Portsmouth, NH: School Records, 1846-1958

“Rainy day activities in school – decorating the classroom,” 1899, Johnston, Frances Benjamin, 1864-1952, photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

We are excited to announce that we have added 103 more volumes of school records to our database, Portsmouth, NH: School Records, 1846-1958. This database is the result of a partnership between the Portsmouth Athenaeum and NEHGS, and it is full of interesting surprises that can help paint a picture about the students’ lives. This addition contains more records from the late 19th and early 20th century and includes many names of children whose families emigrated from Eastern Europe, Italy, and Greece.

In addition to birth dates, parents, and residences, you can also find nicknames, deaths, doodles, course plans and books, notes about major events, staff, children running away, the weather, pranks, and punishments. When complete, this database will have 597 volumes. The current addition includes 103 volumes from Cabot, Farragut, and Franklin schools, and the Portsmouth Teacher Training School.

The Portsmouth Athenaeum maintains a library of over 40,000 volumes and has held the city’s historic school records since 1991.

The records included in this database are now housed in the collections of Portsmouth Public Library.


We thank the volunteers who have made this database possible! If you are interested in volunteering, please contact our Database Volunteer Coordinator, Zobeida, at zobeida.chaffee-valdes@nehgs.org.

Please note: This database is available to Individual-level and above NEHGS members only. Consider membership.