Salem Women's Heritage Trail

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The Salem Women's Heritage Trail was created in 2000 by local historians, curators, librarians, and interested citizens to remember the women who have contributed to the development of Salem, Massachusetts for over four centuries since colonial times and far beyond when Native Americans occupied "Naumkeag," as Salem was originally called. Salem is known the world over for the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, but this walking trail discusses many more women's stories.

A guidebook[1] of this self-guided walk was published in 2000 by local author Bonnie Hurd Smith under the auspices of the Salem Chamber of Commerce.[2] The trail's kick-off event[3] took place at The House of the Seven Gables,[4] a site on the trail, and featured speeches by Nancy Harrington, the president of Salem State College[5] (Harrington, the first woman president of the college, is on the trail), and trolley tours of the trail with Salem Trolley.[6]

Women, subjects, and organizations on the Trail[edit]

Some of the women featured on the trail include the famous "Peabody Sisters of Salem," Elizabeth,[7] Mary,[8] and Sophia,[9] who were the subjects of Megan Marshall's 2005 award-winning book.[10] Also on the trail are Caroline Emmerton[11] and Caroline Plummer,[12] two of Salem's leading philanthropists. Susan Burley,[13] a supporter of Nathaniel Hawthorne and literary "force" is featured. Sarah Parker Remond,[14] the great abolitionist speaker, is included along with the African American educator Charlotte Forten[15] and artists Louisa Lander[16] and Sarah W. Symonds.[17] Sarah Parker Remond utilized the smuggling tunnels in town that led out of her father's catering business in Hamilton hall to support the Underground Railroad.

Subjects addressed on the trail include suffrage,[18] abolition,[19] education,[20] the arts, business, philanthropy, historic preservation, Native American rights,[21] and the Salem Witch Trails.[22]

Organizations include the Salem Female Anti-Slavery Society,[23] the Salem Woman Suffrage Club,[24] the Salem Lyceum Society,[25] and the Salem Women's Indian Association.[26]

A number of the women on the Salem trail have a presence on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail,[27] and vice versa. Bostonian Lucy Stone[28] spoke in Salem at Lyceum Hall[29] against slavery and on behalf of woman suffrage. Salem's Sarah Parker Remond's[30] first act of public resistance against racism took place in Boston at the Howard Athenaeum.

Both the Salem and Boston trails are featured in the National Collaborative of Women's History Sites[31] guidebook and website which include a section on walking trails throughout the United States.

Changes in 2009[edit]

In 2009, the Salem Women's Heritage Trail guidebook evolved into a website[32] with information from the guidebook and new additions including the 2005 election of Salem's first woman mayor, Kimberley Driscoll.[33]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Smith, Bonnie Hurd. Salem Women's Heritage Trail. Salem: Salem Chamber of Commerce, 2000.
  2. ^ Salem Chamber of Commerce, Salem Ma. Salem-chamber.org. Retrieved on October 20, 2011.
  3. ^ Salem Evening News, September 1, 2000
  4. ^ The House of The Seven Gables. 7gables.org (September 18, 2011). Retrieved on October 20, 2011.
  5. ^ Salem State University: Salem State Home. Salemstate.edu. Retrieved on October 20, 2011.
  6. ^ Tours of Salem, Massachusetts, North of Boston, MA. Salem Trolley (September 12, 2011). Retrieved on October 20, 2011.
  7. ^ Elizabeth Palmer Peabody on the Salem Women's Heritage Trail. Salemwomenshistory.com. Retrieved on October 20, 2011.
  8. ^ Mary Peabody Mann on the Salem Women's Heritage Trail Archived June 27, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Salemwomenshistory.com. Retrieved on October 20, 2011.
  9. ^ Sophia Peabody Hawthorne on the Salem Women's Heritage Trail. Salemwomenshistory.com. Retrieved on October 20, 2011.
  10. ^ Marshall, Megan. The Peabody Sisters of Salem: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2005).
  11. ^ Caroline Emmerton, on the Salem Women's Heritage Trail. Salemwomenshistory.com. Retrieved on October 20, 2011.
  12. ^ Caroline Plummer on the Salem Women's Heritage Trail. Salemwomenshistory.com. Retrieved on October 20, 2011.
  13. ^ Susan Burley on the Salem Women's Heritage Trail. Salemwomenshistory.com. Retrieved on October 20, 2011.
  14. ^ Sarah Parker Remond on the Salem Women's Heritage Trail. Salemwomenshistory.com. Retrieved on October 20, 2011.
  15. ^ Charlotte Forten on the Salem Women's Heritage Trail. Salemwomenshistory.com. Retrieved on October 20, 2011.
  16. ^ Louisa Lander on the Salem Women's Heritage Trail. Salemwomenshistory.com. Retrieved on October 20, 2011.
  17. ^ Sarah W. Symonds on the Salem Women's Heritage Trail. Salemwomenshistory.com. Retrieved on October 20, 2011.
  18. ^ Suffrage on the Salem Women's Heritage Trail. Salemwomenshistory.com. Retrieved on October 20, 2011.
  19. ^ Abolitionists on the Salem Women's Heritage Trail. Salemwomenshistory.com. Retrieved on October 20, 2011.
  20. ^ Early education in Salem, Massachusetts on the Salem Women's Heritage Trail. Salemwomenshistory.com. Retrieved on October 20, 2011.
  21. ^ Native American Rights on the Salem Women's Heritage Trail. Salemwomenshistory.com. Retrieved on October 20, 2011.
  22. ^ Salem Witch Trials and the Salem Women's Heritage Trail. Salemwomenshistory.com. Retrieved on October 20, 2011.
  23. ^ Anti-Slavery Society in Salem, Massachusetts. Salemwomenshistory.com. Retrieved on October 20, 2011.
  24. ^ Woman Suffrage Club on the Salem Women's Heritage Trail. Salemwomenshistory.com. Retrieved on October 20, 2011.
  25. ^ Salem Lyceum on the Salem Women's Heritage Trail. Salemwomenshistory.com. Retrieved on October 20, 2011.
  26. ^ Women's Indian Association on the Salem Women's Heritage Trail. Salemwomenshistory.com. Retrieved on October 20, 2011.
  27. ^ "Home". bwht.org.
  28. ^ "Lucy Stone | BWHT". www.bwht.org. Archived from the original on July 24, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  29. ^ Salem Lyceum on the Salem Women's Heritage Trail. Salemwomenshistory.com. Retrieved on October 20, 2011.
  30. ^ http://www.salemwomenshistory.com/Sarah_Parker_Remond [dead link]
  31. ^ http://ncwhs.oah.org/index.php?page/mission [dead link]
  32. ^ Salem Women's History and Business Community, Salem, Massachusetts. Salemwomenshistory.com. Retrieved on October 20, 2011.
  33. ^ City of Salem, MA – Mayor Kimberley Driscoll Biography Archived November 15, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. Salem.com (September 8, 2008). Retrieved on October 20, 2011.