History

Downton Abbey, the wildly popular PBS television series, is now on the big screen.  We talk with a UNH historian about how accurately the series depicts life in that era and how it reflects the role of women in a time when being a servant was the largest occupation for women.  We consider the appeal of British royalty and why this latter-day "Upstairs/Downstairs" continues to attract such a loyal following.

Air Date: September 25, 2019

NHPR and The Music Hall present Writers on a New England Stage with presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, recorded live at The Music Hall in Portsmouth.

Goodwin is the author of seven books, including her most recent Leadership in Turbulent Times, which examines the origins and qualities of leadership through the lens of four presidents. 

Goodwin spoke about her book with NHPR political reporter Lauren Chooljian. This conversation was recorded October, 12, 2018 at The Music Hall.  

The historical museum in Lyme is wrapping up a summer exhibit on wedding gowns. The exhibit offers insight into the evolution of women’s styles and it also shares some intimate stories of town residents.

Note: we recommending listening to this feature

This week, we're going deep into our country's founding through radio drama, the classic musical "1776," and the inside story of a New Hampshire-based fake news site. 

•  Civics 101 student contest winner Adia Samba-Quee's radio drama "Unconventional"
• The continued relevance of the musical "1776"
• Don't believe the headlines: fake news in New Hampshire

  It wasn't gold, money or skeletons.

But the newly-found items, including old ledgers, now-vintage fans and Civil War bonds, locked for decades in an old safe in a first floor committee room, were still exciting to a few curious minds at the New Hampshire State House. 

In our continuing series Only in New Hampshire, we tackle listener questions about the Granite State communities and occasionally get the chance to uncover a bit of hidden history.

So here’s a perfectly timed question from Katelin in Northwood. She wrote:

“I heard Northwood had some kind of important link on the way we celebrate Thanksgiving. I looked but never found it. Any ideas?”

This weekend at the Pine Hill Cemetery in Dover, the dead will come back to life...sort of.

As part of the Woodman Museum’s "Voices from the Cemetery" event, local volunteer-actors will portray some of the famous -and infamous- Dover residents buried in the centuries-old cemetery.

NHPR’s Jason Moon caught up with the actors as they were rehearsing earlier this week and sends this postcard.

Economist and Harvard professor Mihir Desai uses philosophy, film, literature, and history to analyze finance as an institution built on morality and humanity. His book , The Wisdom of Finance, explores how the financial industry can be understood through culture, and how deeply finance impacts our personal lives. 

This show originally aired on July 25, 2017. 

If you find yourself in downtown Berlin, New Hampshire, take a glance at the Androscoggin River. There, in the middle of the water, you’ll notice a long, straight line of small rocky islands poking through the surface.

On today's show:

• Producer Hannah McCarthy takes a drive up to Livermore to find out why a recent census listed the ghost town's population as "3". You can read more and listen to the story again here.
• Civics 101: Church & State
• Producer Molly Donahue answers the Only in New Hampshire question: is it true there's a secret list of archaeological sites in New Hampshire? 
• Less is the new novel of the by Andrew Sean Greer, the O. Henry Award winning author who will be at Writers in the Loft on Monday, July 24. 
• Inspired by today's show and want to join in a dig this summer? You can learn more about the State Conservation and Rescue Archaeology Program (SCRAP) here.

Aerosmith has been going strong for decades, but the legendary rock band actually traces its roots back to New Hampshire.

Lead singer Steven Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry met in Sunapee, where they spent their childhood summers, and the rest is rock history.

On Saturday, the Sunapee Historical Society will be transformed into a shrine of sorts for the band when it hosts Aerosmith History Day.

Memorabilia spanning the band’s nearly 50-year career will be on display.

Several organizations are coming together to address what they say has been an abrupt and sharp decline in basic historical knowledge among New Hampshire students.

New Hampshire Historical Society president Bill Dunlap sounded the alarm in an op-ed earlier this month, saying this knowledge deficit could have dramatic consequences for the state.

On today's show:

• Civics 101: Budget and Appropriations
• "Viva La Arquitectura!" from 99% Invisible. You can listen to this story again at PRX.org. 
• Curtis Wilkie is co-author of The Road to Camelot: Inside JFK's Five-Year Campaign along with Thomas Oliphant. 
• "Artist Matt Patterson Goes in Search of a Turtle Muse"

On today's show:

• Romie Stott is a film maker and writer and she wrote about the secret language of flowers for Atlas Obscura in “How Flower Obsessed Victorians Encoded Messages in Bouquets."
• "Daisy Supply Chain" from Outside/In. 
• "Atom in the Garden of Eden" from 99% Invisible. You can listen to this story again at PRX.org. 

The Vietnam War is largely recalled as a mistake, either in the decision to engage there or in the nature of the engagement.  Veterans of the war remain largely anonymous figures.  Enduring Vietnam recounts the experiences of the young Americans who fought in Vietnam and of families who grieved those who did not return. We talk with author James Wright about the “baby boomers” who grew up in the 1950s, why they went into the military,  how they describe serving in “Nam” and their experiences coming home.

GUEST:  James Wright is author and editor of several history books and a former history professor at Dartmouth College as well as former Dartmouth College President.

This program was originally broadcast on 4/27/17.