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Plummer Farm School

by Jen Ratliff on July 16th, 2024 | 0 Comments

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The Plummer Farm School, established in 1855 by Caroline Plummer, a renowned philanthropist, began as the Plummer Farm School of Reform for Boys. In her will, Caroline Plummer allocated over $25,000 to establish an institution modeled after the State Reform School.

On March 28, 1869, the Salem City Council conveyed 35 acres of land on Winter Island to the Trustees and provided $8,000 for constructing school buildings. After over a decade of fundraising, the school opened in September 1870 with a three-story wooden building. Its purpose was to reform delinquent or extremely disadvantaged and destitute boys through work and education. When not in class, the boys were scheduled to work on the farm or participate in cooking or housework.

In 1908, the Boston Globe wrote, “There are five salaried officers connected with the school, two men and three women. The school is for the special benefit of boys sentenced by the local court, committed from the almshouse, or placed there by parents or who are homeless. There are 31 beds in the dormitory and in no case is the number in excess of the sleeping accommodations. The school is one of the best in the country. Scores of good citizens who were former inmates will readily attest that the school is first class.”

The institution received support from many prominent Salemites, including John Bertram, Robin Damon, and Francis H. Lee. In 1910, women were nominated as trustees for the first time, with Aroline Gove and Caroline O. Emmerton among the candidates.

According to the organization, in the 1950s, records indicate that Plummer stopped operating as a reform school and started functioning as a group home for teenage boys. The institution was officially renamed the Plummer Home for Boys in 1958 and began receiving referrals from the Department of Social Services (now known as the Department of Children and Families), rather than from the court or private families.

"The Plummer has evolved significantly since its start as a reform school in a farm setting. It is no longer even a school and has long ceased to operate a farm.” Wrote the Boston Globe in 2006. Over the next decade, Plummer continued to evolve, offering foster care in residential and community-based settings. They welcomed girls to the home for the first time in 2012.

In 2017, the organization became Plummer Youth Promise with the mission of connecting young people in group or foster care with permanent families.

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Digitized Archives
Plummer Farm School Records Finding Aid
Plummer Farm School Photographs and Ephemera


Salem's Jewish Community

by Jen Ratliff on May 7th, 2024 | 0 Comments


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Salem, Massachusetts has had a Jewish community since the colonial era. According to the Jewish Journal, “Early records show that some residents of Salem in the late 1600s were Sephardic Jews from Spain and Portugal whose families escaped the infamous Inquisitions of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. By the mid-1800s, Jews from Russia and Germany were arriving. Greater numbers of Jews from Russia and Eastern Europe settled in Salem beginning in the 1880s, as immigrants fleeing Czarist oppression and seeking opportunities for better lives…” The first Jewish officeholder in Salem was merchant, David Conrad, elected as an alderman in 1867.

By the first half of the 20th century, multiple centers of Jewish life had developed in Salem. Two prominent areas were the Historic Derby Street Neighborhood and the Boston Street neighborhood near the Salem/Peabody line, where a shul opened at 165 Boston Street.

In December 1898, a congregation was founded to serve residents of the Historic Derby Street Neighborhood. It was organized by Eastern European Jewish merchants including members of the Filene family, who owned Filene’s department stores. It was initially known as the Orthodox Congregation Sons of Jacob and rented several locations throughout the city, including halls at 4 Derby Square and a location on Washington Street. In 1899, the congregation purchased land on Buxton Road in Danvers, Massachusetts for the creation of the Sons of Jacob Cemetery.

In 1903, the congregation purchased the former Calvary Baptist Church on lower Essex Street between Union and Herbert streets. Max Winer, owner of Winer’s Specialty Shop, a clothing store, on Lafayette Street served as the first president. Rabbi Joseph Jacobson traveled to Salem to lead the congregation.

Salem resident, Max Goldberg purchased a plot of land in 1936 at the corner of Lafayette and Ocean streets for use as a community center. By 1939, the Salem Hebrew School was listed at 289 Lafayette Street. In 1940, an additional plot of land adjacent to Goldberg’s was purchased by Ben Axelrod for the congregation. This site was used as a Jewish Community Center for 16 years and was used during World War II by the Red Cross and the Civilian Defense.

As the economy improved following World War II, Jewish residents living in the Historic Derby Street Neighborhood began to relocate to larger homes in South Salem.

In 1948, the Sons of Jacob Congregation became an affiliate of the United Synagogue of America. After a successful fundraising campaign, the Temple Shalom at 287 Lafayette Street was completed in 1952. The brick building was constructed in the Neoclassical style with a gable front featuring two squared columns. At its highest membership, the temple was attended by more than 300 families.

Salem elected Samuel E. Zoll, the city’s first Jewish mayor in 1970. He left the mayoral office in 1973, before the end of his second term, when he accepted his first judicial appointment.

In 1998, Temple Shalom celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Sons of Jacob Congregation, which at the time was the oldest on the North Shore.

