PORTSMOUTH– This year marks the 120^th anniversary of the Portsmouth peace conference orchestrated by President Theodore Roosevelt to end the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 and the signing of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty on Sept. 5, 1905.

The commemorations this year focus on citizen diplomacy and the Portsmouth Peace Treaty Anniversary Committee (PPTAC) community groups who produced dozens of events in 2005 for the 100th anniversary of the Treaty signing. Events included eight exhibits, several lecture series, an international scholarly symposium at Dartmouth College and another at the Green Acre Baha'i School, a 15-week concert series, three original plays including Pontine’s “Peace of Portsmouth,” three original musical compositions, 15 art works, two formal dinners (both hosted by the N.H. Governor), a Mayor's Centennial tea, two re-enactments at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, a formal port visit by the Navy's USS Ross and a National Guard parade that drew thousands of people into the streets, replicating the Guard's 1905 parade that welcomed the two delegations.

In 2025 for the 120th Treaty anniversary, the Treaty exhibit in the John Paul Jones House Museum showcases the accomplishments of PPTAC and members of the committee are being invited to participate in commemorative activities around the Sept. 5 anniversary, including a screening of the film, “An Uncommon Commitment to Peace, 2005-2025” featuring interviews with 22 PPTAC members. That free screening takes place in the Levenson Room of the Portsmouth Public Library on Sept. 3 at 6 p.m.

On Thursday, Sept. 4, Portsmouth Mayor Deaglan McEachern welcomes a special delegation from the Nichinan Mayor's Office to help celebrate the 120th. The delegation includes Mayor Toru Takahashi, City Council President Koichiro Kitagawa, Superintendent of Education Masafumi Toko, Sister City Friendship Association Chair Shotaro Hidaka, Nichinan City Section Manager Munehiro Mizumoto, Nichnan City General Administration Assistant Manager Mikio Hori and Nichinan City Coordinator of International Relations Jose Luis Gonzalez. 

On Sept. 5, the annual bell-ringing and Gov. Ayotte’s reading of the Governor’s Proclamation of Portsmouth Peace Treaty Day (the date the Treaty was signed at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard where negotiations were held) takes place in Market Square starting at 3:15 p.m. The program takes place outside Piscataqua Savings Bank at 15 Pleasant St. The bell-ringing starts at 3:47 p.m., the moment the Treaty was signed in 1905. Church bells in and around the Seacoast and in communities around the state are rung to commemorate New Hampshire’s history and the critical role of citizen diplomacy.

Participating in the bell-ringing are:

• Middle Street Baptist Church, Portsmouth
• Christ Episcopal Church, Portsmouth
• North Congregational Church, Portsmouth
• Second Christian Congregational United Church, Kittery
• St. John’s Episcopal Church, Portsmouth
• Unitarian Universalist (South) Church, Portsmouth
• First United Methodist Church, Portsmouth
• Temple Israel, Portsmouth (sounding the shofar)
• Wentworth By the Sea Hotel, New Castle (which hosted both delegations in 1905)
• Portsmouth Historical Society John Paul Jones House (Portsmouth Peace Treaty exhibit)
• Strawbery Banke Museum
• Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion

Portsmouth Peace Treaty Living Memorial cherry tree sites in Dublin, Hanover, Lancaster, Meredith, Manchester and Milford NH also traditionally participate in the Portsmouth Peace Treaty Day observances.

Portsmouth’s Sister City of Nichinan and Sister School Nichinan Gakuen Junior-Senior High School are also planning bell-ringing commemorations.

“People-to-people connections that make a difference are the central idea of citizen diplomacy and the focus of Portsmouth Peace Treaty Day,” said Charles B. Doleac, Portsmouth Peace Treaty Forum chair and president of the Japan-America Society of NH. “When researching the history of the negotiations between Russia and Japan that led to the signing of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty, we discovered that in 1905, the governor, the Navy at the Shipyard and local people created the welcoming atmosphere that sustained the formal negotiations.

"By re-enacting the bell-ringing that occurred when the Treaty was signed on Sept. 5, 1905, we echo the celebration all around the Seacoast that greeted the news that the Russo-Japanese War was over and we commemorate the active role local citizens played in helping to achieve that peace. The sounding of bells by citizens around the state at 3:47 p.m. on Sept. 5 is the historical, and in many ways most meaningful, celebration of Portsmouth Peace Treaty Day. We welcome the participation of the Nichinan delegation and other special guests in that celebration.”

For more information, visit PortsmouthPeaceTreaty.org