Pride, Fourth and Lecture!

Saturday, June 30 - Salem's first annual Pride Parade to take place as part of North Shore Pride Parade and festival. Please visit North Shore Pride's website for the parade route and further information.

Wednesday, July 4 - Salem celebrates the Fourth of July at Derby Wharf! There will be music featuring two different bands during the day, followed by the Hillyer Festival Orchestra performing a Pops Concert and finally, a grand fireworks display at approximately 9pm. Please visit Destination Salem's blog for specific information or The City of Salem's website, www.salem.com.







Wednesday, July 18 - 7 Lectures at 7 Gables: Strong Women of The Gables lecture series continues. Megan Marshall will be presenting her lecture entitled Sophia Peabody and her Sisters at The House of the Seven Gables on July 18, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. Marshall is the winner of the Francis Parkman Prize and Pulitzer finalist for her book, The Peabody Sisters, Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism.

In her upcoming lecture at The Gables, Marshall will speak on the formative years of Salem's best known sisterhood, whose youngest member, Sophia Peabody, grew up to marry native son Nathaniel Hawthorne. Marshall will also speak about the relationships among the sisters and their suitors, who also included the politican and educator Horace Mann. The Peabody and Hawthorne families together made Salem one of the most significant sites, along with Boston and Concord, of America's nineteenth-century renaissance in arts and letters.

Contact information for ticket purchases or information: (978) 744-0991, ext. 105, or email:  anuncio@7gables.org. Admission to the lecture:  $10 Members, $15 Non-Members.

The Gables' partnership with Essex National Heritage Commission

Below is the press release sent out by the Essex National Heritage Commission:

Essex National Heritage Commission Selected as a 2012 National Park Foundation America’s Best Idea Grant Recipient

Essex Heritage and the House of Seven Gables Join with Parks Across the Country to Participate In Foundation’s 2012 Program

June 25, 2012 (Salem, MA) – The Essex National Heritage Area has been selected, along with 48 national parks participating in the 2012 America’s Best Idea program sponsored by the National Park Foundation, the official charity of America’s national parks. Essex Heritage, in partnership with The House of Seven Gables in Salem, MA received a grant which will fund a new project titled “Making the Caribbean Connection” The goal of the project is to engage underserved Latino youth in discovering and telling the untold stories of Salem and the Caribbean.

Inspired by the critically-acclaimed Ken Burns documentary The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, the America’s Best Idea grant program funds park projects designed to connect diverse, under-engaged populations throughout the United States with their national parks in innovative and meaningful ways.

The purpose of the grant is to build stronger connections by engaging local youth in uncovering the untold stories – past and present – between their homeland islands in the Caribbean and the historic sites in Salem which have interacted with the islands for centuries. The program will directly engage 11-15 middle school students in a summer program based at The Gables with visits to the Salem Maritime National Historic Site, Peabody Essex Museum and the Salem Public Library. A second program will be held next fall, after school at the Collins Middle School in Salem, MA. Students explore historical themes as well as personal themes of being Latino, cross-cultural relationships and the feeling of belonging in a new country.

“We are proud to provide the much needed support to create unique opportunities for all Americans to personally connect with their national parks,” said Neil Mulholland, President and CEO of the National Park Foundation. “The America’s Best Idea grants are often the catalyst for extraordinary experiences that develop into lifelong relationships with our national parks for the program participants.”“Essex Heritage is very pleased to work with The House of Seven Gables and Salem Maritime to identify stories and themes that most engage and connect the Latino youth with Salem,” said Annie C. Harris, Executive Director, Essex National Heritage Commission. “The program will help us to better connect the Salem Latino community to our National Park and to the National Heritage Area.”

“Through this new partnership, we will work to expand our historic interpretation to strengthen our ties to Salem Maritime and Essex Heritage,” said Anita Blackaby, Executive Director, The House of Seven Gables. “The mission of The Gables has focused on aiding the local underserved population of Salem consisting largely of immigrant families. We currently partner with many community-based organizations to support and engage our Latino youth.”

For a full listing of participating sites, parks and program descriptions, please visit the National Park Foundation website.

The National Park Foundation and Essex Heritage wish to thank L.L. Bean, DISNEY, the Anschutz Foundation, and the Ahmanson Foundation for their generous support of the America’s Best Idea program.

For more information on the National Park Foundation or how you can support and protect America’s national parks, please visit www.nationalparks.org.

About the Essex National Heritage Area and the Commission

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About the National Park Foundation. You are the owner of 84 million acres of the world’s most treasured memorials, landscapes, ecosystems, and historic sites -- all protected in America’s nearly 400 national parks. Chartered by Congress, the National Park Foundation is the official charity of America’s national parks. We work hand in hand with the National Park Service to connect you and all Americans to the parks, and to make sure that they are preserved for the generations who will follow. Join us in supporting your national parks -- this is your land. www.nationalparks.org

The Essex National Heritage Commission (Essex Heritage) is the non-profit management entity for Essex National Heritage Area, one of forty-nine heritage partnership parks of the National Park Service. Working in collaboration with the National Park Service, Essex Heritage promotes public/private partnerships and develops and implements programs that enhance, preserve and encourage regional awareness of the unique historic, cultural and natural resources found within the Area. For more information, visit the website at www.essexheritage.org or call (978) 740-0444.

