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Jim & Maggi Dalton's rather Eclectic Guide to CULTURAL RESOURCES
Links of Interest, Usefulness, and Amusement
Performance/Production/Publishing/Studio
Concerts, Workshops & Residencies
Understanding History Thru Music ™
Specialists in 19th- & Early 20th-Century Music From Parlor and Stage
American & Celtic Traditions
Period Instruments *** Historically-Informed Performance
The Salem Gazette Salem, Massachusetts. Maggi is a regular columnist and writer of features for the Gazette on history, arts and culture.
Devoted to the Salem community...and full of great stories for everyone, regardless of place of residence.
The mission of the Institute for Music, History, and Cultural Traditions, Inc. (IMHCT)
is to celebrate the essential role of music in human history and culture,
and to promote understanding and enjoyment of the musical arts
-- as they manifest in history and culture --
through research, scholarship, and public performance.
MORE INFO
The Institute's mission emphasizes a strong commitment
to an interdisciplinary approach.
That commitment encompasses integration
of the humanities and the arts, and honors all genres of music.
While openly embracing all world cultures,
our focus will be, in general,
on North American, Celtic,
and British Isles traditions.
To this end, the Institute will produce publications, events, and workshops; and maintain online resources.
The American History and Music Festival will feature a series of concerts
and educational programs in the Boston/North of Boston region.
The Festival is founded and directed by musicians/scholars Jim and Maggi Dalton,
and sponsored by the nonprofit organization
The Institute for Music, History, and Cultural Traditions, Inc.
Salem History Society, Salem, Massachusetts Jim Dalton and Maggi Smith-Dalton were members of the six-member founding group for the Society,
and currently Maggi is founding President and Jim founding Vice President of the Salem History Society Advisory Board.
Category: In Salem
Salem Heritage Trail
Follow the red line through Salem's most historic neighborhoods when Salem was in its heyday as a thriving seaport. Enjoy streetscapes of impressive mansions, taverns, wharves, ships, public buildings, and museums that contain extraordinary collections. Brochures are available at the Salem Maritime National Historic Site Visitor Center, New Liberty Street (across from the Peabody Essex Museum), and the Orientation Center on Derby Street.
Best Map of Salem, Massachusetts
The walking map takes you past historic houses, cemeteries, public buildings, art galleries, and museums. Free copies are available at area shops, restaurants, and lodgings, or from the Salem Maritime National Historic Site Visitor Center.
Nathaniel Hawthorne's Salem: A Walking Tour of Literary Salem
Explore the world of Salem's best-known author in three separate walking tours, each lasting approximately one hour. See where he lived, worked, and walked in the only way to imagine Hawthorne's life in Salem. Brochures are available at the Salem Maritime National Historic Site Visitor Center, New Liberty Street, at the Orientation Center on Derby Street
Bowditch's Salem: A Walking Tour of the Great Age of Sail
The history of Salem, the history of maritime science, the history of American education, the history of mathematics and finance, the history of modern capital development— none can be told completely without the story of Nathaniel Bowditch.
Visit the places throughout the city where he lived and worked, and learn more about this extraordinary son of Salem. Brochure available at the Salem Maritime National Historic Site Visitor Center.
African American Heritage Sites in Salem
Abolitionists, soldiers, teachers, business people —discover Salem's African American community by visiting their homes, places of work, and burying sites. Brochures are available at the Salem Maritime National Historic Site Visitor Center, new Liberty Street, at the Orientation Center on Derby Street.
McIntire Historic District Walking Trail
The distinctive McIntire Historic District encompasses an area with more than 300 historic structures. This urban walking tour, which takes visitors past several of architect Samuel McIntire's significant houses, includes magnificent sea captains' homes as well as humble workers' cottages.
It covers a little over a mile and takes about 45 minutes. The route is marked on posts and sidewalk plaques by a sheaf of wheat, designed by McIntire to symbolize Salem's prosperity. The walking tour begins at the Witch House, on the corner of North and Essex Streets. Brochures are available at the Salem Maritime National Historic Site Visitor Center, New Liberty Street, at the Orientation Center on Derby Street.
Learn how women contributed to the development of Salem during four centuries of history as shopkeepers, educators, abolitionists, suffragists, writers, and artists. Guidebooks are available at the Salem Maritime National Historic Site Visitor Center, New Liberty Street, at the Orientation Center on Derby Street.
Salem Public Library is located in the Historic District of Salem, Massachusetts in an 1855 renovated brick mansion originally owned by sea merchant John Bertram. The library is part of the North of Boston Library Exchange (NOBLE), a consortium of 28 public and academic libraries in the surrounding area.
