War & Belonging: Walking Portsmouth’s Military Memory with Bob Sheppard

Portsmouth, New Hampshire, sits on the Piscataqua River and offers a compact stretch of colonial streets, harbor wharves, and shipyard edges that hold centuries of military and maritime history. War & Belonging: Black Soldiers of Portsmouth is a new, 90-minute walking tour that sends you through these streets with Sankofa Scholar & Tour Guide: Bob Sheppard, whose family connection to the Tuskegee Airmen shapes every stop. The tour departs from the office at 2pm; guests should arrive ten minutes early to check in and secure a spot in the group. As you walk, Sheppard layers individual lives onto Portsmouth’s built fabric—cobblestone alleys, brick row houses, veterans’ plaques, and the boundaries of the naval yard become storytelling waypoints. Key scenes on the route include references to Prince Whipple, an African American who fought during the Revolutionary War; Rosary Cooper’s wartime work on the home front; and the imprisonment of Harvey and Daniels at the Navy Yard during the Vietnam era. Those stories link local streets to national military history, showing how Portsmouth’s role as a coastal port and shipbuilding center intersected with service, draft, and home-front labor across eras. What sets this tour apart is the guide’s personal stake: Sheppard brings family memory to public places, which reframes plaques and buildings as sites of lived experience rather than static artifacts. The pace is conversational and reflective rather than brisk—expect stops for storytelling, context about military units and local households, and time to ask questions. Tours run rain or shine and ticket sales are final; if the operator cancels for unsafe weather or illness they will attempt to reschedule or provide a refund. Practical notes: the walk covers uneven pavement and short flights of steps—sturdy footwear and a light rain layer are recommended—and the group size is capped at about twenty for an intimate discussion. This tour is ideal for history-minded travelers, veterans, educators, and families with older children who can follow narrative detail and negotiate urban walking. Book early to be among the first to experience the route and to ensure you get a spot on a small, story-rich outing that shifts the way you see Portsmouth’s streets. Expect to pass the waterfront and to hear how the Piscataqua's tides shaped shipbuilding rhythms, and bring an inquisitive mind: Sheppard weaves individual letters, military records, and oral history into stops that reward listeners who pay attention. The emotional throughline—service, sacrifice, and belonging—remains present but is presented with factual care, primary-sourced anecdotes, and an invitation to reflect on how local choices echoed national conflicts. Whether you’re a Portsmouth newcomer or returning visitor, the tour reframes familiar streets as stages where ordinary people made consequential decisions—this is walking history at human scale. Reserve today.