Historic Salem, Inc., Salem, Massachusetts

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P.O. Box 865, Salem, MA 01970
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A Brief History of Historic Salem, Inc.
by Jim McAllister



REBIRTH   (1960-1964)...
The Pickman House, before and after drawings, artist unknown
Pickman House before and after drawings. (Artist unknown)

On December 8, 1960, a number of interested citizens meets at the Daniels House to discuss possible preservation activities in the Derby Street neighborhood. When the discussion turns to forming an organization to carry out such activities, William Cressy moves that HSI, which has been idle for more than a decade, be revived. His motion is seconded by George Benson and passes unanimously. A letter signed by George Benson, Robert Reardon, Bradford Gale, Arthur Brennan, Mary Maloon, Chester Arnold, Judge Robert Hill, Warren Butler, Daniel Crowley, and Daniel Foley is sent to Arthur Brennan in June of 1961 instructing him to call a special meeting of HSI on June 22 at the Athenaeum Library.

At that meeting, Robert Hill is elected the new president, William Donaldson and William Cressy, vice presidents, Nicholas Xanthaky, treasurer, and Elizabeth Reardon, secretary for the following year. They are joined on the Executive Board by Daniel Foley, Franklin Hebard, Clarence LeBrun, Harold Lessem, Linzee Wallis, Mrs. Thomas Rice and Mrs. Robert C. Seamans. Subsequent votes are taken to amend HSI by-laws, file delinquent reports to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and become involved in the preliminary Urban Renewal Study being prepared by Blair Associates for the City of Salem.

One of the reborn organization's first activities is to co-sponsor, with a number of Salem museums, an "Open House" for North Shore residents in May, 1962. But HSI soon returns to doing what it knows best: working to save and restore historic buildings.

In January, 1963, HSI goes on record as being opposed to the City of Salem's plan to demolish the SAUNDERS HOUSE at 260 Essex Street and replace it with a parking lot. The structure, built after 1734, is called "a priority house" by architectural expert Abbott Lowell Cummings, who also notes that the building is one of two remaining 18th century townhouses in Massachusetts. For the next two years, HSI works to find a developer to use or move the structure. These efforts are unsuccessful, and the building is razed in January, 1965.

Also in 1963, HSI provides guidelines for the park department restoration of the BOWDITCH HOUSE at 9 North Street in keeping with the 1944 Memorandum of Agreement between HSI and the City of Salem. Bill Cressy reports at the board meeting in May that the outside of the Bowditch House looks good but the Board of Park Commissioners "were not overly sympathetic about the interior." At that same meeting, motivated by a $500 donation from Frank McGrath towards the erection of a memorial to the victims of the Salem Witch Trials, the HSI Board establishes a WITCH TRIAL MEMORIAL COMMITTEE chaired by Jim Baldwin and Dorothy Potter. Potter prepares a lengthy document relating to the location of Gallows Hill in preparation for the siting and erecting of a memorial.

But it is two historic homes, the NARBONNE HOUSE on lower Essex Street and the PICKMAN HOUSE at the corner of Charter and Liberty Streets, that occupy much of the organization's energy in the early sixties. In August, 1962, National Park Superintendent Harold Lessem informs the HSI Board that the NARBONNE HOUSE, which abuts the Salem Maritime National Historic Site, is for sale. A number of HSI directors pledge money to hold an option on the building and President Robert Hill contacts Congressman William Bates. Bates files H976, a bill which would allow the National Park up to $18,000 to buy the 17th century house.

The bill passes, but when the appropriation comes up for a committee vote in the senate, Senator Ernest Gruening of Alaska calls the Narbonne House an "old shack" unworthy of saving. In 1963, HSI members, led by Libby Reardon, begin a lobbying effort aimed at Gruening and other members of the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee as well as members of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation. Reardon enlists the aid of William Loeb of the Manchester Union Leader.

In November of 1963, HSI is notified that money has been obtained through a National Park Service surplus fund for the purchase of the Narbonne House. The building is signed over to the National Park Service on November 28, 1964.

Seven months later, in June of 1964, the HSI Board of Directors votes to buy and restore the PICKMAN HOUSE. This 17th century structure (ca.1660) had been discovered by HSI Director Libby Reardon hidden under a Victorian façade and roof. A fundraising letter from HSI President William H.K. Donaldson generates the $4,000 needed to buy the building by a September 1, deadline. A volunteer cleanup is held on October 14 with the assistance of members of the Salem Lions Club.

An HSI Pickman House Restoration Committee is established to work with Abbott Lowell Cummings and Salem architect James H. Ballou on the restoration. The committee hires John Sullivan of Newton Corners as general contractor.

The Narbonne House acquisition and the ongoing fund-raising effort for the restoration of the Pickman House are two of the stories reported by Libby Reardon and Joan Bailey in the inaugural issue of the HSI NEWSLETTER in December, 1964. A separate article notes that HSI now has eight board committees, including Ways and Means, Witch Trial Memorial, Hospitality, Tourism, Signage, Publicity, By-Laws and Pickman House, and 325 members.



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