Chapter History


 

The Winnipesaukee Chapter was organized on January 17, 1923, by Mrs. Inez Brewster Wentworth as organizing regent, and was named for New Hampshire's largest lake.

Lake Winnipesaukee, 20.8 miles long and 9.0 miles wide, features almost 288 miles of shoreline in Belknap and Carroll counties. The lake is home to 258 islands and is the third largest lake in New England.

The word Winnipesaukee comes from an Abenaki Indian term meaning lake around islands. The Abenaki spelling is Wiwninbesaki, which breaks out as wiwni meaning around; nbes meaning lake; and aki meaning land.

The Abenaki peoples are Native Americans who have been in northern New England since before recorded history. The name Abenaki originates from an Algonquin word meaning people of the dawn or easterners. Abenaki is generally applied to Algonquin-speaking people anywhere along the Atlantic coast. The Abenaki called themselves Alnanbal, meaning men, and their homeland Ndakinna, meaning our land.

Historically, the Abenaki were agricultural people, and usually settled on the floodplains of rivers. Abenaki Confederation tribes include the Amaseconti, Androscoggin, Kennebec, Maliseet, Ouarastegouiak, Passamaquoddy, Patsuiket, Penobscot, Pigwacket, Micmac, Pennacook, Rocameca, Sokoni, and Wewenoc. Today, most descendants of the original inhabitants of New Hampshire and the Lake Winnipesaukee area live in Odanak, Quebec, Canada.

 
 

Our Former Regents

 
Regent Term
Inez Brewster Wentworth 1922-1924
Althea Thompson Berry 1924-1926
Annie Warren Parker 1926-1928
May Wilbur Hart 1928-1930
Edith C. L. Clark 1930-1932
Esther C. Britton 1932-1934
Jane A. Headley 1934-1936
Alta B. Meader 1936-1938
Grace B. Landman 1938-1941
Grace Reynolds Paris 1941-1942
Alma Clow Trickey 1942-1943
Carolyn M. Young Parker 1943-1945
Ruth Adams Thompson 1945-1948
Mildred Hardie Jewell 1948-1950
Alta Hill McDuffee 1950-1952
Ella Lord Gilbert 1952-1954
Ida Averill Pineo 1954-1956
Lydia Jones Burbank 1956-1958
Mabel Cate Tarr Krook 1958-1959
Marion Blood Detscher 1959-1961
Barbara Kimball O'Hora 1961-1963
Florence Rollins Foster 1963-1965
Pearl Bates Morton Brodrick 1965-1967
Corrine Hatch Nelson 1967-1968
Irene Nutter Wentworth 1968-1969
Georgia Mitchell Goertz 1969-1971
Marion E. Johnson 1971-1973
Virginia G. Warren 1973-1975
Katharine Owen Chase 1975-1976
Wilma Grant 1976-1983
Katharine B. Fairman 1983-1986
Joan B. Kimball 1986-1989
Marion J. Davis 1989-1992
Wilma Grant 1992-1993
Eleanor W. Carter 1993-1996
Katharine B. Fairman 1996-1999
Annotte T. Durkee 1999-2004
Priscilla E. Theberge 2004-2010
Nancy J. Files Ramos 2010-2016
Susan Briggs Fossum 2016-2022