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Twenty Decades: A
History of Salem through
200+ Years
Did you know that
Salem was the home of
Revolutionary War hero
Andrew Lewis? That silent
film star Charlie Hammitt
and Hollywood heartthrob
John Payne were from Salem?
That in the Civil War the
town was raided by Union
soldiers?
The story of Salem’s past
is the story of all of us
—an American hometown carved
from the wilderness when the
nation was new, growing
through the years but
retaining her own unique
charm. Come trace her
history from the days of
Totera Indians to modern
times in our exhibit “Twenty
Decades.” |
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Community and Courage:
The African- American Experience
in Salem
In 1868, freed slaves in
Salem purchased land from the
estate of their former master.
Those purchases became the
genesis of the Water Street
Community—Salem’s premiere
African-American neighborhood.
Here homes, churches,
businesses, schools and social
organizations flourished in the
face of segregation. Through
generations of slavery,
injustice, and finally Civil
Rights victories, the citizens
of Water Street persevered and
built a sense of community that
has endured.
Vanished Salem: Late
Lamented Local Landmarks:
This 2012 exhibit, one of the
Museum's most popular ever,
explored some of the local
businesses, homes, churches,
schools and institutions which
once graced our landscape but
which are no longer here.
The End of the Road:
Coffins, Gravestones, and other
things people are dying to get
An exhibit on the way we've
dealt with death through the
years, based on the funerary
collection of John M. Oakey's
and Sons. |
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Black Women: Achievement Against
the Odds |
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An exhibition featuring
the achievements of black
women in the areas of art,
education, civil rights,
business, medicine,
literature, entertainment,
government, journalism,
labor, and law. Developed by
the Smithsonian Institute,
distributed by the Virginia
Foundation for the
Humanities, and supplemented
by a display of artifacts
interpreting the local
history of African American
women.
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From Doodads to Deeds:
A Hodge Podge of Relics from
the Salem Museum Collection
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An exhibit showcasing
local items from the odd to
the absurd which have found
their way into the Salem
Museum's collection over the
years. Featuring a special "Whatzit
Corner" contest.
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Women for All Seasons:
Artwork from the Salem Women
Watercolorists Calendar
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 An
exhibition and silent auction of
watercolors by fourteen local
women artists created for the
Salem Museum's 1998 calendar.
All proceeds from the Women for
All Seasons Calendar & auction
support the operations of the
Salem Museum & Historical
Society.
Vigilance and Valor: Public
Safety in Salem
An exhibit tracing the long
history of Salem's police, fire
and rescue squad departments.
To End all Wars: World
War I and the Roanoke Valley
An exhibit exploring how the
Great War affected us, and how
the part our doughboys played.
The Men Who Were Mayor
Exploring the local leaders of
Salem from 1849 to the present.
Who Was I? An
exploration of Unidentified
Photos
We all have them-- old
photos showing people from the
past and we have no idea who
they are. We gave Salem High
School students a stack of these
from our collection, and asked
them to invent identities for
the unknown folks. The results
varied from the heart-rending to
the whimsical!
Making Waves:The
Valley's Radio and Recording
History
In 1924 Ray Jordan played
"Turkey in the Straw" on station
3BIY in Roanoke; total audience:
one radio in Salem. But it
started a revolution in the way
the Valley got news, listened to
music, and experienced the
world! |
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Diamonds in the Rough: A Century
of Baseball in the Valley |
 For generations Salemites have thrown horse-hide
covered spheres at men with
sticks. Our Summer 1999 featured
exhibit told the story of
baseball in Salem and the
Roanoke Valley, from the first
recorded game soon after the
Civil War, up to the current
Salem Avalanche minor league
franchise. |
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Y2Kids: Through
The Eyes of our Children
At the dawn of a new
century, we gave cameras
to twelve school kids
from first grade to
seniors in High School
and asked them to
capture what Salem meant
to them. The results was
a glorious look at an
American hometown
through the eyes of the
children who lived
there.
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50 Years Later: The
Korean War Remembered by
Valley Soldiers
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 Long called the Forgotten War, the
history of America's combat in
Korea was told thorugh this
featured exhibit marking the
war's 50th anniversary. A
chronological history of the
Korean Conflict was punctuated
with the experiences of local
vets, including survivors of the
Chosin Reservoir, one the war's
most savage battles.
To Build Better Boys: A
Century of Boy Scouting in the
Roanoke Valley
In 1911 the first Boy Scout
troop was formed in Salem. Over
the next 100 years, thousands of
local boys learned to camp, tie
knots, and do a good turn daily. |
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