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The Salem Athenaeum, founded in 1810, is one of the oldest membership libraries in the United States. The Athenaeum is located at 337 Essex Street in Salem, Massachusetts in the McIntire Historic District.

History

The Salem Athenaeum was founded in 1810 by the merger of two antecedent organizations: the Social Library, founded in 1760, and the Salem Philosophical Library, founded in 1781. The first president was Edward Augustus Holyoke.

The Athenaeum's first permanent building was constructed in the 1850s with a large bequest from Caroline Plummer. In 1905 the Athenaeum sold that building and used the proceeds to build their current facility, which was dedicated in 1907.[1]

The collections include over 50,000 volumes on diverse topics.[2][3]

Notable proprietors

• Frank Weston Benson
• Nathaniel Bowditch
• Nathaniel Hawthorne

See also

• John Tucker Daland House
• Salem Philosophical Library (1781–1810), predecessor to the Athenaeum
• Salem Social Library (1760–1810), predecessor to the Athenaeum

References

Further reading

• Catalogue of the library of the Athenaeum in Salem, Massachusetts. 1842.
• The Salem Athenæum, 1810–1910 by Joseph Nickerson Ashton (Berkeley Press, 1917)
• Clemons, John; Wiggin, Cynthia B. (1968). "Vignettes of Library History: No. 6: Salem Athenaeum". The Journal of Library History. 3 (3): 257–260. ISSN 0022-2259. JSTOR 25540112.

External links

• Official website

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