A forum for Sharing new research discoveries on women in Boston history
REVEALING THE STORIES OF SALEM (MA) WOMEN by Bonnie Hurd Smith
When a group of us decided to create a women’s heritage trail for Salem, we went about it in much the same way that it happened in Boston. We started with what we knew: the sites that existed along Salem’s “Red Line” Walking Trail, like Boston’s Freedom Trail, and we branched out from there as our work led to more, and more, women and sites.       In terms of telling individual stories, we started by reinterpreting familiar sites to include women’s history. We worked with staff and volunteers in all of the cultural, historical, educational, tourist, and civic organizations in Salem to build a real community-based project with across-the-board buy-in long before the book would be published. At The House of the Seven Gables, for example, we learned about Susannah Ingersoll (c.1783-1858) who lived in The Gables her entire life, owned a successful farm in nearby Danvers, and was very active in local anti-slavery efforts. She is also thought to have been a direct influence on her young nephew, writer Nathaniel Hawthorne, who, as a boy, listened to Susannah’s stories about their family and Salem history.       At The Gables, we also encountered Caroline Emmerton (1866-1942) who is one of Salem’s most important philanthropists. It was “Miss Emmerton” who first created what is today The Gables by restoring the building, preserving and moving other historic properties to the area, and using admission fees to fund the settlement house she built across the street. She was deeply concerned about family and childcare services during these days of increasing immigration, and also became actively involved in the Boys & Girls Club of Salem. Today, all three of these organizations continue to thrive.       Two other names and sites that will be familiar to Boston people are Sarah Parker Remond (1826-94) and Elizabeth Peabody (1804-94). We talk about Sarah at Hamilton Hall on Chestnut Street, where the Remond family lived and where her father, John, ran his lucrative catering business. The family was very committed to abolishing slavery, and Sarah became quite popular as one of very few African American women public speakers on the subject. She travelled throughout the U.S. and also to Europe to speak and raise funds for the cause.       Elizabeth Peabody is well known as the founder of the kindergarten movement in this country, and as a teacher, editor, publisher, and owner of a book store in Boston where Margaret Fuller (1810-50) held her famous “Conversations.” The Peabody family home is not open to the public, but it is located on Charter Street in downtown Salem. There, we also discuss Sophia Amelia Peabody (1809-71) who was a gifted student and artist who married Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Mary Peabody (1806-87) whose lifelong commitment to education, writing, and editing served her well when she married leading educator Thomas Mann.       And, of course, along the way, we encountered dozens of women whose names were new to us. We also invited the public to “nominate” women to be included on the Trail. This is how we learned about sculptor Louisa Lander (1826-1923) who studied in Rome and showed enormous promise after she completed her handsome	bust of Nathaniel Hawthorne. It remains unclear to this day what happened between the two of them, but he essentially ruined her career, and she died alone and unrealized as an artist.       Charlotte Forten, the first African American to graduate from Salem Normal School (now Salem State College) is featured for her devotion to education and to teaching freed slaves in the south after the war. Her voluminous journal remains one of the most important primary sources from that time, and her articles that appeared in the Atlantic Monthly opened eyes as well. Today, the College has a room named for her.       All told, there are 52 sites in the Salem Women’s Heritage Trail book as well as an index, a listing of local research sources, and recommended readings. Copies are available for $10 through the Salem Chamber of Commerce (978-745-3855) or at Salem book stores and visitor centers. Welcome New Members!! Anita Aspen Jessica Donner Bonnie McBride Renewals Pat Anderson Suzy Becker Louise Bonar Marcia Butman Penny Coleman Margo Culley Susan Garber Claire Gilbert Linda Giles Ann Grady Evelyn Menconi John Naughton Myanna Pontoppidan Ruth Roper Jane Shattuck Betty Smith Nathaniel Young
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