After a dip in attendance to under 100 families, Temple Shalom voted to merge with Temple B’nai Abraham in Beverly, Massachusetts in 2012. This decline in membership was consistent across the country with only 31% of American Jews reporting that they belonged to a synagogue.

In an interview with the Boston Globe, Thomas Cheatham, said “I think Salem is losing a lot. It’s losing a Jewish presence that’s been a good neighbor for many years, and it’s sad for the city and sad for us…” Cheatham was chairman of the group planning Temple Shalom’s future, and a past temple president.

In May 2014, Temple Shalom held its last service for members. The Lafayette Street building was sold to a developer who leased it to Salem State University for classroom space.

Artifacts from the synagogue building were incorporated into the Temple B’nai Abraham building. Items included the sanctuary’s eternal light, memorial plaques, and an ark where the Torah scrolls were kept. Additionally, members of B’nai Abraham filmed a tour of Salem’s Temple Shalom for the American Jewish Historical Society.

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Digitized Archives
Jewish Community Photographs and Ephemera
Harriet Tarnor Wacks Digital Collection
CHGS: Holocaust and Genocide Oral Histories
Sonia Schreiber Weitz Papers
Sonia Schreiber Weitz Blog Post
Gerber's Restaurant Photographs and Ephemera
Simon Goldstein Papers


Paramount Theatre

by Jen Ratliff on April 9th, 2024 | 0 Comments


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The Paramount Theatre opened on April 19, 1930, on Essex Street in Salem, Massachusetts. With a seating capacity of over 2,000, it was one of the first designed exclusively for the “talkies.” It was advertised as “an acre of seats in a palace of splendor.”

In 1930, Paramount Pictures had almost 2,000 screens nationwide and was primarily focused on expanding its business in the Northeast region. At that time, the company had a theater division named the Paramount-Publix Theatres Corporation. It was a common practice in the 1920s and 1930s for movie studios to operate their own theaters, which led to the development of multiple movie houses within a single town or area.

A parade to celebrate the occasion was organized in the downtown business district with Mayor George J. Bates leading the way. The guests of the new theater were welcomed with floral displays in the lobby while vocalist Marguerite Porter serenaded the crowd. This event was especially significant for the residents of Lynn, who were eagerly anticipating the opening of their own Paramount Theatre on Union Street in June.

The Paramount Theatre received high praise for its extravagant decorations. According to Cinema Treasurers, the space was richly ornamented with gold trim accents, following the Rococo style. The walls boasted illuminated murals in the style of French artist Jean-Antoine Watteau, and the theater had lush velvet curtains that separated different spaces within it.

The theater showcased an 85-foot projection screen for movies and a stage for live performances, where iconic artists, including Alfred Hitchcock, the Ted Lewis Orchestra, and Louis Armstrong, are said to have performed.

The Paramount Theatre featured one of just nine Wurlitzer organs made specifically for accompanying silent films, which would rise out of the orchestra pit on command. According to the Salem News, “It became obsolete, however, even before the Salem Paramount opened because "talkies" came along while the theater was still under construction. But because the Paramount and Wurlitzer already had a signed contract for the organ, it was finished and installed anyway in the plush Essex Street movie house.” Instead of being played to accompany films, the organ entertained moviegoers between double features and before showtimes.

During the Great Depression, cinemas in Salem faced significant difficulties, which were further exacerbated by the increasing popularity of television. Paramount-Publix declared bankruptcy in 1935 but reorganized as United Paramount Theatres. However, they were soon impacted by new anti-trust laws that deemed studios distributing their films to their theaters as monopolies. As a result, studios were required to sell off their theater divisions.

In 1971, during Salem’s Urban Renewal period, the Paramount Theatre was demolished and replaced by the East India Mall, now known as the Witch City Mall. According to a 2011 article in the Salem News, “When the Paramount was torn down, the organ was sold to a pizza shop in Seattle, where it stayed until recently when it was sold to a man in Washington state, where it now sits in a barn.”

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Digitized Archives
Paramount Theatre Photographs and Ephemera


Salem's Flatiron Building

by Jen Ratliff on March 5th, 2024 | 0 Comments


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The Freedman Block at the corner of Endicott and Margin streets in Salem, Massachusetts was completed in 1915 in response to the Great Salem Fire of 1914. It was the largest of three projects undertaken by Isaac Freedman, a building supplies dealer who traveled to Salem from Roxbury following the fire. Freedman founded the Salem Lime and Cement Company and the I. Freedman Company, Inc., which he operated out of 47 Jefferson Avenue until construction was complete on the Freedman Block.

At the time, Freedman was also building a four-story brick apartment building on Harbor Street and another on Lafayette Street between Peabody and Ward streets. An investment of $161,000 (Almost $5 million in 2024)

The five-story Endicott Street building was constructed for industrial purposes with tapestry brick and was trimmed with artificial granite on a steel frame. The building was celebrated for its sturdy construction and handsome architecture which quickly earned the nickname “Salem’s Flatiron Building” due to its unique shape which mimicked New York’s Flatiron Building, which opened in 1902.
 

