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In 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt chose Portsmouth, New Hampshire to be the site of negotiations between Russian and Japanese delegations to end the Russo-Japanese War (now known as “World War Zero”). On Sunday, March 6^th at 10:30 am, Temple Israel, 200 State Street in Portsmouth, presents “Theodore Roosevelt’s Nobel Peace Prize and Portsmouth’s Jewish Community.” (Continued below)  

The talk will feature NH Humanities Council speaker Charles B. Doleac, founder and moderator of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty Forum. The program is a NH Humanities Council “Humanities To Go” selection and is free and open to the public. A question and answer session will follow the illustrated talk.  

Mr. Doleac’s presentation describes Roosevelt’s Nobel Prize-winning multi-track diplomacy that included other world powers, the Russian and Japanese delegations, the US Navy and New Hampshire hosts in the thirty days of negotiations that resulted in the Portsmouth Peace Treaty. In particular, as Portsmouth Peace Treaty Day was established by NH law in 2010 to recognize the role ordinary citizens played in providing a neutral and supportive atmosphere for the delegates, his talk will provide examples of citizen diplomacy including the role of the Russian-Jewish immigrants in Portsmouth in 1905 who founded Temple Israel that same year.

The Portsmouth Peace Treaty Forum was founded in 1994 to provide an opportunity for diplomats and scholars to explore diplomatic themes "in the spirit of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty.” The Forum maintains a permanent and traveling exhibit (displayed at the Portsmouth Historical Society’s John Paul Jones House Museum and at the New Hampshire State Archives in Concord) and the website that the Library of Congress cites as the best resource on the topic for its educational value and accessibility. Supported by the Japan-America Society of New Hampshire, the Forum produces additional annual events including the bell-ringing commemoration of the Treaty signing on September 5^th Portsmouth Peace Treaty Day For more information, visit the official Web site. 

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