Library of Congress Recognizes Portsmouth Peace Treaty Website

 

Portsmouth NH (September 21, 2005) – The Library of Congress has identified the website of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty as an important resource for information and further study on the Treaty.

The Library of Congress has placed the PortsmouthPeaceTreaty.com site at the top of its list of links for the value of its “educational content and wide accessibility,” 

In the keynote address at the Portsmouth Peace Treaty Centennial dinner on September 5th, Library of Congress historian David J. Norlander, Ph.D. outlined the Library’s own site covering the Russo-Japanese War, “The Meeting of the Frontiers” and commended the creators of the Portsmouth site saying “If all politics is local; then all history is local, too.”

Dr. Norlander noted the value of local efforts in preserving history important to the nation. “Sites such as this make the information scattered among libraries or collections it might take months or years to visit accessible. The Library of Congress takes great interest in research that is ably done locally. One discovers great things in sharing these resources.”

According to Dr. Norlander, members of the Library of Congress staff, up to and including the Librarian of Congress, have taken great interest in the PortsmouthPeaceTreaty.com website, its interactive map of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty Trail, and calendar of Centennial celebrations taking place on the Seacoast.  “It clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of local efforts,” he said. “Information such as the intensive role played by local citizens is only available at the local level. It gives context and depth to the resources we have received from the Russians, and the soon to be online-archived Teddy Roosevelt papers.”

Dr. Norlander’s interest in the Portsmouth Peace Treaty stems from his professional expertise in Russian history. After receiving a Ph.D. in Russian history, David J. Nordlander has continued to pursue research on the topic of Pacific Russia. His focus has been the history of Siberia, the Russian Far East, and Alaska. As a secondary field of interest, he has studied the history of China and Japan and their interrelationships with Russia in the Far East. Following graduate studies, Dr. Nordlander won a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Harvard University from the Davis Center for Russian Studies.  He has published many articles on Siberian and Alaskan history, and has translated or edited two books relating to Siberia. Currently, he is the historian for an Internet project, the “Meeting of Frontiers,” at the Library of Congress on the history of Asiatic Russia and Alaska.

In honor of the centennial of the Portsmouth Peace Conference, the Library of Congress has recently added significant new photographic, manuscript, and other archival material from Russia and the United States to this Web site concerning the Russo-Japanese War and the Treaty of Portsmouth. 

The PortsmouthPeaceTreaty.com website was made possible by a grant from the Japan-America Society of New Hampshire funded by the Center for Global Partnership of the Japan Foundation. Original research, writing and materials compiled in the site were provided by Peter Randall, Charles Doleac and Richard Candee. The History portion of the site was designed and constructed by Grace Peirce while the overall design and functionality was created by Harbourlight Productions.  The color maps were produced by Eliza McClennen and Herb Heidt, with color map design © MapWorks 2005. Historic images come from the Portsmouth Athenaeum, Portsmouth Historical Society, the CBD Collection and others.

The website will continue to be updated with a current calendar of events, new research and other information about the Portsmouth Peace Treaty Trail, exhibit and school curriculum and will be a permanent resource for anyone interested in the Treaty. ###