The Treaty of Portsmouth (Portsmouth Peace Treaty)

Students from Nichinan Commemorate Portsmouth Peace Treaty Living Memorial Cherry Trees

Portsmouth, New Hampshire (October 30, 2014) -- Visiting Sister City exchange students from the Nichinan Gakuen Jr-Sr High School in Nichinan, Japan placed a granite plaque for the Portsmouth Peace Treaty Living Memorial cherry trees on the banks of South Mill Pond, opposite the Portsmouth Middle School on Thursday, October 30, 2014 at 1:30 pm.

Each year students from Nichinan visit Portsmouth as part of the ongoing Portsmouth-Nichinan Sister City exchange program with Portsmouth High School.

In May 2014, Portsmouth Middle School's Student Council members planted cherry trees on the banks of the South Mill Pond where cherry trees given to Portsmouth by Sister City Nichinan have bloomed since 1985. The new trees are cherry trees descended from the iconic Washington DC cherry trees -- give to the US in 1912 by Japan in thanks for the Portsmouth Peace Treaty, signed at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, ending the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. The Japan-America Society of NH arranged for Portsmouth to be one of the 36 cities to receive trees on the 100th anniversary of the original gift. JASNH is working with the NH Division of Forests and Lands Urban Forestry Center to plant them in Portsmouth at key Treaty sites and elsewhere as a Portsmouth Peace Treaty Living Memorial.

The students visit the Portsmouth Peace Treaty exhibit at the John Paul Jones House Museum on Friday, October 31^st.

Calendar of Events

For a month's view Calendar, click here.

For information about ordering fine art prints of this Treaty Centennial symbol, and other commemorative items, click here.

Twitter.com: @PortsmthTreaty

To learn more about the Japan-America Society of New Hampshire

Mailing address:
82 Court Street
Portsmouth NH 03801

To join the Japan-America Society of New Hampshire online, click here.

For information about the Russia Society of New Hampshire, write to
PO Box 177
Concord NH 03302-0177

For a Russian-language description of the Treaty exhibit click here.

For the Russian-language Library of Congress description of the Treaty of Portsmouth, click here.

News and Links

To learn nore, the following books are available:

Heroes & Friends: Behind the Scenes of the Treaty of Portsmouth by Michiko Nakanishi

There Are No Victors Here: A Local Perspective on the Treaty of Portsmouth by Peter E. Randall

Also available:

An Uncommon Commitment to Peace Exhibit Catalogue published by the Japan-America Society of NH

Blessed Are the Peacemakers: The Service of Thanksgiving for the Portsmouth Treaty, September 5, 1905 by Marina Grot Turkevich Naumann

Original 1905 newsreel footage on DVD

Treaty of Portsmouth 1905-2005 book of reproduction historical postcards.

The Portsmouth Peace Process: Guide for Teachers by Northeast Cultural Coop

Portsmouth Peace Treaty Trail

For hours, directions, details on the Portsmouth Historical Society museum where the Portsmouth Peace Treaty exhibit is displayed, click here.

For hours, directions, details on Strawbery Banke Museum and the Shapiro House, owned by one of the founders of Temple Israel who figured in the Treaty citizen diplomacy, click here.

For information about Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and Building 86 where the formal negotiations were held. click here.

For more information about Wentworth By the Sea Hotel, where both delegations stayed, click here.

For more information about Green Acre Bahai School and Sarah Farmer's commitment to the peace process, click here.

The Portsmouth Public Library maintains an micorfilm archive of local newspapers and an index of the relevant Treaty reporting and other related materials. The archive of original newspapers, photographs and other documents is maintained by the Portsmouth Athenaeum.