Picturing the Class of 1898

Strawbery Banke Presents
HISTORIC PORTSMOUTH #209

110 years ago the entire Portsmouth High School class could pose on the steps of the courthouse. Females outnumbered males because most working class and business jobs did not require a high school degree. (Continued below)

HISTORIC PHOTOS of the Greater Portsmouth Area appear here weekl

Long conservative dresses and high starched collars were in fashion. A young dandy lounges on the right sporting knee-high stockings and a cocked cap.

From HISTORIC PORTSMOUTH
Early Photographs from the Collections of Strawbery Banke
by James L. Garvin & Susan Grigg, Peter Randall Publisher
(c) Strawbery Banke Museum . All rights reserved

BONUS CLOSE-UP OF SIGN

CONTINUE for a FASCINATING FOOTNOTE
Reader Letter

WHO IS THAT DANDY ON THE RIGHT?
Mr. Robinson: Saw the picture in Thursday's Portsmouth Herald and got a kick out of it. You mentioned a 'young dandy' lounging on the steps with knee high stockings and a cocked hat; he is my grandfather, Louis L. Green. He was the husband of Virginia Tanner, who you have written about before and a long time ago asked me for permission to print her picture. Just thought you'd like to have a little more history on her and her husband. My grandfather had a benefactor here in Portsmouth who sent him to Harvard. He became a lawyer, then a judge and then back to being a lawyer in Cambridge, Ma. After the 1923 paegent, they summered here in New Castle where I am living now. Thanks for making me smile.
Laurie Clark, New Castle, NH

Virginia Tanner wrote, directed and designed the 1923 "Pageant of Portsmouth" which dramatized local history for thousands of spectators. This picture shows Ms. Tanner depicting the Spirit of Pageantry.

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