kestrell | Entries tagged with salem

From American Ancestors in October, topics for these mostly free online lectures and seminars include using cemetery transcripts in your family history research, uncovering hidden histories and verifying descent from "witches."

Members of American Ancestors receie 10% off online course registration.
For a full list of upcoming programs, visit https://www.americanancestors.org/events

Using Cemetery Transcripts in Your Family History Research
Thursday, October 6, 3:00-4:00 ET
Cost: free
Learn more and register
https://hubs.americanancestors.org/cemetery-transcripts

Online seminar
Uncovering Hidden Histories: Compiling biographies of people omitted from written record
Monday, October 17, 6-7:30 p.m. ET
Cost: $65
Learn more and register
https://www.americanancestors.org/events/uncovering-hidden-histories-compiling-biographies-people-omitted-written-record

Verifying Descent from Salem’s Witches
Thursday, October 20, 3-4:00 p.m. ET
Cost: free
Learn more and register
https://hubs.americanancestors.org/salem-witches

Magnificence, Marriage, and Murder: The Story of Scotland’s Brodic Castle
Friday, October 21, 4-5:15 p.m. ET
In partnership with the National Trust for Scotland Foundation USA
Cost: free
Learn more and register
https://hubs.americanancestors.org/magnificence-marriage-and-murder

Free Webinar
Genevieve Wyner Annual Lecture:
A Festival of Freedom
Tuesday, October 25, 6:00-7:00 p.m. ET
Presented by: Jessica Cooperman

The holiday of Passover is often referred to as a “festival of freedom,” but what do American Jews mean by freedom? The Passover haggadah, or seder narrative, retells the story of the Israelite’s divine redemption from slavery in Egypt, but American Jews have long used that ancient story to illustrate their commitments to far more modern quests for freedom and rights. This talk by Dr. Jessica Cooperman, the 2022 Genevieve Geller Wyner Research Fellow, will focus on materials in the collections of the Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center to explore some of the many ways that American Jews have interpreted the meaning of Passover

Jessica Cooperman is Associate Professor of Religion Studies and Director of Jewish Studies at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA. Her research focuses on 20th century American Judaism and Jewish History. Her book, Making Judaism Safe for America: World War I and the Origins of Religious Pluralism, was published by NYU Press and received an honorable mention for the Saul Viener Prize in American Jewish History. Her current research explores projects for promoting Jewish-Christian dialogue and understanding after World War II. She is particularly interested in Passover haggadot and celebrations as cites for defining new relationships between Judaism and Christianity in the post-war America.
Learn more and register at
https://hubs.americanancestors.org/festival-of-freedom

From the Salem Athenaeum newsletter:

Summer Salon Online
Christine Thomson:
Adventures in Architectural Paint Analysis

July 23 at 6:00 p.m.

Historic paint analysis is critical to understanding the history of a building’s evolution through time. Paint color trends change with the years, so sometimes the identification of specific paint colors helps with dating alterations in a particular space. In earlier times, those studying paint would simply sand an area of woodwork down to the wood, creating concentric circles of paint layers. In the 1980s, architectural researchers began using the microscope as a tool to more closely examine paint layers. Christine Thomson will lead us through the various methods and findings she has made in
read more
https://salemathenaeum.net/event/summer-salon-christine-thomson-on-zoom/?instance_id=13193

Suggested Donation for general public: $10
Register at
https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07ei9rtyym50340c42&oseq=&c=&ch=

Ever since I was a little girl,
I waited for Halloween,
the one day I could wear my witch hat.
I would make it from rough black paper and Elmer's glue
and those terrible scissors they give little kids
that work as well as Ron Weasely's wand.
As I got older, other women told me,
You can't wear that witch hat
We're not allowed to wear
a hat like that
And, anyway,
No one really believes in witches or,
if they do, they're some sort of crazy lady.
I wondered, what would Shirley Jackson say to that?
and I bought a better witch hat.
It was higher, and pointier, with velvet flowers and black lace
and a veil that fluttered around my face
and even a few black feathers,
which would occasionally make a break for it
and fly off with a rakish breeze.

The first time I went to Salem
I saw so many witch hats!
Worn by college girls, and little girls, and even some men (the ones with style).
But the best were the women,
the ones with hair gone grey.
Their witch hats were the best
the most magnificent--
as if they had been saving up all their lives
for this
one
perfect
witch
hat
The one that declared
that they no longer cared
about what they were and weren't supposed to wear.
Maybe one day I will
be old enough
and bold enough
to wear a witch hat
one like that
covered with orange feathers.