Crop: Sanborn Map Company, 1906 - Feb 1950 (Plate 33)
 

By November 1915, the factory space in the Freedman Block had sat empty for months. Despite efforts by Freedman and Mayor O’Keefe to lure a tenant, they were unsuccessful. The building was soon put up for auction. Freedman closed his businesses in Salem and relocated to Chelsea, Massachusetts.

In 1920, the building was sold to the produce company Eldridge Baker. The Salem Evening News added, “It is understood that Parker Bros. will occupy the building for their game business for several months…” In 1924, Parker Brothers expanded their Bridge Street property by purchasing a 55,000-square-foot parcel from the City of Salem.

The Freedman Block was razed around 1956. The location is now 87 Margin Street, which houses the John J. Walsh Insurance Agency.

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Digitized Archives
Freedman Block Photographs and Ephemera


Salem Centennial

by Jen Ratliff on February 20th, 2024 | 0 Comments


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“The 100th anniversary of American independence will be observed with much more than common ceremony throughout New England today. While Philadelphia is the focus of interest and the grandest celebration of the age will be held within her borders, every town and village will keep a home jubilee. Only one place is known where the day will not be publicly observed - Lynn, where a wrangle between the branches of municipal government has suppressed any official recognition of this Centennial time. Boston will have a varied and complete celebration, which promises to be worthy of the metropolis of New England. Worcester, Lowell, Salem, Lawrence, Taunton, and other large cities offer an interesting programme of exercises, and the new century of the Republic will be ushered in with a grand demonstration of popular and patriotic feeling.” – The Boston Globe (July 4, 1876)

The Centennial International Exhibition was held in Philadelphia from May to November 1876. The idea for the exhibition was presented in December 1866 by John L. Campbell to Philadelphia’s mayor, Morton McMichel. The initial plan was met with concerns about funding and how the event would compare to similar exhibits held in Europe. The city’s Franklin Institute signed on as an early supporter and Philadelphia’s City Council resolved in January 1870 to create a committee to hold a Centennial Exhibition in Fairmount Park in 1876. Although advertised as the nation’s key centennial celebration, municipalities throughout the country began planning their own festivities.

Centennial celebrations in Salem began in 1875 with the 100th anniversary of Leslie’s Retreat, the first armed resistance to British control which took place along Salem’s North River. The event was acknowledged that February with the ringing of church bells, cannon fire, and a 100-gun salute. The city’s public buildings were highly decorated in patriotic displays of flags and bunting. A gathering was held at the North Unitarian Church on Essex Street, where Mayor Henry L. Williams spoke of the many historic occasions witnessed in that very spot and Salem’s previous celebrations of independence. The state’s Centennial Commissioner, Dr. George B. Loring then gave a scholarly overview of Leslie’s Retreat and eulogized Timothy Pickering, for his involvement in the conflict at the North Bridge. The Boston Globe compared the event of Leslie’s Retreat to the lingering tension between North and South following the Civil War. A reporter wrote: “Is there not a lesson for us, today, in this evenly balanced judgment which held the scales so well?”

That July, the Essex Institute arranged a trip to Concord for Salemites to view historic sites and artifacts related to the Revolutionary War. The following June, they arranged a trip to Pennsylvania to view the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia.

In April 1876, a Centennial Ball was held at Salem’s Mechanic Hall on Essex Street. The event was organized by the Salem Ladies Centennial Committee. The evening’s guest of honor was Massachusetts Governor, Alexander Hamilton Rice. Crowds gathered outside that evening to catch a glimpse of the attendees as their carriages arrived. By 10 pm, more than 125 couples had flocked to the dance floor. Many of the guests wore family heirlooms or dressed in costumes and had powdered hair.

In May, a tree was planted in Salem's Harmony Grove Cemetery called the Cabot Centennial Tree. This may have been a reference to the “Liberty Tree” which stood in Boston and bore witness to gatherings of the Sons of Liberty. The Liberty Tree was cut down by loyalists and British troops in August 1775. A soldier was killed while attempting to remove a tree limb. The Essex Gazette wrote about the incident, saying: “Armed with axes, they made a furious attack upon it. After a long spell of laughing and grinning, sweating, swearing, and foaming, with malice diabolical, they cut down a tree because it bore the name of liberty.” A stone bas-relief was later placed in Boston at the corner of Essex and Washington streets, to mark the spot where the tree once stood. That corner is now known as Liberty Tree Plaza.

