The Story Behind the Scenes (continued)

How Everything Changed

It was not a single speech that awakened the city to the concept of a community-owned museum at Strawbery Banke. It came from many speeches and a lot of political wrangling. By 1955 the Puddledock area was being considered for a federal urban renewal project that would flatten more than 200 buildings and build garden-style apartments for rent. The "blighted" neighborhood between Marcy and Washington streets was on its way to becoming an official "slum" in the eyes of the Federal Housing Authority. While that study was going on, other factors were kicking up interest in Portsmouth preservation.

•  -- In 1956 Mrs. William (Muriel) Howells, the daughter-in-law of John Mead Howells, contacted the City of Portsmouth with her concerns that the city was losing architecturally important buildings. She suggested that new zoning laws might protect colonial homes and neighborhoods from development. A return letter from the Portsmouth City Planner explained that, since he had received few complaints from Portsmouth residents – and since Mrs Howells lived in Kittery – there was little to be done. The public needed to demand the change.
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• -- In January 1957 an English professor of architecture from the University of Hong Kong visited the Seacoast. He was writing a research paper about fishing villages. Michael Hugo-Brunt became fascinated with Portsmouth and concerned with the destruction of its colonial houses. Dorothy Vaughan assisted in his research. During this time an historic house across the street from the library was razed to build a bowling alley. 
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•  -- Hugo-Brunt was invited to speak about his research to the Portsmouth Rotary by Don Vaughan, Dorothy Vaughan’s brother. Dorothy begged her brother to attend the speech, she told friends, but was denied access because Rotary was then an all-male organization. Dorothy "harped on" her brother, she recalled, until he relented. She and the Rotarians found the speech fascinating.
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•  -- In May 1957 Dr. Richard Howland, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, addressed the annual meeting of the Garden Club of America. As an example of the destruction of historic buildings, Howland showed a slide of a colonial home in Portsmouth, NH that had been converted into a gas station. Muriel Howells of Kittery attended the event and was horrified by the image.
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•  -- Muriel Howells invited Richard Howland to visit Portsmouth and meet with key people interested in historic preservation. He agreed to visit on June 22, 1957.
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•  -- Unable to find a speaker for the Rotary annual meeting, Don Vaughan asked his sister Dorothy if she could fill in. She reminded him, jokingly, that women were not allowed to attend Rotary meetings. On June 20, 1957, she gave her famous short speech that was well received by the membership. "I’m doing all I can," Vaughan told the audience. "What are you doing?"
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•  -- Two days later on June 22, Richard Howland of the National Trust met with community leaders for tea at the Moffatt-Ladd House, an historic museum managed by the Colonial Dames in Portsmouth. John Kimball, president of the Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce, attended and became a convert to local preservation.
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•  -- Richard Howlands wrote to Kimball suggesting that Portsmouth should enact zoning laws to create a historic district. He also suggested the creation of a citizen action committee to promote preservation in Portsmouth. The city planners needed to see wider interest to get involved.
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•  -- Reacting to Vaughan, Hugo-Brunt and Howland, the Rotary launched a historic preservation committee. James Barker Smith, the owner of the Rockingham Hotel and Wentworth by the Sea was the chairman. Attorney Jeremy Waldron and other key Portsmouth businessmen joined on. The committee visited historic sites including Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia and Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts.
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•  -- Muriel Howells continued her letter writing campaign to the NH Historical Society, the city of Portsmouth, local newspapers, Mr. Howlands and others.
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•  -- In October 1957 Jeremy Waldron presented the Rotary committee’s plan for a "Colonial Village" to its members. The group suggested saving the Puddledock area in the South End. The plan offered an alternative to the federal urban renewal project that would tear down the neighborhood and build garden apartments. The idea received major coverage in the local newspaper. The preservation challenge now reached the public.
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•  -- The town divided itself into "Progressives" who wanted to modernize the city and "Preservationists" who wanted to save old buildings. At the urging of Muriel Howells, the Portsmouth Herald published an editorial comparing Portsmouth to Charleston, South Carolina. (John Mead Howells had been a key figure in the historic revival there.) The editorial noted that tourism dollars might provide the economic boom that the city needs without destroying local culture. Portsmouth’s past might be its future, the article suggested.
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•  -- On February 6, 1958 Richard Howland of the National Trust returned to Portsmouth and spoke to Rotary. He received a standing ovation. Portsmouth’s Mayor Andrew Jarvis asked a question and was stunned when Howland answered him in Greek, forming an important political bond.
• That evening Howland presented his slide show on historic preservation to over 200 people crowded into the Rockingham Hotel in Portsmouth. Newspapers reported "Wide interest" growing for the Colonial Village idea. Mayor Jarvis presented Howland with a Grecian urn.
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•  -- Richard Howland immediately wrote to Mrs. Howells from Washington , DC after his speech saying that "something very vigorous is growing out of the great interest and enthusiasm that you and a handful of others have generated."
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•  -- Portsmouth Mayor Andrew Jarvis immediately created a committee of the City Council to study the Colonial Village idea. All the key players, including Vaughan, Howells, Waldron, Smith, Kimball and others were appointed.
  
  The Great Compromise

By March 1958 the cards were on the table. Federal interest in the urban renewal of the Puddledock region was waning. Government estimates showed that tearing down the buildings to install garden apartments was not financially viable. The $835,000 of federal money allocated for urban development in Portsmouth was about to disappear. The "Colonial Portsmouth Committee" suggested marrying the Colonial Village idea with the existing Urban Renewal project since there were no private funs available.

It was a tricky marriage from the start. In order to save the historic region, Puddledock residents were displaced to new low-income housing. Houses were taken by eminent domain. Many were razed. Some were saved. In the end, the laws of New Hampshire had to be rewritten to allow the project to move ahead. But the idea had reached critical velocity. In May 1958, following a public hearing, the city authorized a $200,000 bond. City council members approved the plan and it passed through a public hearing. In November 374 incorporators signed the papers to create a nonprofit organization offering shares at $10 each. Strawbery Banke Inc. was born. The museum opened in 1965. It has changed enormously since its founding days – but that is another legend.

Copyright © 2006 by J. Dennis Robinson. All rights reserved. Robinson is currently writing a book about the history of Strawbery Banke and invites all readers with unique information to contact him via this web site at SeacoastNH.com before October 2006.

This article from the book STRAWBERY BANKE:
A Seaport Museum 400 Years in the Making
by J. Dennis Robinson