Spring Lecture Series 2025: Razing and Rescuing: Historic Preservation in New Hampshire
Thursdays, April 17 to May 8, 2025, 6 p.m.
The New Hampshire Historical Society and the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance explore the efforts to preserve our historic places—the houses, barns, town halls, churches, factories, and warehouses of the people who have lived here over the centuries. Both organizations play crucial roles in authentically restoring New Hampshire’s historic structures and finding appropriate modern uses for them. This series is presented, in part, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance. These lectures are members-only events for those who belong to either the New Hampshire Historical Society or the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance. Attendees must be a member of at least one of the organizations. The lecture series is free and offered as in-person events at the New Hampshire Historical Society’s building at 30 Park Street in Concord, or as virtual events via Zoom. Registration is required for either in-person or virtual attendance, and registrants must sign up for the entire series.

There is no registration for individual lectures. Register for the whole series below:

Weekly breakdown of topics below:

Spring Lecture Series 2025: Razing and Rescuing: Historic Preservation in New Hampshire, Week 1
Thursday, April 17, 2025, 6 p.m.: Mixed Record: A Pictorial History of Preservation in New Hampshire
Preservation has long been described as a pugilistic activity—community groups fighting developers in battles between nostalgia and progress. What are the roots of New Hampshire’s preservation movement, and what lessons have we learned from over a century of “wins” and “losses” throughout the Granite State? Join Andrew Cushing from the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance for this introduction to historic preservation efforts in the state.

Spring Lecture Series 2025: Razing and Rescuing: Historic Preservation in New Hampshire, Week 2
Thursday, April 24, 2025, 6 p.m.: 'Nothing but a lot of rickety rats' nests and firetraps': Urban Renewal in New Hampshire Cities
Economic and societal change in the mid-20th century brought in their wake calls for urban renewal, calls that intensified with the decline of city centers and the rise of cars. Nadine Miller of the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources explores how the federal Urban Renewal Program impacted New Hampshire’s cities and ultimately led to a renewed interest in historic preservation throughout the state.

Spring Lecture Series 2025: Razing and Rescuing: Historic Preservation in New Hampshire, Week 3
Thursday, May 1, 2025, 6 p.m.: Two Villages, Two Approaches
Two National Historic Landmark districts in New Hampshire exhibit very different approaches to preservation. Historic Harrisville and Canterbury Shaker Village illustrate the advantages and challenges of each approach taken by their respective parent organizations, their founding principles, and the resulting nonprofit business models. Erin Hammerstedt of Canterbury Shaker Village delves into these two paths of historic preservation.

Spring Lecture Series 2025: Razing and Rescuing: Historic Preservation in New Hampshire, Week 4
Thursday, May 8, 2025, 6 p.m.: Water Has a Memory: How Climate Resiliency Defines Historic Preservation
What impact does climate change have on historic preservation? And have preservation practices kept pace with changing environmental conditions? As Rodney D. Rowland of Strawbery Banke Museum recounts, basements, for example, are flooding more regularly, necessitating a hard look at mitigation and adaptation techniques. Ready or not, climate change will challenge well-established practices and require preservationists to rethink old models for preserving our heritage.