The Salem Athenaeum
https://www.facebook.com/thesalemathenaeum/
is doing an amazing-sounding renovation, returning to the original paint colors. I'll post the description from their newsletter below (sorry, no pictures), along with the details for a tour of an old Salem farm, but encourage folks to check out the newsletter themselves: they are hosting many of their book and poetry groups online now (I'm planning on checking out the Incessant Pipe Poetry Salon).

Facelift at the Athenaeum
( stories below cut )

I have managed to import my music to iTunes, but I still have no idea how to get to the playlist pane, or the songs pane.

Also, are any of the third-party iTunes for the blind scripts worth the price?

The last button I clicked on, iTunes just started playing songs and, let me tell you, I have some spooky shit coming out of my speakers and even *I* don't know what it is.

I just want to make a playlist for the next trip to Salem.

Expensive but, oh my, this sounds so lovely: this one is a map of Salem Sound that includes landscape and nautical details
https://www.etsy.com/listing/639760950/salem-sound-massachusetts-3d-wood-map?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=salem+ma&ref=sr_gallery-1-13&organic_search_click=1

In the past few years, I have adopted the tradition of celebrating my birthday by spending a day in Salem. This year, Alexx and I kidnapped LJ user TinyBuffalo, so it was probably the most fun Salem day yet (Note: no tinybuffalos were injured or mistreated in the filming of this kidnapping, which was entirely consentual).

TB had mentioned that she wanted to give money to buskers, so I gave her the bag of small change which had been sitting on a shelf for forever, because I kept meaning to give it to Salvation Army Santas, but I never see Santas anymore, or maybe it's just that those bells they ring were outlawed, so I don't hear the stealth-Santas.

This turned out to be a brilliant move on my part, because whenever we heard a musician that I liked, I turned to TB and said, "Go throw money at that man!" and she would dash off and toss handfuls of coins into his instrument case. This mostly turned out to be the same guy with a sax, because we walked past him at least three times. Okay, it was just small change, but I felt like some Renaissance patron of the arts, so now I'm going to save up my change for next year.

( Recommendations below cut )

This looks pretty awesome and, checking out the activities
http://salemartsfestival.com/?page_id=2818
I can say right now that the best studio name is Buckaroo Bonsai, although my favorite-sounding activity is the ekfrastic poetry class (ekfrastic poetry is poetry which describes a work of art or uses a work of art as its inspiration--there is a John Hollander book which pairs art works with poems based upon those works, although I'm zoning on the title right now).

Kes: I really wish I could go to this, it sounds incredibly fun, and what a great group of authors!

Thursday, October 14 at 7pm
Trick or Treat: A night of scary stories and books with Amber Benson, Christopher Golden, Paul Tremblay, and Dave Zeltserman.
Halloween comes early to Cornerstone as four acclaimed writers of dark fiction (for both adults and young adults) will discuss and sign their latest books and read a spooky story or two. Bring a night-light to this horror extravaganza!

Cornerstone Books, 45 Lafayette St, Salem, MA (978) 744-1831

This year I was a little more organized and did a lot of online research at http://www.salem.org regarding specific addresses of places I wanted to go, and Alexx plotted everything onto maps.
We parked along Essex Street since a lot of the places I wanted to go were near there and during
October there are lots of vendors and musicians about, so the entire square is like a street fair. There was even a small carnival with a ferris wheel.

My tradition is to start with the labyrinthine
Darby Square Bookstore at 215 Essex Street, which was, as usual, offering a sale: all books half price, and if you bought four you got the fifth free. Alexx and I started out quite certain that we weren't going to buy any more books and yet we still ended up getting that free fifth book. I found a book about women in pre-code Hollywood and a thesaurus for extremely literate people, and Alexx found Graves's _I, Claudius_ and _Claudius the King_.

We passed on my usual lunch stop, Polonus European Deli & Ice Cream (176 Essex St # 2, 1/2 block from the bookstore), which is the best Polish deli/ice cream shop/European imports store ever, because I really needed a bathroom and hot food.

* An important note about women's bathrooms in Salem: there is a severe shortage of them. Everywhere I went, there was a line of women waiting for a bathroom. I usually go to Salem on a weekday, so I had never noticed this before, but if you are female, you need to take into account that often when you want a bathroom, there is a 15-20 minute wait involved.
Also, it was really cold yesterday, but if I had known that many women of all ages wander around in all sorts of witchwear, I would have worn my cloak. It seems that cloaks and witch hats of an almost infinite variety of design are pretty common in Salem in October.
( things to do in Salem if you're not undead )