Q: Which notable Portsmouth leader cut the ribbon on the current Memorial Bridge, 90 years after cutting the ribbon on the original Memorial Bridge in 1923?
A: Eileen Foley, or more precisely, The Honorable Helen “Eileen” Dondero Foley, former beloved mayor of Portsmouth. She served eight terms as Portsmouth’s Mayor, and then seven terms in the NH State Senate (as Minority Leader for one term). You can read some of her writings in “Again, The Pleasure Is All Mine,” published by Peter E. Randall. And, you can read about her amazing mother, Mary Carey Dondero, in the book Portsmouth Women: Madams & Matriarchs Who Shaped New Hampshire’s Port City, in a chapter written by #PortsmouthLOVE reader Denise Wheeler!
And you can read more about the ribbon cutting and history in a great article by J. Dennis Robinson on Fosters.com.
Photo: Ioanna Raptis, Fosters.com
