News from the Manchester Historic Association

Collect, Preserve, Share

Manchester

Oct. 28, 2021

In This Issue

1 Craft Beer Tasting at Millyard Museum Nov. 3

2 'NH Now' Photo Exhibit on Display in State Theater Gallery

3 Millyard Museum to Host Holiday Open House Dec. 4

4 'Remembering the QC Athletic Hall of Fame' in Discovery Gallery

5 Educational Field Trips Resume at Millyard Museum

6 Member of the Month: Steve O'Connell

7 Manchester Trivia Question

Raise a Glass and Help Support the Millyard Museum!

The Millyard Museum will resume its ever-popular craft beer tasting event on November 3 from 5-7:30 p.m.

The event has provided members and guests alike the opportunity to sample some of the remarkable craft brews that are being created in Manchester and neighboring communities, while also supporting the work of the Manchester Historic Association.

Once again, we will feature live musical entertainment with Alli Beaudry Seney, and a generous array of swag from the various breweries at the event. This is a 21-Plus event and IDs may be required of younger attendees.

Admission is $10 for MHA members and $15 for yet-to-be members. For more information or to purchase tickets, click here.

Millyard Museum Hosts "New Hampshire Now" Photo Exhibit

"New Hampshire Now" represents a two-year effort to record life in the Granite State. Nearly 50 photographers traveled throughout the state between 2018 and 2020, capturing thousands of images that create a twenty-first century portrait of the people, places, culture and events that characterize our state.

Eight cultural centers throughout the state are hosting geographically relevant portions of the collection. The MHA’s Millyard Museum is focused on the Merrimack Valley portion of the exhibit.

A companion book of photographs from the exhibit is available at the Millyard Museum Gift Shop. This collaboration aligns the MHA with the New Hampshire Historical Society and the New Hampshire Society of Photographic Artists, with outstanding support from the New Hampshire Humanities Council. For more information, call 603-622-7531.

Millyard Museum to Host Holiday Open House Dec. 4

The Millyard Museum will celebrate the spirit of the season with its annual Holiday Open House on Dec. 4, with the added attraction of a holiday-themed American Girl Doll Tea Party.

In addition to free admission, shoppers will receive a 10 percent discount in our gift shop, while MHA members will receive an additional 10 percent off on all items, including our historic holiday ornaments and a wide array of Manchester-related books.

Santa is expected to drop down our chimney around the noon hour for free photo opportunities with the little ones, who would be well advised to bring their wish lists.

Free raffles, refreshments, arts and crafts projects and a silent auction are also on the day's agenda. The open house will run from 10-4. For more information on this program, call 603-622-7531.

Remembering the Queen City Athletic Hall of Fame

From 1989 to 2009, entrance into the Queen City Athletic Hall of Fame became the highest accolade that the Manchester sporting community could bestow upon an athlete.

Although the QC Hall has been dormant for the past decade, the Millyard Museum recently obtained the commemorative plaques that are inscribed with the names of the honorees (like Aaron Tolson, at right), and those plaques have become the foundation for a new exhibit.

"We spent more than six months creating a repository of photos that had never been compiled before," said MHA Executive Director John Clayton. "It was been a challenge and a delight, and we believe we have a very representative sampling of athletes dating back more than half a century."

This exhibit at the Millyard Museum showcases athletes - male and female - from a wide variety of sports, ranging from Major League Baseball to college basketball to professional football, plus swimming, golf, track and field, gymnastics, even snowshoe racing. The exhibit will be on display through the end of the year.

Educational Field Trips are Back at Millyard Museum

The Millyard Museum has resumed its schedule of educational field trips, and educators are encouraged to take advantage of the program. Many field trips are available at little or no cost, thanks to grant funding from Amoskeag Industries and the Manchester and Queen City Rotary Clubs.

Because of Covid-related cancellations, most of the 2020 school year was devoted to improving and enhancing the content of school visits, which include tours of the Millyard Museum and multiple hands-on options with Museum Educator Kristy Ellsworth and a dedicated group of trained volunteers.

To find out more call 603-622-7531 or email kellsworth@manchesterhistoric.org

Member of the Month:

Steve O'Connell

Steve O'Connell is a fixture at the MHA Research Center as a researcher and a volunteer, and, as a second generation member of the MHA, he has a great appreciation for the resources that are available in the gem at 129 Amherst Street.

"My connection to Manchester history is huge," he said. "MHA archivist Dan Peters has assisted me with using city directories, Amoskeag Manufacturing Company employee records, city government books, Manchester public school registers, Hillsborough County Supreme Court books, early maps and select copies of the Manchester Leader and Manchester Union newspapers to tell my family's stories.

"The MHA's commitment to collect, archive and to share is foremost," he added. "I have donated materials for the MHA collection and I encourage others to do the same to help keep Manchester's past alive."

Can You Answer This Manchester Trivia Question?

Question: In these days of the information super highway, it's interesting to note that the first President of the United States to speak on a telephone did so in Manchester on Aug. 22, 1877. Who was that President?

Ulysses S. Grant
Rutherford B. Hayes
Chester A. Arthur

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Last Month's Trivia Question: In 1893, State Rep. Clarence M. Woodbury proposed that the West Side secede from the City of Manchester and form its own municipality. "The West Side is eminently fitted for city hood," said Woodbury, who even suggested a name for the new municipality.

ANSWER: The name Woodbury suggested was 'Squog City.

The Manchester Historic Association is an independent tax-exempt charitable 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit organization with the mission to collect, preserve and share the history of Manchester, New Hampshire USA. The Association operates the Millyard Museum and Research Center.