presentation will explain how Seacoast citizens changed the world

Had it not been for the peace negotiations that took place in Portsmouth in 1905, the Russo-Japanese War could have devolved into a disastrous world conflict. At that point, the battle between Russia and Japan constituted the largest land and sea war ever fought between two nations, and it could have easily engulfed the rest of Europe and Asia.

In 1906, Theodore Roosevelt became the first president in U.S. history to win a Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his efforts to end the war. Roosevelt brought delegates from both warring nations to Portsmouth and helped mediate negotiations that resulted in the signing of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty. But few people fully understand the critical role local residents played in the peace process.

“The fundamental thing is that in Portsmouth, you wonder if you can make a difference internationally, and the bottom line is you could and you did, and if you can do it once you can do it again,” said Charles Doleac, chairman of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty Forum.

Doleac will lead a presentation about Portsmouth’s role in the peace negotiations at the Discover Portsmouth Center on Sunday, Aug. 9. His talk will focus on the key sites the foreign delegates visited and the people they met during their stay here. Many of those sites, such as the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Wentworth by the Sea hotel, Temple Israel, The Music Hall and the Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion, are included in the Portsmouth Peace Treaty Trail.

“The emphasis is going to be on how Portsmouth itself, the city and its people and its institutions, were an integral part of the negotiation process,” Doleac said. “The home team was peace. Everybody was rooting for that.”

Doleac, an attorney by day, understands the ingredients necessary for successful mediation of a conflict. First, you have to get both feuding sides to sit down at the same table. Then, you must establish ground rules of negotiation. “The third is, when the thing is going to break up, create an environment where they don’t leave,” Doleac said.

The greater Portsmouth area can take credit for meeting that third criterion, providing an atmosphere where delegates agreed to stay at the table even when negotiations were on the verge of falling apart. Local figures like Judge Calvin Page and the Carey family hosted the delegates at social events and helped set a congenial tone. The city’s immigrant Jewish population helped Russian delegates understand how the war affected them.

“A Russian Jew walking up to one of the most powerful people in Russia would not have happened in Russia, but it happened here,” Doleac said.

Since establishing the Portsmouth Peace Treaty Trail during the centennial celebration of 2005, new stories and artifacts have continued to emerge. These stories help illustrate Portsmouth’s unique place in American history and demonstrate the type of citizen involvement that defines New Hampshire to this day. It’s a compelling defense of the state’s claim to the first-in-the-nation presidential primary.

“It fits into this basic perception of what it is to be from New Hampshire. We really believe in New Hampshire that everybody makes a difference,” Doleac said.

Portsmouth’s history has many significant and fascinating chapters, he continued, but the Portsmouth Peace Treaty might be what separates this city from other historic locales across the nation.

“There aren’t a lot of towns—I’m not sure there’s another town—that can boast this kind of thing. I just don’t think it exists,” he said.

The free presentation begins at 2 p.m. on Aug. 9 on the second floor of the Discover Portsmouth Center at the corner of Middle and Islington streets. For more information, visit www.portsmouthpeacetreaty.org or call 603-772-1835.