The library is located in Plummer Hall on the campus of the Peabody Essex Museum in downtown Salem, Massachusetts and next door to the Salem Visitors Center and Armory Park---(978-745-9500 ext. 3053)
As one of New England's older libraries, the Phillips has a national reputation as a major resource for maritime history and art, New England life and culture, American decorative arts, Asian art and culture, Native American history and art, the art and culture of Oceania, natural history and genealogy.
Researchers, curators, and the general public may conduct research utilizing the library's 400,000 printed volumes, over a mile in linear feet of manuscripts, and uncounted thousands of pieces of ephemera...
The Salem Athenaeum is a contemporary and historic library,
dedicated to enriching the lives of its members and its North Shore community
by lending, preserving, and adding to its collection of books and documents,
by maintaining and enhancing its historic buildings and grounds,
and by offering cultural and educational programs
that provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and life-long learning.
Salem State College
Archives & Special Collections~~Library, Room 418
352 Lafayette St
Salem, MA 01970
Phone: (978) 542-6781 (978) 542-7257 E-mail: Susan Edwards, Archivist
The Salem State College Archives is open from 8:30 - 4:30 Monday through Friday....
Patrons are encouraged to call in advance to ensure the success of their visit.
The Archives collects materials documenting the history of Salem and Essex County
generally, as well as the following specific areas:
the history of Salem State College and its predecessor institutions
(Salem Normal School and Salem Teachers College),
the history of education, historic geography, maps and cartography, the Beat Writers,
and politics, public interest groups,
and social/ economic issues in the North Shore region.
The Boston Public Library's Research Services include
vast non-circulating collections and professional staff.
All departments of the Research Library respond to telephone,
in-person, email, and mailed reference requests.
Massachusetts Historical Society
1154 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02215-3695
Tel: 617.536.1608 Fax: 617.859.0074
The Massachusetts Historical Society is an independent research library that collects,
preserves, makes accessible, and communicates manuscripts and other materials
in order to promote the study of the history of Massachusetts
and the nation-a mission it has pursued since 1791.
The Danvers Archival Center is a department of the Peabody Institute Library of Danvers, Massachusetts.
The Peabody Institute Library is the town's public library,
established in the mid-nineteenth century through the philanthropy of George Peabody.
Conceived in 1970 as part of the Danvers Historical Commission Master Plan,
the purpose of the Archival Center is to collect and place in one central location, protected from fire, atmospheric, and insect damage,
all the written and printed materials relating
to the history of Danvers and Salem Village, Massachusetts.
The collections on permanent deposit include the local history holdings
of the Danvers Historical Society, the library,
numerous churches and town organizations,
and official records of the Town of Danvers.
The Library of Congress 101 Independence Ave, SE Washington, DC 20540
The Library of Congress is the nation's oldest federal cultural institution
and serves as the research arm of Congress.
It is also the largest library in the world,
with millions of books, recordings, photographs, maps
and manuscripts in its collections.
The Library's mission is to make its resources available and useful
to the Congress and the American people
and to sustain and preserve a universal collection of knowledge and creativity
for future generations.
The Office of the Librarian is tasked to set policy
and to direct and support programs and activities
to accomplish the Library's mission.
Category: Regional and National Historical Societies
To Visit
Old State House: On the Freedom Trail. Corner of State and Washington Streets in downtown Boston.
Library: 15 State Street, 3rd floor
Founded in 1881 to save the Old State House from being moved to Chicago, The Bostonian Society is the historical society for the city of Boston.
Through library and museum collections which date from the 1630s to the 21st century, through exhibitions on the American Revolution and Boston's neighborhoods, and through programs for adults and children, the Society brings Boston history to life.
The Bostonian Society is the first stop for anyone interested in the city's history. With a museum within the 1713 Old State House, a research library and programs and events for all ages, the Society provides a comprehensive historical and educational resource.
The Walker Transportation Collection is also located at the Society headquarters.
Contact the Transportation Collection by email or phone.
Email: info@walkertrans.org
Danvers Historical Society
9 Page Street, PO Box 381, Danvers, MA 01923
Phone: (978) 777-1666 Email: dhs@danvershistory.org Web: www.danvershistory.org
The Danvers Historical Society, a private not-for-profit, was founded in 1889 "to discover, collect and preserve objects which illustrate local history, but particularly the history, development and people of the Town of Danvers".
The Historical Society owns three historic sites and a museum building and is steward of the Endicott Burial Ground.
The society has many events, exhibits and fundraisers every year and is an important part of the community. Membership is open to everyone, and volunteers are always welcome!
Lynn Museum
590 Washington Street Lynn, MA 01901
Lynn's memory starts here! Established in 1897, the Lynn Museum & Historical Society is the only organization in the city devoted to collecting, preserving, and fostering an appreciation of Lynn's rich history. Did you know that Lynn is the home of Marshmallow Fluff, or that a sea serpent was once sighted in Lynn Harbor?
A membership organization open to the public, LMHS fulfills its mission by offering youth and adult programs, maintaining a research library and archives, and mounting several changing exhibitions each year.