In July 1876, Salemites adorned their homes and businesses with flags and festive buntings in red, white, and blue. Triumphal arches were placed around the city to commemorate events such as Leslie’s Retreat and on streets named for local heroes of the Revolution. Signs were added to the city’s oldest homes to display the year in which they were built. Celebrations began on the 4th of July just after midnight with cannon fire, oil barrel bonfires, and parties which lasted until daybreak when the Antique and Horribles parade began promptly at 4:45 AM in Town House Square. The two-hour-long parade promised to pass through as many prominent streets as possible before the chief processional march led by General William Cogswell began on Salem Common. More parades followed, which included military, civic, floral, and trade organizations. The march spanned three miles and ended at 12:30 PM, in time for a cricket match held on the Common between the Alphas of Salem and the Albions of Boston. Approximately 10,000 people traveled to Salem for the day. The Eastern Railroad added additional trains to transport them within a 25-mile radius.

Many of the attendees were from Lynn, which canceled its official celebration due to disagreements within the city government. Residents held unofficial events that lampooned Lynn’s mayor and alderman as “unpatriotic city fathers.” The Boston Globe wrote, “All the hits were local, and some very excellent.” One event was a mock funeral in which a hearse and pallbearers carried a large coffin inscribed “City of Lynn, we mourn our loss and bury the appropriation.”

Back in Salem, musical performances and socializing downtown continued until the evening’s highly anticipated fireworks display, which was abundant and featured elaborate designs. The fireworks budget was exhausted at $4,000. (more than $115,000 in 2024) The Boston Globe lauded Salem’s centennial celebration as “the most extensive in this vicinity.”

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Digitized Archives
Salem Centennial Photographs and Ephemera


Salem Post Office

by Jen Ratliff on February 6th, 2024 | 0 Comments


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In 1930, Congress approved a fund of $360,000 (about $6.6 million in 2024) to erect a new post office in Salem at the intersection of Norman, Margin, and Creek streets. The location had been one of six suggested to the federal government in a report by a special committee of the Salem Chamber of Commerce, which wrote it was “strongly of the opinion that a Norman Street site with the widened streets and reconstruction of the whole area, bounded by Summer, Norman, and Margin streets, and Broad Street extension will not only prove very pleasing to all the people but will be a stimulus to residence building and business development, which will more than repay the city for its outlay.” The committee was chaired by Postmaster John H. Sheedy, and members included the president of Salem Normal School (now Salem State), J. Asbury Pitman, and landscape architect, Harlan P. Kelsey, who all publicly advocated for the location. Kelsey stated, “It is going to make a great difference in the future development of Salem in the proper direction…”

The idea of reconstructing this neighborhood had long been a topic of discussion. The Salem Evening News wrote in September 1925, “Everybody agrees that doubling the width of Norman Street would be one grand improvement as it would furnish a fine, wide, inviting artery for the accommodation of traffic which would with such a street, steer away from Town House Square, thus relieving much of the congestion at this heavily traveled point.” Plans showed the curb of Norman Street being aligned with the curb of Chestnut Street to create a straight thoroughfare, connecting Highland Avenue to Salem’s downtown.

The area between Margin, Summer, and Gedney streets was once known as Roast Meat Hill. According to Fred Gannon’s “Nicknames and Neighborhoods and Album of Pictures of Old Salem” Roast Meat Hill was where “an ox was once barbecued” Hence, the name. These streets contained multiple examples of 17th and 18th-century architecture, including the c. 1665 Gedney House on High Street. The neighborhood was predominantly Black throughout the 19th century; home to successful Black-owned businesses and active members of the abolitionist movement. The neighborhood transitioned into Salem’s Little Italy around the turn of the 20th century. Between 1880 and 1924, more than four million Italians immigrated to the United States. The majority traveled from Southern Italy and Sicily. More than two million Italian immigrants arrived in the United States within a single decade, between 1900 and 1910.

The demolition list included 16 structures on Norman Street, 6 on Margin Street, 20 on Creek Street, and 9 on Gedney Court, making a total of 51 buildings. The Beverly Wrecking Company was charged with the task of demolishing the first 28 of them. Other projects included installing and updating the area’s underground sewer and water mains. This employed more than 250 men, one of many initiatives throughout the city supported by Mayor George J. Bates to create employment using federal funds during the Great Depression.

In July 1931, The Salem Evening News listed addresses and last names affected by the first round of razing.

“The List of Buildings to be demolished in the area affected by the city's program follows: Margin Street – 2, 4, Tassinari; 28, 32. Calabrese and Grasso (brick building). Norman Street - 15, Tassinari: 25, 27, Grasso; 29, 31, Winer; 33, 35, 37, Diozzi; 39, Curran; 41, Phillips; 43. Phillips. Creek Street – 3, Grasso and Calabrese: 5. Quartrone; 7. Febonio; 9 1/2. Pardo: 9, Garro; 11-13. Rosetti: 15, Viselli; 17, Defranco; 19, Colletti; 21, Todd. Gedney Court – 7, 9, 11, Todd; 13, Luca, 15, LaMonica; 17, Garro; 19, Garro.”

