In 1969, when New Hampshire officials decided to put the state’s motto – “live free or die” — on its license plates, many citizens viewed the act as an endorsement of the unpopular war being waged in Vietnam and protested by covering up or altering the motto. In response, authorities cracked down by arresting, fining and sometimes even incarcerating those who engaged in duct-tape dissent. People appealed their convictions, sparking… Read more Live Free or Die: The Contested History of the Words on your License Plate – Thursday, 4/25/24 at 6:30 PM
In 1969, when New Hampshire officials decided to put the state’s motto – “live free or die” — on its license plates, many citizens viewed the act as an endorsement of the unpopular war being waged in Vietnam and protested by covering up or altering the motto. In response, authorities cracked down by arresting, fining and sometimes even incarcerating those who engaged in duct-tape dissent. People appealed their convictions, sparking… Read more 
“A Soldier’s Mother Tells Her Story” will be presented by Sharon Wood of Claremont, speaking as Betsey Phelps, the mother of a Union soldier from Amherst, New Hampshire. She blends the story of Charles Phelps, who died heroically at the Battle of Gettysburg, with that of other men who left their New Hampshire homes to fight for the Union cause. Speaking from a mother’s perspective, she also speaks about the…