PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE VISIONS OF SALEM+ (WINTER 2025)

 A vast range of activities and displays throughout next year cover different aspects of the Massachusetts community founded by East Budleigh-born Roger Conant in 1626.

As the organisers put it, ‘Salem 400+ commemorates the city’s quadricentennial while acknowledging the preexisting indigenous community, and explores the opportunities and connections of Salem’s multifaceted history while crafting a vision for current and future generations.’


The celebrations kick off on 10 January with an exhibition at Salem High School of volunteers’ involvement in community life. A fortnight later, on 25 January, Drs Brad Austin and Donna Seger, current and past chairs respectively of Salem State University’s History Department, will explain the making of their brand-new book Salem’s Centuries: New Perspectives on the History of an Old American City. 
 


History lovers in Salem, especially Canadians, will be hoping to spot a well known name in a display of Valentine cards and love charm superstitions. 


The USA's first Valentine has a link to Britain!

The Valentine cards display takes  place at the Witch House Museum on 14 February.    

John Graves Simcoe, pictured above in this image created by Toronto historian Adam Bunch, was a British army officer who fell in love with Sarah ‘Sally’ Townsend during the Revolutionary War. 

The verses that he wrote describe his infatuation and the difficulty of loving an enemy, for the Townsend family with whom he was billeted were Patriots. Simcoe’s epic poem is said to be the first Valentine composed in the USA. 

 Later, along with founding Toronto — then known as York — Simcoe commanded the West of England Army, having his summer residence in Budleigh Salterton, in a house now named after him. Legend has it that he also saved the life of George Washington during the Battle of Brandywine in 1777!

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