort, the Mountain View Grand, the Balsams, the Eagle Mountain House, and Wentworth Hall and Cottages. Extensive illustrations document these buildings and others no longer in existence.

IF I AM NOT FOR MYSELF, WHO WILL BE FOR ME? GEORGE WASHINGTON'S RUNAWAY SLAVE: Tuesday, September 10 at 7:00pm: Oney Judge Staines, according to the Constitution, was only three-fifths of a person. To her masters, George and Martha Washington, she was merely "the girl." All she wanted was the freedom to control her own actions, but her account of escaping the Executive Mansion in Philadelphia, fleeing north and establishing a life in New Hampshire is not a typical runaway story. Portrayed by Gwendolyn Quezaire-Presutti, Oney's tale provides an alternative perspective on the new nation's social, political, and economic development, from one whose personal experience so contradicted the promise of the principles embodied in the nation's founding documents.

TREASURE FROM THE ISLES OF SHOALS: HOW NEW ARCHEOLOGY IS CHANGING OLD HISTORY: Tuesday, October 8 at 7:00pm: There is treasure here but not the pirate kind. Scientific “digs” on Smuttynose Island are changing New England history. Archaeologist Nathan Hamilton has unearthed 300,000 artifacts to date on this largely uninhabited rock at the Isles of Shoals. Evidence proves prehistoric Native Americans hunted New Hampshire’s only offshore islands 6,000 years ago. Hundreds of European fishermen split, salted, and dried valuable Atlantic cod here from the 1620s. “King Haley” ruled a survivalist kingdom here before Thomas Laighton struck tourist gold when his family took over the region’s first hotel on Smuttynose. Laighton’s daughter Celia Thaxter spun poetic tales of ghosts and pirates. J. Dennis Robinson, a longtime Smuttynose steward, explores the truth behind the romantic legends of Gosport Harbor in this colorful show-and-tell presentation.

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