Peabody Essex Museum facts for kids

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Peabody Essex Museum

The main entrance to the museum
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Established	1799 (1799)
Location	161 Essex Street Salem, MA 01970
Type	Art museum
Accreditation	AAM, NARM
Collections	American art, Asian art, maritime art
Collection size	1.3 million
Public transit access	Newburyport/Rockport Line Salem Station

The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) is a cool museum in Salem, Massachusetts. It started way back in 1799, making it one of the oldest museums in the United States! It's like a super old treasure chest filled with amazing art and objects from all over the world.

PEM has a huge collection of about 1.3 million items. These include art from America, Asia, Africa, and the Pacific islands. You can also see maritime art, which is all about ships and the ocean. The museum even has 22 historic buildings you can explore! After a big expansion in 2019, PEM is now one of the top art museums in North America.

Discover the Museum's History

The Peabody Essex Museum was created in 1992. This happened when two older museums, the Peabody Museum of Salem and the Essex Institute, joined together. But the story goes back even further!

How the Museum Began

George Peabody, a kind person who helped the museum

The very first part of PEM was the East India Marine Society. This group started in 1799. It was made up of ship captains and traders from Salem. These brave sailors traveled to faraway places, like beyond Africa's Cape of Good Hope or South America's Cape Horn.

The Society's rules said members had to collect "natural and artificial curiosities" from their trips. They also had to share their discoveries about sailing. This helped everyone travel more safely. Because these items were collected so long ago, they are very special and rare.

In the 1820s, the East India Marine Society built a special building called East India Marine Hall. This hall was made to hold their growing collection. Today, this historic hall is still part of the museum. In 1867, another group called the Peabody Academy of Science took over the collection and the building. This group later became the Peabody Museum of Salem.

Peabody Museum of Salem origins

Peabody Essex Museum
1992–present

Peabody Museum of Salem
1915–1992

Essex Institute
1848–1992

Peabody Academy of Science
1868–1915

Essex Historical Society
est.1821

Essex County Natural History Society
1833–1848

East India Marine Society
est.1799

Recent Museum Changes

The old East India Marine Hall is used for special events and art shows.

The large central area inside the museum has shades that move with the sun.

In 2003, the Peabody Essex Museum finished a huge upgrade. They spent $100 million to make the museum bigger. This new space, designed by Moshe Safdie, more than doubled the gallery area. It meant they could show many more items that had been hidden away.

At this time, PEM also opened something very special: the Yin Yu Tang House. This is a real Chinese house from the early 1800s. It was carefully taken apart in China and rebuilt right on the museum grounds!

The museum continued to grow. In 2019, a new 40,000 square foot wing opened. This new part has more galleries and a beautiful garden.

Meet the Museum's Leaders

In 2021, Lynda Roscoe Hartigan became the museum's Director and CEO. She is the first woman to hold this important job at PEM. Before her, Dan Monroe led the museum for many years, from 1993 to 2019.

Explore the Museum's Collections

The Peabody Essex Museum has many different collections. Each one tells a unique story about art and culture from around the world.

African Art Collection

PEM has about 3,600 pieces of African art. Sailors from the East India Marine Society started collecting these items in the early 1800s. You can see ceremonial masks, pottery, and woven baskets. There's also a special collection of art from Ethiopia, including Christian icons.

American Art Collection

The museum's American art collection is very large. It includes over 1,000 portraits by famous artists like John Singer Sargent. You can also find old furniture, folk art, and beautiful needlework. Because the museum is in New England, it has many decorative items from this area.

Chinese Art Collection

With over 6,000 objects, PEM's Chinese art collection is amazing. It has both old and new works, including ceramics, textiles, and calligraphy. New England traders started collecting these pieces in the 1700s. The biggest item is the Yin Yu Tang House, a real Chinese home from the 18th century.

Fashion and Textiles Collection

This collection is one of the most important in the United States. It has American clothing from the early 1700s to today. Many pieces belonged to important New England families. You can see military uniforms and works by famous designers like Alexander McQueen and Iris Apfel.

Indian Art Collection

The museum has over 5,000 objects from India. It also includes art from Tibet and Nepal. PEM has one of the best collections of modern Indian art outside of India. The Herwitz Gallery, opened in 2003, is the first American museum gallery just for modern Indian art.

Japanese Art Collection

PEM's Japanese art collection has about 18,300 objects. It started when the museum first opened in 1799. You can see armor, sculptures, painted scrolls, and furniture. Many items were collected by Edward S. Morse, who was the museum's third director. He traveled to Japan many times.

Korean Art Collection

The museum has about 1,800 pieces of Korean art. This includes ceramics, textiles, and painted screens. The collection began in 1883, thanks to a partnership between museum director Edward Sylvester Morse and Korean scholar Yu Kil-chun. Many pieces show how art was part of everyday Korean life.

Maritime Art Collection

Salem was a very busy seaport in the 1700s. This history helped create PEM's amazing maritime art collection. It's one of the best in the country! There are over 50,000 objects, like paintings, model ships, and scrimshaw (art carved on whalebone). You can even see a room that looks like it's from a fancy old yacht called Cleopatra's Barge.

Native American Art Collection

PEM's Native American art collection has over 20,000 objects. It includes masks, textiles, jewelry, and clothing from many different tribes. You can also see works by modern Native American artists. The collection started even before the museum opened, through trading with local tribes.

Oceanic Art Collection

This collection has over 15,000 objects from more than 36 islands in the Pacific Ocean. You can see sculptures, weapons, and clothing made from traditional materials. The museum has a very large collection of Hawaiian art, with over 5,000 objects.

Photography Collection

PEM's photography collection is its largest, with over 850,000 images! It started in 1840, just one year after photography was invented. You can see early photos by pioneers like William Henry Fox Talbot. There are also rare Civil War photos by Matthew Brady and pictures showing life during the Great Depression.

Phillips Library

The museum has a huge collection of old books, letters, and other historical papers in the Phillips Library. In 2017, many of these important documents were moved to a new location in Rowley, Massachusetts.

Historic Buildings at the Museum

The museum owns 24 historic buildings and gardens. Some of these are part of the old Essex Institute grounds. Five of these buildings are so important they are called National Historic Landmarks! Some of them are open for guided tours.