The Milford Historical Society presents a special program in November to take a closer look at the Portsmouth Peace Treaty and its historical connections with Milford’s John McLane, Governor of New Hampshire in 1905.
On Wednesday November 16 at 7 pm, the organization welcomes NH Humanities Council speaker Charles B. Doleac, founder/moderator of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty Forum, to present a program describing President Theodore Roosevelt’s multi-track diplomacy that included the Russian and Japanese delegations, the US Navy and the New Hampshire citizens who hosted the thirty days of negotiations that resulted in the Portsmouth Peace Treaty. Theodore Roosevelt received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 – 110 years ago – for orchestrating the negotiations that ended what historians now call “World War Zero,” the Russo-Japanese War.
Hosted at the Milford Historical Society at 6 Union Street in Milford NH, the program is a NH Humanities Council “Humanities To Go” selection and is free and open to the public. A question and answer session will follow the illustrated talk. For more information on the program, contact the Society at 603-673-3385.
Mr. Doleac will explain the significance of the role local citizens, including Governor John McLane who with the NH Executive Council were the official hosts of the peace conference held in August of 1905. Though the formal negotiations were held at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, the Governor, then-Secretary of State Edward Nathan Pearson and many other prominent New Hampshire business and political leaders played in welcoming the Japanese and Russian diplomatic delegations to the state.
Mr. Doleac, senior partner with Boynton Waldron Doleac & Scott PA in Portsmouth, is the author of An Uncommon Commitment to Peace: Portsmouth Peace Treaty 1905, the definitive history on the 30 days of the peace conference deliberations in Portsmouth. Co-founder of the Japan-America Society of NH, Atty. Doleac received the NH Bar Association’s Daniel Webster International Lawyer of the Year Award in 2015 and in 2011, the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, conferred by the Japanese Government, for his “outstanding contributions to international understanding,” both in recognition of his Portsmouth Peace Treaty work.
To learn more about the Treaty, scheduling an exhibit, NH Humanities Council lecture or other programs, visit www.PortsmouthPeaceTreaty.com or contact Charles Doleac, cdoleac@nhlawfirm.com, 603-436-4010.
