NEW EXHIBIT OPENS APRIL 7
The staff and a volunteer committee of local scholars have been hard at work researching the various work roles that inhabitants of The Gables have held over the past four centuries. Beginning with the colonial period, the exhibit will explore the process of building early homes, working at sea, and the trials of indentured servants. At least five enslaved people lived and worked at the Turner-Ingersoll Mansion under the Turner family. The exhibit will also look at the way women worked on the property as well as the challenges faced by merchants. In the Victorian era, the Upton family ran their business from the home and members of the family taught a variety of art forms, including dance and music lessons. In its latest iteration, The Gables has served as a museum that supports educational programs for newly arriving immigrant families and has since Caroline Emmerton and her staff opened the settlement house in 1910.
On April 7, please join us for the opening reception for Life and Labor over Four Centuries at The House of the Seven Gables from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. in our Visitor Center, located at 115 Derby Street. This event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served and a cash bar will be available. Please RSVP here.
We’ll have a special perk available for our members at the reception. Want to join and support sharing 350 years of stories?
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WOULD YOU AGREE WE'RE ONE OF THE NORTH SHORE'S BEST?
Voting is open for Northshore Magazine’s Best of the North Shore. The House of the Seven Gables has been nominated in several categories. In the PLAY category, you will find The Gables nominated as both a best museum and best tourist attraction.
Help us to kick off 350 years of creating stories. Vote for us to be one of the Best of the North Shore.
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WHAT'S NEW IN PRESERVATION?
The roof of the nearly 350 year-old Turner-Ingersoll Mansion, best known as The House of the Seven Gables, is in a state of deterioration. The organization has applied for grant funding from a number of sources to help with the replacement of the roof in the coming months including the City of Salem’s Community Preservation Act.
The citizens of Salem voted to adopt the Community Preservation Act in November 2012. The act assesses a 1% surcharge based on property tax values. Funds from this pool are allocated by Salem’s Community Preservation Commission. This group reviews applications for both non-profits and city entities and determines funding levels for four categories: open space, recreation, affordable housing, and historic preservation.
It is important to note that the state level law for the Community Preservation Act allows both non-profits and city entities to be considered for funding after a number of standards are met. At the statewide level, the Community Preservation Coalition boasts that nearly $1.75 billion has been raised by 172 communities in the Commonwealth. Locally, historic preservation projects such as the bell and clock tower at Wenham’s First Church and museum restoration at Georgetown’s Brocklebank Museum have been beneficiaries. At The Gables, replacement of the Nathaniel Hawthorne Birthplace roof was partially funded through CPA in 2015.
If you are interested in learning more about the CPA process, please visit the Community Preservation Coalition. The CPC supports work at both the statewide and local levels. Readers can learn about the facts regarding local laws, fundable projects, and more.
We hope that you’ll support for The House of the Seven Gables in the upcoming round of CPA funding. Contact the Salem Community Preservation Committee to voice your support.
Want to help support the roof replacement for The House of the Seven Gables?
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WHAT'S NEW IN SETTLEMENT?
Late last year, Salem’s City Council and community activists embarked upon a long and winding road through discussions of a Sanctuary for Peace ordinance for Salem. The journey was sometimes fretful and unsettling, as residents expressed viewpoints that mirrored and magnified the national debate on immigration.
The Gables’ series of community conversations on immigration offered a safe space for these discussions, and we witnessed first-hand the value of institutional spaces for community dialogue and debate. Over 100 people crowded our Visitor Center and lobby on February 22nd, when the first community conversation on the topic of sanctuary cities was held at The Gables.
At our second community dialogue on immigration on March 22nd, our series of community conversations came of age. Our Settlement legacy acquired new purpose and meaning in an unsettled community.
On that blustery March evening, a modest turnout was expected, but we were pleasantly surprised when staff had to bring out more chairs for the public, as residents from Salem and other North Shore towns again gathered to learn about the consequences of local police departments enforcing federal immigration law.
Our featured speakers were Dr. Nik Theodore of the University of Illinois-Urbana and Salem’s Police Chief Mary Butler. They discussed the effects of police involvement in immigration law enforcement. Dr. Theodore presented results from a 2013 study in which researchers surveyed 2,000 Latinos in four cities regarding their perceptions of police and public safety, given instances of police involvement in immigration enforcement. The results from this research informed his conclusion that in order to maintain safe and thriving communities, it was important for city leaders to draw a “bright line” between the duties of local police departments and the work of ICE officials in implementing immigration law. Chief Butler shared the current policies and practices of the Salem Police Department and the reasoning behind them. Audience members contributed to the conversation with many thoughtful questions and insightful comments.
The Gables will continue to serve proudly as a forum for gathering community, even as unpredictable outside forces threaten to pull us apart. On March 29th, the Salem City Council voted 7 – 4 to adopt the Sanctuary for Peace Ordinance, highlighting the relevance of the Gables’ Settlement legacy in a new and uncertain time.
Future scheduled conversations in the Gables’ series include:
May 17, 6:00 p.m. Jeanne Kempthorne, attorney mediator and founder of Good Neighbor Mediation Project in Salem, and Jamie Banks, executive director of Quiet Communities, Inc., Rick Reibstein, an environmental lawyer and law professor, will talk about the exposure of immigrant labor to harmful pollutants and noise in the landscaping industry.
July 19, 6:00 p.m. Mary Lui, Professor of American Studies and History at Yale University and author of The Chinatown Trunk Murder Mystery will explore the sensationalist press coverage that surfaced in the early 20th century in New York during this dramatic trial, revealing the attitudes of the time toward Asian immigrants.
Sept. 14, 6:00 p.m. Prof. Avi Chomsky of Salem State University will share the dramatic, but relatively unknown, immigrant labor history that sprang from Salem’s Point neighborhood during the Pequot Mills Strike of 1933.
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WHAT'S NEW IN MEMBERHIP?
Members are invited to pack a picnic and join us for Lunch on the Lawn on May 21. You bring the food and picnic blanket and we’ll help to provide the fun! Enjoy live music from the Melody Makers [https://www.facebook.com/MelodyMakersMHD], lawn games, and Gables trivia. Members will also be able to enjoy our annual exhibit and take a behind-the-scenes tour of our collections project with our collections care team. Members are welcome to bring along guests to enjoy this event. Families are welcome and encouraged to attend.
RSVP online or contact Alyssa at 978-744-0991 x109. In case of rain, Lunch on the Lawn will become an indoor picnic party.
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Not a member? Click below to join.
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DON'T MISS THIS VIDEO
The House of the Seven Gables was featured on "Stuff You Missed in History Class." Watch Gables Lead Guide/Researcher, David Moffat discuss the history of the house and some of it's more interesting stories.
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GIFTS AT THE GABLES
To recognize and celebrate the 350th anniversary of the 1668 Turner-Ingersoll Mansion, we have commissioned a limited edition, commemorative coin that is now available in the Museum Store.
This unique coin and more are available for purchase at The House of the Seven Gables Museum Store. Can't make it to our Museum Store? Contact Everett Philbrook, Store Manager at 978-744-0991 x195 or ephilbrook@7gables.org, and we can have this item shipped to you.
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