PEMcast 43: Salem at 400+, Part 1

Four hundred years is not old for most global cities. Still, after four centuries of European settlement (and several hundred years prior to that as a gathering place for Native American communities), Salem looks at the United States celebrating its 250th and says, “You’ve still got some growing to do.”

In this two-part episode, we look at Salem’s 400+ years of history through fashion. It’s well known that Salem has a reputation for costuming. With all the goth, punk, cultural, historical, mystical and just plain individual looks on the street, today’s downtown Salem is something of a runway. 

Together with Petra Slinkard, PEM’s Chief Curator and Nancy B. Putnam Curator of Fashion and Textiles, we look at several generations of fashion from PEM’s collection. We pull out a vintage firefighter’s uniform, some high-end couture and a selection of costumes demonstrating how Salem’s Puritan history was brought to life by reenactors in the 1930s. We dive deep into closets at PEM’s James B. and Mary Lou Hawkes Collection Center, bringing out clothing that reflects this city’s storied history. These pieces will be on view in Salem Gets Dressed, our new installation of the Fashion & Design gallery re-opening to the public on August 1. Stop by to see centuries of Salem’s history unfold through fashion. 

Like a good runway show, fashion needs the accessory of music. Salem’s history is also celebrated this summer in our gallery with a commissioned soundtrack. Sound artist James Errington is the perfect person to capture 400 years of life in Salem: He’s been creating a time capsule with a monthly podcast called Centuries of Sound. Each of these mixes is about three hours long and represents one year through music and archived sound, going back to 1859, the year of the earliest recoverable sound recording. Have a listen to our interview with James and then spend some time in the gallery and see if you can pick out familiar sounds of Salem. 

We also bring you to someone who is spending the summer doing a residency in our traditional ten-foot-long shoemaker’s workshop. As a bootmaker, Sarah Madeleine T. Guerin enlivens PEM’s 19th-century Lye-Tapley Shoe Shop into an active space for storytelling while sharing traditional shoemaking techniques and the distinctive footwear-making legacies of Massachusetts. 

These ground-level, neighborhood workshops previously connected everyday people with the process of shoemaking and shoe repair. Inside, shoemakers — almost always men — collaborated with women upper-makers, or "binders," who worked from their home. When she’s not in residence at PEM, Guerin works out of her own replica ten-footer in nearby Wakefield.  

Listen as Guerin shares her creative process, what led her to bootmaking and how America’s shoe industry has changed since it began here on Boston’s North Shore. 

Soon, a pair of cowboy boots decorated with an embroidered map of Salem and green leather sourwood leaves will enter our collection. This pair will be made to fit PEM Curator-at-Large Paula Richter, who has worked for decades with PEM’s world-renowned shoe collection. Stop by the Lye-Tapley Shoe Shop this summer and say hello on Fridays and Saturdays. Or take in a talk on August 6 between Guerin and Petra Slinkard as part of our "Salem as Muse" lecture series. We’re celebrating Salem 400+ all year long with more events later this fall! 

Learn more about how PEM is celebrating Salem 400+ at pem.org/salem400. And look for Part 2 when we look at Indigenous Salem, those who were here more than 400 years ago and the settlers who came here in 1626, including Salem’s founder, Roger Conant. Thanks for listening to the PEMcast. Like the episode? Share it with a friend.