Not everyone was supportive of this project. In October, John J. Condonis of Margin Street refused to vacate his home in accordance with the eminent domain process and was arrested after he failed to appear in federal court. He was later released after he promised to relocate.

Clearing the new post office site began in August 1931.

One of the buildings razed, the Ruck House at 8 Margin Street, was considered one of the oldest homes in Salem at the time. It had a prestigious past, including visits by John Adams and John Singleton-Copley.

The Salem Evening News reported: “Included among the buildings of historical interest in the post office area is the Ruck house on Margin Street, the third from the corner of Norman Street, which was built by Thomas Ruck before 1651. The oldest portion of the house is the northerly section. The building remained in the Ruck family until 1751 when the old part was conveyed to Joseph McIntire, joiner, father of Samuel McIntire, the famous architect…Many of the present buildings contain valuable woodwork and decorations for which the contractor has already had several offers.” Lumber from the Ruck House was salvaged and repurposed at Pioneer Village in one of the reproduction colonial structures. That building was lost to a fire in the late 1960s. A new structure was quickly built, also named the Ruck House, but it was destroyed by arsonists in 1978. 

The Salem Post Office was designed by architect Robert W. Hadley of Smith and Walker and mimics elements of the Georgian style. It is considered Salem’s best example of Colonial Revival architecture. Additionally, the building featured office space for other federal agencies, a first for Salem. Contractor Louis B. Cadarlo broke ground in July 1932 and the cornerstone of the building was placed that September. The project generated many jobs at the height of the Great Depression and the work was celebrated upon its completion.

On July 13, 1933, a dedication lunch for the new post office was held at the nearby Hawthorne Hotel. In attendance was First Assistant Postmaster General, Joseph C. O’Mahoney. O’ Mahoney was a former resident of Salem, who gained recognition in Wyoming when he was campaign manager for Nellie Tayloe Ross, the first woman in the United States to serve as governor of a state. She later became the first woman director of the U.S. Mint. O’Mahoney later served as senator of Wyoming.

The Salem Post Office opened a few weeks later, on July 31, 1933.

In 1986, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places due to its architecture and ornamentation.

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Digitized Archives
Salem Post Office Photographs and Ephemera


Kernwood

by Jen Ratliff on January 23rd, 2024 | 0 Comments


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"FOR SALE - The beautiful place known as "Kernwood," situated upon an arm of the sea, called Bass River, 1 1/2 miles from Salem, and 14 miles from Boston. It consists of 160 acres of excellent land, laid out in the English style, with park, containing fine large oaks, more than a century old, elm and other trees. Two mansion houses, one on high land overlooking a beautiful lawn, which stretches down to the river. It contains a hall in the medieval style, with large stained glass windows, antique chests, lofty open roof, and decorations in keeping with the period, it is 30 by 20 feet, and 20 feet high, two drawing-rooms, library, and sitting-room. dining-room. butler's pantry and large kitchen, a chamber with dressing-room and conveniences attached, on the second floor there are six large chambers and three small chambers. This house has a fine cellar; milk cellar and two furnaces. The other house is of stone and wood, it has & hall about 25 feet square with large fire place, and an elaborate and very ample staircase, large drawing-room, dining-room, pantry and kitchen, four large sleeping rooms, [etc.] linen closet, four attic rooms, cellar, with laundry, furnace, &c.

At the entrance of the place is a porter's lodge. Built of stone. There is also a farmhouse, dairy greenhouse with plants, grapery and laundry, over which are two servants' rooms, very near the bouse. All of the buildings are of excellent finish ana in perfect order. Near the farmhouse there is a large barn with basement, fitted for six or eight cows and root cellar: sheds for farm utensils and cattle. Near the barn there is a stone stable with nine stalls, two carriage rooms and two harness rooms, over which are four rooms for coachman and grooms.

There are four never failing wells of excellent water upon the place, a kitchen garden with fruit trees strawberry and raspberry beds, also an ice house for 40 tons of ice. The flower garden is surrounded by a hedge, with grapery, and is generally laid out in the Italian style. By the river side is a large bathing house with dressing rooms.

This is one of the most elegant residences in New England, combining both seashore and country.”
- Boston Evening Transcript (May 1869)

In 1844, Colonel Francis Peabody and his wife Martha (Endicott) purchased more than 100 acres of land in North Salem along the Danvers River. They named the estate Kernwood. Prior to development, this area had been known as Horse Pasture Point.

A Gothic-style house at Kernwood, known as the Peabody mansion, was soon built as the family’s summer home. Another house on the property followed in 1858 as the summer home of their son, Samuel, and his family. The extensive property featured a prominent stone arch entrance over the winding driveway, multiple cottages for caretakers, homes for family, barns, carriage houses, and outbuildings.

Francis Peabody was a successful Salem merchant, inventor, and military leader. The vast estate at Kernwood allowed him to experiment with machinery and manufacturing, growing his fortune.

