New Hampshire Legislative Act 1945, Chapter 152, Section 1 took effect on May 10, officially adopting John Stark’s words, “Live Free or Die,” as the state motto. The timing was striking, if simply a coincidence, as it was just two days after Allied victory in Europe signaled the beginning of the end of World War II. New Hampshire had played a notable role in that conflict, from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard’s importance as an Atlantic submarine hub to hosting the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference, which established the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. In that moment of global transition, invoking Stark’s words served as both a statement against tyranny and the foundation for a state identity that would endure for decades.

World War II was neither the first nor the last instance in which New Hampshire played a role in national and global affairs. The Russo-Japanese War formally ended with the 1905 Treaty of Portsmouth, and a decade later the region saw significant mobilization during World War I. Depression-era New Deal programs, such as the Civilian Conversation Corps, took on natural resource rehabilitation projects across the state. Pease Air Force Base opened in Newington in the 1950s, adding to the Seacoast region’s significance in Cold War strategery. Derry’s Alan Shephard was part of the country’s first major move in the Space Race by becoming the first American to travel into outer space in 1961. Concord High School’s Christa McAuliffe was selected from a pool of thousands of applicants to continue space exploration in the 1980s by being the first Teacher in Space, a plan that ended in tragedy.

New Hampshire emerged as a major political proving ground in the 20th century. By 1920, the state had established its “first in the nation” presidential primary, drawing candidates every four years. The rapid expansion of automobiles and roadways that followed boosted the state’s economy and enabled campaigns to navigate its diverse political landscape. The development of U.S. Routes, and later the Interstate Highway System after World War II, reflected New Hampshire’s place within a nation of growing scale and influence. By the 1970s, one could travel by car from the sites of the earliest colonial settlements on the Seacoast to the industrial Merrimack Valley and on to the White Mountains in a matter of hours.

Advances in transportation and communication fueled the rapid spread of mass media across the 20th century, shaping and reflecting American popular culture. Throughout this period, New Hampshire both contributed to and was shaped by these trends. Its natural landscape continued to attract visitors seeking recreation, reinforcing its image as a rural escape from the urban Northeast, an identity echoed in works ranging from Our Town and Peyton Place to The Sopranos and Breaking Bad. This perception of isolation and independence also lent credibility to widely publicized UFO encounters such as the Exeter Incident and the Betty and Barney Hill case.

At the same time, New Hampshire played an active role in popular culture. Its world-class educational institutions across the state are complemented and supplemented by museums of all kinds which opened throughout the century. The state helped foster major musical movements, from Aerosmith’s early formation in Sunapee to Portsmouth’s connection to Boston’s punk scene, and inspired enduring creative works, from Bob Montana’s depiction of Meredith in the Archie comics to the creation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in Dover in 1985.

The motto “Live Free or Die” is rooted in history but has informed the state’s identity. This combination of keeping one foot in the past and another reaching to the future has been replicated across the state’s history; politically, governmentally, socially and culturally. Although very small—only four states are smaller than New Hampshire in size, and nine in population—the Granite State has found a way to maintain a status in the United States as a bastion of freedom and authenticity, something owed to its unique past and dynamic people.