April 10, 2009

As Portsmouth resident Betty Hill drove her mother home on Route 108 at 8 p.m. Sept. 7, 1977, she saw large red and green lights on what she believed to be a UFO as she neared Trickling Falls in East Kingston. Later as she was driving home, she saw another UFO with red and green lights following railroad tracks near Route 107.

Betty Hill’s report of a UFO sighting is one of thousands she catalogued during her lifetime after she and her husband, Barney Hill, became known internationally for reporting they had been abducted by aliens in 1961 in New Hampshire’s White Mountains.

On Friday, April 17, a public forum will be held to celebrate the opening of the Betty and Barney Hill Collection exhibition. The forum and exhibition highlight the couple’s reported alien abduction in 1961, and Barney Hill’s civil rights activism in New Hampshire in the 1960s.

The public forum, “Betty and Barney Hill: Tales of Alien Abduction and Civil Rights Activism in New Hampshire,” begins at 1 p.m. in the Memorial Union Building, Room 334/336.

Following the forum, please celebrate the opening of the Betty and Barney Hill Collection exhibition with a reception at 3:30 p.m. in Milne Special Collections and Archives and The University Museum, Dimond Library, Level 1.

All events are free and open to the public.

The Betty and Barney Hill Collection consists of thousands of items stored in 87 folders, including correspondence, personal journals and essays, manuscripts, newspaper clippings, photographs, slides, films, audio tapes and artwork.

Read the full press release

Video from the Boston Globe:

February 3, 2009

The thirtieth season of concerts in the UNH Traditional Jazz Series continues. The remaining concerts are:

• March 2, 2009 - Where the Guitar Now Is At: Russell Malone Quartet
• April 13, 2009 - Bria and Jim’s Borderline Jazz Band: All-Star Group including Jim Fryer, Bria Skonberg, Jimmy Mazzy and John Clark

Each concert begins at 8 p.m. in the Johnson Theatre, Paul Creative Arts Center, UNH Campus.

Tickets are $8.00 each (or $6.00 for students and seniors). Season tickets are available for $40.00.

You may order tickets in advance by calling 603-862-2290, or you may visit the UNH Memorial Union Building Ticket Office (hours are Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.).

Tickets are also available at the door beginning one hour prior to the concert.

The UNH Traditional Jazz Series is sponsored by the New Hampshire Library of Traditional Jazz and the UNH Music Department. The library, established in 1978 by Dorothy Prescott, comprises books, recordings, and memorabilia and is housed in Dimond Library. Prescott’s generous endowment funds its activities including the Traditional Jazz Series concerts.

December 22, 2008

Milne Special Collections and Archives hours can always be found on the UNH Library Hours page.

During the winter interim period, December 21st to January 19th, Special Collections will be open 10am-4pm, Monday through Friday.

Exceptions are as follows:

• Tuesday, December 23: by appointment only
• Wednesday, December 24: 10am to 12noon
• Wednesday, January 7, 12noon to 4pm

Milne Special Collections and Archives is located on Level 1 in Dimond Library.

December 1, 2008

There will be a reception and book signing in recognition of Professor of Geography Blake Gumprecht’s The American College Town today, Monday, December 1st, at 4pm in Milne Special Collections and Archives.

Milne Special Collections and Archives is located on Level 1 in Dimond Library.

The event is sponsored by the American Studies Minor and the Center for the Humanities. Books will be available for sale.

October 29, 2008

Amy Beach, 1934.

Please join us for an enriching discussion and performance of one of New England’s most important and deserving composers, Amy Beach. Born in Henniker in 1867, Amy Beach went on to have an important international career both as a composer and concert pianist. Her evolution as an artist in the Victorian Era is a fascinating study of the interaction between culture and innate musical artistry.

The conference is privileged to feature guest speaker, renowned author and musicologist, Adrienne Fried Block, Amy Beach, Passionate Victorian, and a commentary with open discussion led by Professor Judith Tick, Northeastern University, author of the article on “Women and Music” in the New Grove Dictionary of Music. This special event will be held Saturday, November 15 at 3pm on Level 5 in Dimond Library.

The conference will be followed by a concert of the music of Amy Beach, including over twenty of her songs and her only opera “Cabildo” with original scoring. The concert is presented by the UNH Opera Program in Bratton Recital Hall in the Paul Creative Arts Building. Performances will be held:

• Friday, November 14 at 8pm
• Saturday, November 15 at 7pm
• Sunday, November 16 at 8pm

Dinner is available for those attending the conference on Saturday, November 15.

Because of fire regulations and limited seating in the Bratton Recital Hall, those wishing to attend the concert after the lecture/discussion on Saturday must register with David Ripley by emailing david.ripley@unh.edu. Seating is “first come, first served.”

This event is free and open to the public.