Portsmouth Peace Treaty Anniversary Exhibit Opens

Portsmouth NH (July 28, 2005) --  The new exhibit, “An Uncommon Commitment to Peace: Portsmouth Peace Treaty 1905” will hold its Grand Opening Reception on August 7th from 5:30 to 7 pm  in the new galleries of the Portsmouth Historical Society's exhibit space at the John Paul Jones House in Portsmouth. The Museum is open 11 am to 5 pm daily and tickets are $8 for adults.

The exhibit offers a complete retelling of the story of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty. Stories that have never been told before, images and artifacts assembled from public and private collections, and illuminating original research bring the story of the resolution of the Russo-Japanese War into dramatic focus. Indeed, before the assembly of this particular presentation, the events of the Summer of 1905 were not clearly understood for what they were: one of the earliest demonstrations of how ordinary citizens can have extraordinary influence on world events. Portsmouth's “uncommon commitment to peace” that played out on a multitude of stages is today recognized as multi-track diplomacy, the preferred model for 21st century negotiations. This exhibit demonstrates how day by day, for the thirty days Sergius Witte, Jutaro Komura and their delegations were in Portsmouth, the threads of formal diplomacy, informal diplomacy and back-channel negotiations gradually intertwined in a mesh that held the peace process together until all the issues were resolved and the Treaty was signed.

Curated by Hayato Sakurai and researched by Peter Randall, Charles Doleac, Richard Candee and countless others, this exhibit is not only the focal point of the Centennial Celebration. “This exhibit is a significant addition to the scholarship on the subject of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty and a touchstone for the vast amount of information now assembled in the libraries and permanent collections of the region,” said Charles Doleac, Co-Chairman of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty Anniversary Committee.  ”The information contained in the exhibit and on the permanent website, www.portsmouthpeacetreaty.com is so detailed that The Library of Congress is in the process of recognizing us as an important resource for the topic. This achievement is the lasting legacy of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty Anniversary Committee and the Japan-America Society of New Hampshire which made the website, the Exhibit and future traveling versions of the exhibit possible through a grant from the Center for Global Partnership of the Japan Foundation.” For more information on the exhibit and the Centennial celebrations taking place through October, visit www.portsmouthpeacetreaty.com. ###