Salem Women’s History Day at The Gables

The House of the Seven Gables will commemorate Salem Women’s History Day with a special women’s history tour and two lectures focusing on the role of women in preservation.

All events are free for members and Salem residents. Regular admission for the general public includes a tour and admission to both lectures. Space is limited for all events. Click here to register. For more information email jarrison@7Gables.org or call 978-744-0991 ext. 152.

12:00 – 12:45 p.m. Women’s history focused tour of The Gables (sold out)

1:00 – 1:45 p.m. “My Patriotic Duty” – Women and the Preservation of Old South Meeting House Boston

When Boston’s iconic Old South Meeting House was threatened with imminent demolition in 1876, public outrage ensued. A group of Boston area women, led by philanthropist Mary Hemenway, became the driving force behind the building’s successful preservation. The “20 women of Boston,” as this group came to be known, organized fundraisers to secure a mortgage and then ensure the building’s ongoing preservation and future security. Women involved with ongoing preservation efforts in the 1870s-1880s included author Louisa May Alcott, and even Mary Tyler of “Mary Had a Little Lamb” fame. Erica Lindamood, director of education at Old South Meeting House, will share highlights from this colorful historic preservation success story, and consider Hemenway’s claim that her advocacy for the building was her “patriotic duty” in light of 19th-century politics and social history.

2:00 – 2:45 p.m. The Tireless Traditionalist: Mary Harrod Northend and “Old Salem”, 1904-1926.

Dr. Donna Seger, Chair of the History Department at Salem State University and proprietor of the Streets of Salem blog, presents a fascinating lecture about one of Salem’s most entrepreneurial representatives of the Colonial Revival movement. Salem-born author and entrepreneur Mary Harrod Northend (1850-1926) wrote 11 books and countless magazine articles from 1904 until her accidental death in 1926, advancing an earnest and idealistic vision of New England in general, and “Old Salem” in particular, as style sources for the present and future.

3:00 – 3:45 Women’s history focused tour of The Gables (sold out)

Both of the Women’s History Tours are sold out. If you would like to be on the waiting list for either tour email with your name, number in party, and time of desired tour.

Events will be ongoing at the Witch House and the Phillips House Museum. Please visit their websites for details.