Our program will be at the Dana Meeting House, included in the National Register of Historic Places in 2000, and the only one of its kind in New Hampshire. Our guests will have a chance to experience sitting in an antique box pew and listening to a speaker the way our ancestors did. The Association’s Board is dedicated to protecting and preserving this fine example of 19th century architecture, and invites our program attendees to come and “gather”.
New England’s colonial meetinghouses embody an important yet little- known chapter in American history. Built mostly with tax money, they served as both places of worship and for town meetings, and were the centers of life in colonial New England communities. Using photographs of the few surviving “mint condition” meetinghouses as illustrations, our presenter tells the story of the society that built and used them, and the lasting impact they have had on American culture.
Presenter Paul Wainwright has a long-standing interest in photography and a love of history. He is especially drawn to photographing historic structures in very personal and introspective ways. His work is included in the permanent collections of collectors including the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Hanover, NH and the Boston Public Library, and his first published photography book: “A Space for Faith: The Colonial Meetinghouses of New England” was released in early 2010.
The Historical Society thanks New Hampshire Humanities for providing our 2021-2022 Presenters and Programs.
Our programs are free and open to the public.