The House of the Seven Gables Settlement Association, a nonprofit organization founded in 1910, is the catalyst that creates valued educational opportunities for our communities by interpreting, strengthening and preserving our unique historic legacies and site, with emphasis on under-served immigrant youth and their families. The historic site features three 17th century buildings, including the Turner-Ingersoll Mansion, also known as “The House of the Seven Gables,” the birthplace of American literary legend Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Colonial Revival Gardens. Proceeds from admission fees and retail sales directly support programs which serve Salem’s immigrant community. For more information please call 978-744-0991 or visit our website at www.7gables.org.

Events this week in Salem

This Wednesday, The House of the Seven Gables will be welcoming Robin Woodman, Assistant for Harvard Art Museums Archaeological Exploration of the Sardis, Turkey Expedition. Goodman will present a lecture entitled Susannah Ingersoll and Her Role in the Business Community on June 20^th, 2012 at 7:00pm at The House of the Seven Gables as part of their ongoing lecture series, Seven Lectures at Seven Gables: Strong Women of The Gables.

And, in honor of Pride Month, Salem will be celebrating its second annual Out Night this Thursday, June 21st. Visit Destination Salem's blog for further information, HERE!

Celebrity sighting at The Gables!

Actor/director, Mark Ruffalo made a surprise appearance at The House of the Seven Gables this week! His wife, children and he enjoyed a nice afternoon at The Gables...He graciously introduced himself and then took the full tour of The Gables. His family and he came and went very quietly!

Ruffalo has been in several movies recently including The Avengers (he was The Hulk), The Kids are All Right and Shutter Island. Ruffalo was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in The Kids are All Right.

We thank him for his visit and hope that he and his family enjoyed their time with us.

Lecture three of Seven Lectures at Seven Gables

Robin Woodman, Assistant for Harvard Art Museums Archaeological Exploration of the Sardis, Turkey Expedition, will present a lecture entitled Susannah Ingersoll and Her Role in the Business Community on June 20^th, 2012 at 7:00pm at The House of the Seven Gables as part of their ongoing lecture series, Seven Lectures at Seven Gables: Strong Women of The Gables.

Woodman’s lecture will examine the life of Susannah Ingersoll, who inherited the Turner/Ingersoll mansion (better known as The House of the Seven Gables). Ingersoll, a first cousin to author Nathaniel Hawthorne, became a successful businesswoman during the male-dominated merchant/mariner era of late eighteenth, early-nineteenth century Salem.  

These were extraordinary times for the newly formed United States of America, for the city of Salem, and self-identified “singlewoman,” Susannah Ingersoll, who faced this unprecedented era on her own. Ingersoll profited from, and must have marveled at, mighty merchant ships as they sailed past her window on their way to the Orient and other exotic places during Salem’s Golden Age of Sail.  Although women had not yet won the right to vote, Ingersoll defied many social restrictions during her lifetime and died a very wealthy woman at the age of seventy-two. 

During the upcoming lecture at The Gables, Robin Woodman hopes to illuminate the fascinating connections between the events of the merchant/mariner era and Susannah Ingersoll’s extraordinary life.

Ms. Woodman was born and raised in Salem and reports that as a child she was fortunate enough to have benefited from classes (cooking and dancing) through The Gables and is very happy to be able to present this lecture at such an iconic Salem institution as The House of the Seven Gables.

Woodman earned her master’s degree in Museum Studies at Harvard University and has worked as a Special Projects Librarian at Harvard. She also has done work for the Maine Historical Society, as well as the Adams National Historical Park.

Contact information for ticket purchases or information: (978) 744-0991, ext. 105, or email:  anuncio@7gables.org. Admission:  $10 Members, $15 Non-Members.

Strong Women of The Gables Lecture Series continues...

On Wednesday, June 20th, 2012 at 7:00pm Robin Woodman will present her lecture entitled Susannah Ingersoll and Her Role in the Business Community. Woodman is
Assistant for Harvard Art Museum's Archaeological Exploration of the Sardis, Turkey Expedition and earned her Master’s degree in Museum Studies at Harvard University.

This lecture will look at the life of Susannah Ingersoll, who inherited the Turner/Ingersoll mansion, now known better as The House of the Seven Gables. Ingersoll became a successful business woman during the male-dominated merchant/mariner era of early nineteenth century Salem.

Ticket Price:  $10 Members, $15 Non-members. For ticket purchases, reserve by phone (978) 744-0991, ext. 105, or email:  anuncio@7gables.org 


Stay tuned for more to come!

Phoenix Girls' Chorus visits The Gables

The Gables staff would like to sincerely thank the Phoenix Girls' Chorus for your visit and for singing to the staff and visitors in the Visitor Center yesterday (June 5, 2012). The choir consists of students from 6th to 12th grade.

The mission of the chorus is to provide membership opportunity to all girls who demonstrate the ability, desire and commitment to excellence in vocal and choral performance, to enhance the quality of life in the community through music education and performance, and to create public awareness of the positive 
benefits of the choral art for girls and young women.


For more information, visit their official website.

Dusty then and now

Dusty, our tried and true mascot at The Gables, has been a fixture for many years. Here are some of the early pictures of Dusty when he was...let's say...a bit more lithe?!

Here are more current pictures of Dusty gracing the wrapping paper in the Museum Store 

(one of his favorite spots!): 

We think it's only fitting that Dusty sleeps next to the picture of Nathaniel Hawthorne. 

Come visit The Gables soon and maybe you'll be lucky enough to see Dusty among the beautiful seaside gardens, the beautiful historic buildings or inside the Museum Store!

Thank you for your virtual visit today!