Portsmouth Peace Treaty to be Celebrated

The 107th anniversary of the signing of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty will be celebrated downtown and at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine on Wednesday afternoon.

According to Stephanie Seacord, director of public affairs for the Portsmouth Peace Treaty Anniversary Committee, the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard will blow its whistle at 3:47 p.m. to mark the exact time the treaty was signed by representatives of Russia and Japan in 1905 to end the Russo-Japanese War.

Then several churches and historic properties in downtown Portsmouth will ring their bells to mark the anniversary, according to Seacord. They include:

• North Church
• South Church
• St. John's Episcopal
• Portsmouth Community Television
• South Meeting House Ram's horn at Temple Israel
• Town crier at Strawbery Banke
• Christ Church, Lafayette Road
• Second Congregational Church in Kittery
• Wentworth By the Sea Hotel
• John Paul Jones House Museum 

Seacord wrote in her e-mail that Portsmouth Mayor Eric Spear will read a proclamation from Governor John McLane in front of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty Calvin Page memorial located on the front of Piscataqua Savings Bank on Pleasant Street.

Seacord wrote that President Theodore Roosevelt won the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize for orchestrating the Treaty diplomacy, even though he never came to Portsmouth. By commemorating Portsmouth Peace Treaty Day participants celebrate the role of citizen diplomacy in resolving conflict that was demonstrated here in Portsmouth in 1905 and can make a difference wherever citizens choose to get involved.  

Thanks to research by the Japan-America Society of NH, Seacord wrote the 100th anniversary of the cherry trees in 2012 was expanded to include the history of the trees as a gift from Japan for the Portsmouth Peace Treaty and American diplomacy. The cherry trees provide a powerful symbol for an enduring, living memorial to the Treaty and citizen diplomacy.

The Governor’s Proclamation encourages all citizens of New Hampshire to commemorate Portsmouth Peace Treaty Day. For more information on the Treaty, visit www.portsmouthpeacetreaty.org