The family’s main residence was located just two miles away, at 136 Essex Street, which later became home to Salem’s Cadet Armory. Francis Peabody was active in the community and was elected president of the Essex Institute (Peabody Essex Museum) in 1865, which he served until he died in 1867.

Kernwood was purchased in 1872 by Civil War Army General, Horace Binney Sargent. Sargent spent more than $70,000 on improvements to the property during his brief ownership. This included connecting the estate to the public water main, which required more than a mile of infrastructure. Additionally, a street was laid out from Orne Street to the property, named Sargent Street. Sargent also encouraged widening Liberty Hill Avenue which connected North Street to Kernwood and created a main thoroughfare from North Salem to Beverly. Nearby, the Kernwood Bridge was completed in 1908. The bridge spans 1,100 feet and originally cost $150,000 to construct. (Approximately $5 million in 2024)

Samuel E. Peabody purchased the estate back from Sargent in 1878. He was one of three bidders and was intent to regain ownership of Kernwood. Peabody had been living in London, where he made the majority of his “historic fortune” at the Morgan & Co banking house, founded by his distant cousin, George Peabody. The Boston Evening Transcript wrote upon Samuel’s death in 1909: “The life of cities and the life of the sea were alike familiar to him. He was at home in the world of business and in the world of books, a master of ‘movements’ that engaged vast interests and great nations, and a hearty upholder of wholesome pastimes.” 

In July 1901, a fire broke out at Kernwood which engulfed the laundry building and carriage house. Firefighters effectively protected the main house as the flames illuminated the sky overnight. The flames were visible for miles.

Samuel E. Peabody died in 1909, leaving a nearly $2,000,000 estate. (almost $70 million in 2024) At the time, Kernwood was valued at $40,000. ($1.4 million in 2024)

In June 1913, philanthropist, Caroline Emmerton hosted a multi-day fundraiser for The House of the Seven Gables Settlement Association at the Kernwood estate. The event, known as the “Pageant of Salem” featured more than 1,000 participants recreating events from three centuries of Salem’s history. Local organizations sponsored the individual vignettes. Many of the participants were descendants of those who took part in the original events. During the reenactment of Leslie’s Retreat, the band played drum and fife music which had been played by Colonel Pickering’s regiment and preserved by the Pickering family. The pageant performance was given on June 13th, 14th, 16th, and 17th. Admission began at 50¢ with fees up to $5.00 for automobile parking.

Kernwood was sold to Abraham C. Ratchesky of Boston in July 1914. Ratchesky was president and co-founder of the United States Trust Company. He served as Massachusetts State Senator from 1892-1895. Faced with antisemitism at local golf clubs, Ratchesky and a group of Boston businessmen resolved to establish a country club on the Kernwood property, with Louis E. Kirstein serving as the club’s first president.

At the time of the purchase, the property consisted of five houses, barns, sheds, greenhouses, and more than 100 acres of land. The buildings were retained for the clubhouse and remodeled sympathetically regarding their original architecture. An addition was made to create a dining room and 200 lockers and showers were installed. A nine-hole golf course designed by Donald Ross, known for Pinehurst, opened at the Kernwood Country Club in June 1915. Ross eliminated much of the land’s tree cover, removing over 300 trees for the fourth hole alone. An additional nine holes also thought to have been designed by Ross, were completed in 1918. The stone archway near the entrance to the property was retained and became the logo of the new country club.

The Peabody mansion was destroyed by a fire in the 1930s. Only the first floor of the building survived, and barely, as much of it was damaged by water. The remaining portion of the house was incorporated into a new, one-story clubhouse building soon after. That clubhouse was remodeled in 1998 and still includes nods to the original estate house.

The Kernwood Country Club prides itself in a history of philanthropy. 2024 marks their 110th anniversary.
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Digitized Archives
Kernwood Photographs and Ephemera
Kernwood Lithograph


Salem's Railroad

by Jen Ratliff on December 5th, 2023 | 0 Comments


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The railroad arrived in Salem, Massachusetts on August 27, 1838, with tracks passing down the middle of Washington Street, dividing downtown. These trains serviced nineteen trips to Boston daily. In 1839, a tunnel was built under a portion of Washington Street near Bridge Street to conceal a portion of the tracks.

The Eastern Railroad Company built the Salem Depot, known as the “stone depot” on Washington Street near Norman Street in 1847, replacing a simpler train station that stood nearby. The new castle-like granite structure was designed by Gridley Bryant, a well-known Boston architect. The design was heavily influenced by structures in England. Trains entered through an archway flanked by two large stone towers. Offices and waiting areas were located on both sides of the tracks inside. The depot was damaged by fire in 1883 but quickly repaired, keeping with the original design. For over 100 years, the Salem Depot was one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks and appeared on postcards, in paintings, and in many photographs. Other auxiliary stations were constructed in Salem as well, including the Carltonville Station at the intersection of Bridge and Flint streets, Atlantic Station off Canal Street near Ocean Avenue, and the North Street Station near Bridge Street.

