Rye Historical Society and Town Museum
and Rye Town Museum
10 Olde Parish Road
Rye, NH
Poetry Reading Highlighting Mid 20th Century Rye
September 7th 7pm
"Poetry Inspired by Rye and Recollections of a Rye Youth" presented Bruce Valley, author of two books about Rye: "Rye Harbor: Poems of the New Hampshire Seacoast" and "Seahawk: Confessions of an Old Hockey Goalie" on Tuesday Sept. 7th at 7 PM at the Library. Bruce, a Rye native, will read some of his poems, talk about growing up in Rye and be availableafter the event to sign copies of his books that will be for sale. Historic photos from his book "Rye Harbor," recently republished, will also be shown. The public is invited to share their 1940's and 50's memories as well. This event is co-sponsored by RHS and the Rye Library.
Dating Your Old House
September 28th 7 pm
On Tuesday Sept 28th at 7 PM at the Library, Sandra Rux, curator and manager of the Portsmouth Historical Society/John Paul Jones House/Discover Portsmouth Center will present this event, surely of interest to many who own older homes in Rye and beyond. Aside from a life-long interest in dating old houses, Sandra created and taught a course on this topic in Guilford, CT for several years. On this occasion, the Rye Historical Society will re-introduce an expanded version of the "Old House Plaque Project" to the public. Co-sponsored by Rye Historical Society and Rye Public Library.
RHS Old House Plaque Project Revived
The RHS is introducing a new and expanded version of the old house plaques that was started by the Every Other Tuesday Club in the early 1970's and then given to the RHS when it was formed in 1976. The original plaques dealt only with houses built before 1825, but now homeowners may buy a plaque for their house and choose what it says, regardless of the age of the house. The town has many fine examples of architectural styles from center chimney colonial and capes to the present. If homeowners who have plaques want to replace or update their current ones this is a good opportunity This new project will be unveiled with sample plaques, prices, etc. at the Sept. 28th "Dating Your Old House" event. For further information contact RHS Board member Priscilla Metallious at: priscillalm@comcast.net or RHS chair Alex Herlihy at: alexherlihy@comcast.net.
The Rye Historial Society and museum staff have made some changes and additions to our ongoing exhibit on the building's entire first floor. It is still the theme-based exhibit (which explores how the land and water within the boundaries of Rye has been used for the past several centuries) that we presented to you last spring, but it has been refreshed. Never-before exhibited artifacts, never-before told stories are waiting to be discovered by you and your family this season. The Rye Historical Society and museum staff cordially invite you to visit "Rye on the Rocks" again this year and learn something new about your town!
Please click here for more information on the exhibit.
RHS Reception at the Discover Portsmouth Center
Thank YOU for making this event one to remember!
The Rye Historical Society held a public reception at the Discover Portsmouth Center (old Portsmout library) on Friday May 7th from 5-8 PM and we were thoroughly impressed with our turn-out! What a way to kick off the summer season for the both the RHS and the PDC. It was the beginning of a season-long installation of our exhibit “Summering in Rye: Over a Century by the Sea” in the downtown space. We are excited to know that the exhibit will be seen by hundreds of visitors in the months to follow. Please share this information with your neighbors and your own summertime visitors. For more information on the PDC visit their website at portsmouthhistory.org.
Exciting Collaborations with Rye Junior High
In an effort to establish a better working relationship with the Rye public schools, the Historical Society Director, Alex Herlihy, has made it a priority during the past two years for the Rye Town Museum to offer its resources to the town's students. It seems his efforts have lead to some exciting progress.
For the past two years, Rye Town Museum loaned several artifacts to be studied by Rye Junior High's eighth grade students during their U.S.O. unit. Many of the artifacts were on display during the recent U.S.O. Night. The Rye Historical Society and Rye Town Museum staff, including Lindsay Burke, were encouraged by Rye educators' enthusiasm in this collaboration. Most recently Alex and RJH educators have been working to put together an oral history project with students as well as apply for grant money to make the project possible.
An extention of this outreach effort has been to provide museum visitors with guides to better connect with the museum's collection. Click here to view some of the guides available to museum visitors.
We'd Like to Hear from You
The Rye Historical Society and Rye Town Museum staff welcomes the ideas, suggestions, and requests from any Rye educators, parents, students, residents and visitors. The Rye Historical Society board and museum staff is willing and eager to adapt any existing program to better fit the needs of the community. Please contact us at info@ryenhhistoricalsociety.org. We look forward to hearing from you.
Please visit The Rye Town Museum at:
10 Olde Parish Road
Rye, NH 03870
or call at:
(603) 964-7730
or email at:
info@ryenhhistoricalsociety.org