Buy the book!

“I long to inspire with courage and ambition and high purpose.”
— Charlotte Forten
(1838-1914)

“A child is not a finite mass to be molded, or a blank paper to be written upon at another’s will. It is a living subject whose own cooperation — or at least willingness — is to be conciliated and made instrumental to the end in view.”
— Elizabeth Palmer Peabody
(1804-1894)

“The idea of the incapability of women is…totally inadmissible…to argue against facts, is indeed contending with both wind and tide; and, borne down by accumulating examples, conviction of the utility of the present plans will pervade the public mind, and not a dissenting voice will be heard.”
— Judith Sargent Murray (1751-1820)

Since Salem was founded in 1629 as “Naumkeag,” women have been an integral part if its develoment from a small fishing village, to a leading maritime trading port, to a center of industry, to what it is today — a thriving city that celebrates its past while it builds its
future.

Patriots, educators, writers, artists, philanthropists, preservationists, social reformers, abolitionists, suffragists, business owners, entrepreneurs, and victims of the witch trials — Salem women have always played an integral role in shaping history.

The Salem Women’s Heritage Trail was created in the year 2000 to weave the stories of women into the unique historical fabric of the City of Salem.