The Boston and Maine Railroad Company took over Salem’s operations in 1883. By 1897, between 600 and 700 men were employed by Boston and Maine, laying tracks, connecting Salem to the surrounding area. Thirty-eight trains passed through daily. By then, the company had 1,700 miles of track and more than 800 stations throughout New England.

Salem became a distribution point for manufacturing. Materials made in local factories such as textiles from Lowell and Lawrence were received in Salem by water and then transported by Boston and Maine trains to their destinations. The freight depot on Mill Street encompassed approximately twenty-five acres and could see as many as three hundred freight cars daily. 250 men were employed in Salem’s repair shop on Bridge Street alone, which repaired 3,500 freight cars and 300 passenger cars annually.

Once employed, many people remained in service to the railroad for most of their lives. Employees and passengers often knew each other by name. Belle Batchelder, member of the Salem Normal School class of 1878, kept a scrapbook of her time at school and included portraits of the conductor and brakeman of the train that carried her regularly from Lowell to Salem.

For employees that served for 50 years or more, Boston and Maine issued Gold Service Passes. The pass could be used for free fares on all Boston and Maine lines. Several Salemites received this honor.

In the 1950s, a new railroad design was put forth, which extended the railroad tunnel and eliminated downtown crossings to help alleviate traffic congestion. The city also hoped this change would encourage more shoppers to cross Washington Street, which had previously been divided by the railroad tracks.

This plan also included razing the 1847 Salem Depot in favor of a new station. Demolition began in fall of 1954 and was completed in spring 1955. In 1958, the site of the former depot was paved over and dedicated as Riley Plaza.

The United States’s first combined regional transit system was voted into law in Massachusetts on August 3, 1964. This act established the MBTA, a state agency to oversee subway, bus, ferry, and commuter rail transportation. The MBTA, known as the “T” is now one of the largest public transit systems in the country, serving nearly 200 municipalities with over 1 million passengers daily.

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Digitized Archives
Transportation Photographs and Ephemera
Salem Depot Photographs and Ephemera
Salem's "Big Dig" Blog Post


A Tribute to Jack Kerouac

by Jen Ratliff on November 14th, 2023 | 0 Comments

 


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Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac, known as Jack Kerouac, was a novelist and poet of French-Canadian ancestry. He was born in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1922 and spent much of his life there. Kerouac’s first novel The Town and the City was published in 1950, gaining widespread acclaim. He was linked with the Beat Generation, a literary movement, marked by the post-World War II era, where writers of the Silent Generation explored and often criticized American culture and politics. In 1957, his second novel, On the Road, cemented his legacy as “Father of the Beats,” a label that he rejected.

In 1973, Salem State College English Professor John “Jay” W. P. McHale, who grew up in Lowell, organized a symposium for Jack Kerouac as part of the college’s fourth annual Arts Festival. At the time, McHale was teaching a course on “Jack Kerouac and the Beat Writers.” Kerouac passed away a few years prior in 1969, suffering from an esophageal hemorrhage, which was complicated due to cirrhosis. He was 47 years old.

The Jack Kerouac tribute began on the afternoon of April 4th with a screening of the thirty-minute film “Pull My Daisy” by Robert Frank. The film’s screenplay and narration were by the late novelist.

That evening, Allen Ginsburg and Gregory Corso read poetry in the college’s auditorium. Larry Kiley accompanied the reading on guitar. The poetry was a mix of their own writing which was inspired by their honored friend and some of their favorites written by him. The poets and their audience chuckled over the previously controversial words and themes of their older poems. Leo de Natale, reporter for The Beverly Times wrote, “Twenty years ago, the three were Bohemians, the beatniks. Today, they are men in their forties lost in the shuffle of an age of acceptance.” de Natale continued that the two “spoke fondly of their departed friend Kerouac. He was one of them. A lost confused man searching for happiness he could never find.” In an elegy to Kerouac, Corso stated: “Ours was a time of prophecy, Jack. No wonder we found America rootless because we are the roots themselves.”

The following morning, Kerouac memorabilia was displayed on campus, including sketches and oiling paintings by Jack titled the “Northport Tapes.” Audio recordings of interviews and book readings were also available for listening in lecture Rooms A and B of the Ellison Campus Center, then known as the Student Union building. Aaron Latham provided video clips from the Steve Allen Show, which featured an interview with the novelist shortly after On the Road was published.

The Jack Kerouac Symposium began that afternoon in the lounge with “Jack Kerouac – Angel Goof,” a lecture by Professor Charles E. Jarvis of the Lowell Technological Institute (now UMass Lowell). Jarvis spoke for almost an hour about the close friendship he developed with Kerouac in Lowell during his later years. This crowded event was the highlight of the festival and featured Aaron Latham, John Clellon Holmes, Allen Ginsberg, Stanley Twardowicz, Gregory Corso, and Peter Orlovsky. The group sat on stage during Jarvis’s talk until their panel discussion, which immediately followed. Peter Orlovsky quietly sewed in the corner. The men were tasked to reflect on Kerouac’s work and discuss his legacy and impact on contemporary literature, John McHale served as their moderator.

