The Potteries of Salem |
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
An illustrated lecture by Rick Hamelin, co-presented by the Salem Athenaeum and Historic Salem, Inc.. This Tuesday, January 25 at 7:00 p.m. at the
The clay industries of
The story of the early potters, their lives, and wares will be presented by Rick Hamelin, a Massachusetts Humanities Scholar in Residence at the Peabody Historical Society and recognized Massachusetts Cultural Council "Keeper of Tradition" redware potter.
Rick Hamelin Web Site
About
Although the Salem Athenæum's charter and name date from 1810, its history actually begins fifty years earlier with the founding of two earlier institutions: the Social Library in 1760; and the Salem Philosophical Library in 1781.
The Social Library was an outgrowth of the Monday Evening Club, one of many social clubs for wealthy residents that were common in the era. The Monday Evening Club counted among its members many of
In 1760 a group of Club members donated 175 guineas toward the foundation of a library for their mutual use. The new Social Library was stocked both by donations from members' own libraries and by new purchases from
The Revolutionary War took a heavy toll on the Social Library. The cost of living soared, as goods were difficult to attain, and most members were preoccupied with the war and protecting their own interests. A number of members were loyalists and fled
The Philosophical Library was founded in 1781 from the spoils of war. The shipPilgrim, a privateer sailing out of
Reverend Joseph Willard of the
By 1810, many of the members of the Social Library also belonged to the Philosophical Library, and the two bodies were merged to create the Salem Athenæum. When the Athenæum was founded, there were more libraries in
The very name "Athenæum" is an artifact of that era, deriving from "Athena," the Greek goddess of wisdom. Its early members, as with the two previous institutions, were men and women of the Enlightenment who aimed to increase each other's knowledge and to pursue the improvement of society and themselves through its application and dissemination. Membership in the Athenæum was initially limited to 100 patrons, but (in keeping with the spirit of its founding mission) membership was eventually opened to all for a yearly fee, though ownership of the institution still resided in the original 100 shares.
For the first four decades of its existence, the Athenæum had no permanent home, occupying quarters at four different locations in
In 1905, the Athenæum sold the building at
Today the Athenæum is home to over 50,000 volumes in its circulating and research collections and is dedicated to renewing its commitment to its core mission: to enrich 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.
Prominent members and patrons of the Athenæum have included Edward Augustus Holyoke, physician and a founder of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the Reverend Dr. William Bentley, author Nathaniel Hawthorne, mathematician Nathaniel Bowditch, author of the still-used New American Practical Navigator, United States Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story, American Impressionist painter Frank W. Benson, and Charles Grafton Page, an early inventor of the electric motor.