The Abenaki Heritage Initiative is an interpretive initiative designed to enrich the stories of Native people in the Seacoast region as told at the Museum. The Abenaki Heritage Initiative provides an umbrella under which to organize the continued relationship building with Abenaki descendant communities and planned daily programming and special events featuring Indigenous stories.

Strawbery Banke’s grounds are recognized with Level I Accreditation from ArbNet, the global standard for professional arboreta. This living collection of trees and woody plants preserves historic landscape character while supporting biodiversity and conservation.

Africans and African-Americans have played a significant role in New Hampshire history and the community of Strawbery Banke. Museum staff are committed to telling their stories as both enslaved and free people.

The Heritage House Program (HHP) is a cultural, community, and economic initiative to restore and lease underutilized space as modern offices and apartments. This program continues the sense of a lived-in community that has existed on this site for hundreds of years and generates ongoing income to help maintain the historic houses. 

Strawbery Banke’s DEIAB Task Force takes action in areas of diversity, equity, inclusivity, accessibility, and belonging for all visitors, staff, and the community at large. We recognize that this work is constantly evolving and strive to better the Museum on an ongoing basis.

Opening in April 2026, the Cousins Apartment will bring the Penhallow-Cousins House to life for the first time through an immersive installation exploring Black family life in Portsmouth’s Puddle Dock neighborhood during the 1930s and 1940s. Through archaeology, oral histories, artifacts, and community collaboration, the exhibition centers everyday life, resilience, and belonging.

Before Portsmouth was settled, Puddle Dock was a tidal estuary. By 1900, the inlet had been filled in to create additional land for the city’s growing population. Now the sea is returning. Learn how Strawbery Banke is partnering with the City of Portsmouth and other organizations to seek a solution to this increasing threat.

Through exhibits and storytelling, the Yeaton-Welch House will offer an immersive experience that will bring to life the story of the Welches as they navigate the challenges and triumphs of finding their place in the United States.