The symposium was freewheeling, as befit the times, and became legendary over the years as the Beat Writers gained in popularity. After Jarvis concluded, McHale asked if anyone in the audience or on the panel had a comment. Gregory Corso was the first to speak, saying “Yeah, I’d like a shot at it.” Corso acknowledged the lack of women on the panel and discussed the dichotomy of women and men in the 1950s Beat era, who both rejected traditional gender roles and societal norms. Corso stated that the men were able to survive the hostility they received and went on to become poets, whereas women were often institutionalized for their lack of conformity and submitted to electroshock treatment. The conversation quickly grew contentious as Corso argued with Aaron Latham over details of Kerouac’s writing process. At the time, Latham was working on a biography in cooperation with Kerouac’s widow, mother, and agent. He never completed the book. Allen Ginsberg, with his leg propped up on a table after suffering a break, remained a calming force in the group, despite persistent antagonizing by Corso.

The Boston Globe reported on the event, writing that Corso, “the tough-talking poet” had “berated the student audience with obscenities between tugs of Vodka.” Corso and Peter Orlovsky debated Kerouac’s drinking habits on stage. Corso said, “He was the most beautiful drunk there was” whereas Orlovsky proclaimed, “Jack almost drove me to the grave with his drinking and drugs.” Orlovsky himself had since sworn off alcohol and cigarettes. He urged the audience to do the same. “I start off each day with a glass of cold water and a cold shower. If you love the memory of Jack, get along in life with cold water.”

The event is considered the first academic symposium on the life and work of Jack Kerouac.

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Digitized Archives
A Tribute to Jack Kerouac Audio and Visual Archives
A Tribute to Jack Kerouac Photographs and Ephemera 
Soundings East 25th Anniversary Issue
Salem State College 1973 Arts Festival Brochure
Discussion Following Poetry Reading
An Open-Hearted Symposium by John McHale
A Tribute to Jack Kerouac Transcript Corrections


Salem Witch Trials Memorial

by Jen Ratliff on September 26th, 2023 | 0 Comments


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The Salem Witchcraft Tercentenary Committee began as an ad-hoc advisory committee established by Mayor Anthony Salvo. The committee first met on April 22, 1986, and focused on developing historically accurate programming and selecting a memorial design to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Salem Witchcraft Trials. Selected from 246 entries, the winning design was unveiled in November 1991 by playwright Arthur Miller. The proposal by James Cutler and Maggie Smith featured twenty granite benches projecting from a stone wall.

The committee’s final report describes the winning design as “Striking in its simplicity, the memorial is surrounded on three sides by a handcrafted granite wall. Inscribed in the stone threshold entering the memorial are the victims’ protests of innocence. These protests are interrupted mid-sentence by the wall, symbolizing society’s indifference to injustice. Cantilevered stone benches within the memorial perimeter bear the names and execution dates of each of the 20 victims, creating a quiet contemplative environment in which to evoke the spirit and strength of those people who chose to die rather than compromise their personal truths. An enduring tribute to the victims, the Memorial also serves as a reminder that unless we speak out against injustice, the outcome can be tragic.”

The Salem Witch Trials Memorial was dedicated in August 1992 by Elie Wiesel, Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor. He stated, "The key word, I’ve found, that is part of the vocabulary of the drama of tragedy, is fanaticism. It is because people were fanatic that Salem was possible. It is because a fanatic has it easy. It is so easy to believe that the children really saw the demon in the witch. It is so easy to believe that the chief justice spoke on behalf of justice. I believe fanaticism is there for the worst evil that existed then for it produced more evil. And fanaticism is the greatest evil that faces us today. For today, too, there are Salems."

That same day, the first Salem Award for Human Rights and Social Justice was presented to Gregory Allan Williams, known for his heroism during the Rodney King race riots in Los Angeles, California. Although the Salem Witchcraft Tercentenary Committee held its final meeting in May 1993, their work continued as the Salem Awards Foundation, which maintained the memorial and held annual award ceremonies.

An estimated six million visitors viewed the memorial within the first twenty years. After comprehensive repairs to the structure and grounds, a rededication ceremony was held on September 12, 2012.

In 2018, the Salem Awards Foundation changed its name to Voices Against Injustice to reflect its mission of promoting awareness of social injustice issues, while reflecting on the lessons of the Salem Witchcraft Trials. They continue to steward the memorial in partnership with the City of Salem and Peabody Essex Museum.

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Digitized Archives
Salem Witchcraft Tercentenary Committee Records Finding Aid
Salem Witchcraft Tercentenary Committee Records Photographs and Ephemera 


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