The Chairman of the Salem Historical Commission says the reaction has been good to the city’s first historical museum that officially opened its doors on Friday.
Luke Purcell says the ribbon cutting that officially opened the museum Friday afternoon ended years of dreams and work by those who preceded him on the commission.
“It’s been very successful. We’ve probably had close to 80 people come through. There is a little bit for everybody. People have been interested in different things. A lot of the personal histories seem to be some the best. So things on the shoe factor, or the military display, or even the William Jennings Bryan display have been personally interesting to a lot of people. We’re glad we can put all of this together.”
But Purcell emphasizes this isn’t a finished product.
“This is just the start. So, I’m almost saying that items we have here now are kind of ‘bait’ to bring other people’s collections in. If people would like to donate something, we have ways to do that. If people have things, they can bring them up and we can see if they might be useful for us.”
Retiring Historical Commission Member Jennine Richards was recognized for more than 40 years on the commission and Historian Frank Brinkerhoff for his push for a museum for decades.
The new museum will be open again on Sunday from 12:30 to three prior to the Salem Theatre’s presentation of ‘The Marvelous Wonderettes’. The theatre also reporting good crowds for their reopening following the COVID-19 shutdown. 125 were in attendance Friday and 100 on Saturday.
Purcell expects the historical commission to set regular hours for the museum to be open at its meeting on Monday afternoon.
