This is a hybrid event. Join us in person in the Mayer Room or online via Zoom. Register for Zoom at the link below. No registration is required in person. This program is co-sponsored by the Hanover Historical Society and the Howe Library, and will be held following the Historical Society's annual meeting, which begins at 6:00. This program is made possible by a grant from New Hampshire Humanities.

The largest river in New England rises in a small beaver pond near the Canadian border and flows over 400 miles through four states, falling 2,670 feet to the sea through America's only watershed-based national fish and wildlife refuge. Adair Mulligan leads an armchair tour of this great river in New Hampshire and Vermont, exploring its history and natural beauty through the seasons and among the communities that have sprung up along its banks. Next, the discussion will shift to how the river has influenced the lives of those who live there, and how they, in turn, have affected the river. Much more than a travelogue, this presentation explores the many issues involved in managing the health of this major river, and how citizens from all walks of life have created a vision for its future. 

Adair Mulligan has a runaway curiosity about the natural and cultural history of northern New England. Author of The Gunstock Parish: A History of Gilford, New Hampshire, she has also contributed to Proud to Live Here in the Connecticut River Valley; Where the Great River Rises: An Atlas of the Upper Connecticut River; and Beyond the Notches: Stories of Place in New Hampshire's North Country. Executive Director of the Hanover Conservancy, she served for 20 years as Conservation Director of the Connecticut River Joint Commissions. Mulligan holds an MA degree from Smith College.