Salem Women's
History and
Business Community
History and
Business Community
Hamilton Hall
9 Chestnut Street — Open to the public irregularly
Hamilton Hall, built in 1805 by Salem's leading architect, Samuel McIntire, served as the home and office for a successful catering business run by John Remond. An immigrant from Curaçao, John Remond was politically active in the causes of anti-slavery and school desegregation. His daughter, Sarah Parker Remond, became one of the country's leading female public speakers when she was engaged by the American Anti-Slavery Society to tour America and parts of Europe to raise funds for the cause.
Another woman we remember at this site is "Miss Harriet James" who taught Salem children the basics of dance and manners in classes she offered at Hamilton Hall and other locations in town for nearly sixty years beginning in 1918. More than two dozen of her students went on to perform in national or international dance companies. Many older Salemites can attest to the verity of Miss James's claim that she was "a holy terror on deportment."1
Since 1946, a significant portion of the funding for the maintenance, repairs, and furnishing of Hamilton Hall has been raised through a series of current event lectures offered each winter. That series has been run starting in 1949 by a volunteer committee of women from Salem and other North Shore communities. Typically, three hundred and fifty series tickets are sold each year, generating as much as nineteen thousand dollars in a single year for the benefit of the hall. Subscribers pride themselves on attending the lectures despite the worst of New England weather conditions.2
Sources
1 Files of Jim McAllister.
2 Ibid.
Hamilton Hall, built in 1805 by Salem's leading architect, Samuel McIntire, served as the home and office for a successful catering business run by John Remond. An immigrant from Curaçao, John Remond was politically active in the causes of anti-slavery and school desegregation. His daughter, Sarah Parker Remond, became one of the country's leading female public speakers when she was engaged by the American Anti-Slavery Society to tour America and parts of Europe to raise funds for the cause.
Another woman we remember at this site is "Miss Harriet James" who taught Salem children the basics of dance and manners in classes she offered at Hamilton Hall and other locations in town for nearly sixty years beginning in 1918. More than two dozen of her students went on to perform in national or international dance companies. Many older Salemites can attest to the verity of Miss James's claim that she was "a holy terror on deportment."1
Since 1946, a significant portion of the funding for the maintenance, repairs, and furnishing of Hamilton Hall has been raised through a series of current event lectures offered each winter. That series has been run starting in 1949 by a volunteer committee of women from Salem and other North Shore communities. Typically, three hundred and fifty series tickets are sold each year, generating as much as nineteen thousand dollars in a single year for the benefit of the hall. Subscribers pride themselves on attending the lectures despite the worst of New England weather conditions.2
Sources
1 Files of Jim McAllister.
2 Ibid.