The Marblehead Museum & Historical Society
170 Washington St. Marblehead, MA 01945
Phone: 781-631-1768 Fax: 781-631-0917
e-mail: info@marbleheadmuseum.org
In 2003, the Marblehead Historical Society changed its name to the Marblehead Museum & Historical Society to reflect its museum-quality collection and professional approach to exhibits, research, preservation and education.
The new name represents a continued commitment to the mission of preservation.
Year round activities and operations preserve Marblehead history according to museum standards.
The Jeremiah Lee Mansion, the J.O.J. Frost Gallery, Marblehead History Archives and the G.A.R. Civil War Museum
are all part of the Marblehead Museum & Historical Society's exceptional collection of places, artifacts, documents, and photographs that span five centuries of Marblehead history.
Category: Museums
Peabody Essex Museum
East India Square Salem, MA 01970-3783 USA
Phone: 978-745-9500, 866-745-1876
For the Hearing Impaired: 978-740-3649
Program Reservations: ext. 3011
The mission of the Peabody Essex Museum is to celebrate outstanding artistic and cultural creativity by collecting, stewarding, and interpreting objects of art and culture in ways that increase knowledge, enrich the spirit, engage the mind, and stimulate the senses.
Through its exhibitions, programs, publications, media, and related activities, PEM strives to create experiences that transform people's lives by broadening their perspectives, attitudes, and knowledge of themselves and the wider world.
Destination Salem is the Office of Tourism & Cultural Affairs
for Salem, Massachusetts.
"... a private, non-profit 501(c)6 organization...supported by the City's contribution,
visitor guide advertising, and grants."
Visitors to this website will have the ability to access information regarding the numerous functions of the City Clerk's Office, including vital records, elections, voting, and general historical information pertaining to the City of Salem, City Hall, and the Council Chamber.
The aim of the Great Migration Study Project is to compile
comprehensive genealogical and biographical accounts of every person
who settled in New England between 1620 and 1643.
Between these years about twenty thousand English men, women,
and children crossed the Atlantic to settle New England.
For a century and a half genealogists have been studying these families,
and thousands of books and articles have been published as a result.
Dr. Francis J. Bremer, Editor
The Winthrop Papers project is intended to continue the publication of historically significant papers
relating to the Winthrop family. Winthrop materials in the collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society
include a range of correspondence, commonplace books, printed works, maps, legal documents, portraits,
artifacts, and photographs spanning the family's history from fifteenth century England
to twentieth century America.
Publication of the modern edition of Winthrop Papers began in 1929
and has to date resulted in the issuance of six volumes of family correspondence down to the year 1653.
Under the current editorship of Dr. Francis J. Bremer of Millersville University
future publication plans include
* continuation of volumes of correspondence that will conclude with the period of the American Revolution.
Editing of the next volumes in this series is being undertaken by Dr. Mark Peterson of the University of Iowa and Dr. Alison Games of Georgetown University.
* a second series of volumes that will feature other documents and be topically organized. These will include a volume of Religious Writings ,
a collection of Legal Papers, and The Medical Notebooks of John Winthrop Jr.
Using ESSEX History is a three-year project to improve the quality of American History instruction in Essex County's middle schools and high schools through teacher seminars and summer institutes on the people, places and events of
Using Essex History is a project of the Beverly Public School System in partnership
with the Essex National Heritage Commission (ENHC),
the National Archives and Records Administration and Salem State College.
The project abstract: Using ESSEX History: Using Evidence, Scholarship, and Sources to Explore History .
Consortium Members:
Beverly Public Schools
Salem State College
Essex National Heritage Area
National Archives
A nonprofit site that promotes Salem. It offers short essays about Salem and Salem people. It also has facts, trivia, "two fun quizzes," lots of photos, artwork and a photo gallery of Salem architecture spanning parts of five centuries
P.O. Box 865, Salem, MA 01970 (978) 745-0799
HSI's mission is to ensure that the historic resources of Salem, which are the key to its identity, its quality of life, and its economic vitality, are preserved for future generations and that new development complements the historic character of the city.
When you arrive at The House of the Seven Gables - which constitutes its own national historic district on The National Register of Historic places - professional guides will warmly greet you for an unforgettable historical experience. Outside, spectacular seaside gardens await you....
....The House of the Seven Gables inspired author Nathaniel Hawthorne to write his legendary novel of the same name.
Salem Maritime National Historic Site 160 Derby Street Salem, MA 01970
Visitor Information: Regional Visitor Center (978) 740-1650
Visitor Information: Salem Maritime National Historic Site (978) 740-1660
ArtDesy - An Art Directory Some fascinating and wide-ranging links to art, music, literature, history, etc. resources.
Don't forget to keep in touch ... and feel free to sign up for our FREE newsletter, The Singing String News.
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