Speaker Series at Old Town Hall
Food at 400+ Speaker Series
We warmly welcome our esteemed and wonderful group of guest speakers or guest presenters for this special event. The Speaker Series is free, open to the public. Seats are available and on a first come first served basis.
Sunday June 21st
♦ 11am to 12.30pm Art & Spice demo and artmaking, free and family-friendly, with Isabella Walsh. Isabella is a Visitor Services Specialist of Interpretation and Education at The House of the Seven Gables.
Food tells stories about our culture, identity, and family history. At the core of that food is spices, the base for all good food. Stop by the Old Town Hall to share stories about where your family food comes from, travel around the world to learn about the historical prevalence of spices in the cultures maritime sea traders would have encountered in their travels, and create some art to take home using those spices with Education Specialist, Isabella Walsh from The House of the Seven Gables.
♦ 12.30pm to 1pm
“Becoming the City of Peace: How Naumkeag became Salem” We welcome Ben Shallop, author of “The Founding of Salem; City of Peace” will discuss the events of 1626-1628, the indigenous community that was here when fishermen under Roger Conant first arrived in 1626, Roger Conant’s time as Governor of the Fishing Station, and the transfer of power to the Puritans in 1628 that inspired the name “Salem” that today we all know so well.
Mr. Shallop’s lifelong love of history began during his childhood in Salem, Massachusetts. Over the years, he has worked in the Florida Park Service, in education, and as a community and labor organizer. It is this working-class perspective that he brings to his history of the early settlement of Salem. He moved back to Salem in 2008 and began to rediscover the history that had initially inspired his love of learning as a child. Today, Mr. Shallop works as a union representative in the growing Massachusetts film industry and is an active member in several civic organizations in Salem.
♦ 1.15pm to 4pm Pear Physick: Early New England Medicine
Type: Drop-in Demonstration with Dan Marshall
Pear, and other European fruit trees, were brought by English settlers as they established colonies in Massachusetts. Orchards were established to provide pears for cooking, brewing cider, and making medicines. Both the fruit and the leaves of pear trees were used to treat wounds and affect digestion.
Join the discussion as historian Dan Marshall explores both European and American colonial sources that shed light on how this knowledge crossed the Atlantic and how it was put into practice here. Lend a hand as Dan demonstrates the tools and techniques of turning pears into medicine in the 17th & 18th centuries.
This program is sponsored by The Essex National Heritage Area
Dan Marshall is a museum professional who has shared his love of history with the public for over 25 years. He has created and presented countless hands-on public history events, school tour programs, and lectures on a wide range of historical topics. With past experience at Colonial Williamsburg, The House of The Seven Gables, Lexington Historical Society, and the City of Salem, Dan is currently serving as Vice President of the Salem Historical Society.
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Speaker Information
“Why did Roger Conant leave England? The backstory to his decision to set up a lasting settlement in America.”
June 13th and 14th
We warmly welcome Ian Blackwell, historian and resident in East Budleigh, UK, the town of Roger Conant’s birth, and the founder of Salem. Mr. Blackwell will outline the Conant family’s history in Devon and Roger Conant’s life there and in London — before sailing to New Plymouth in 1623.
Bio: Ian Blackwell served in the British Army for 24 years, with appointments including Senior Military Lecturer at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and the Royal Military College of Science. After retiring from the army he pursued a career as a consultant for the army, conducting battlefield study events through Europe; and management development programmes for organisations in the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates. He is the author of four books on the Italian Campaign of the Second World War and is currently working on a biography of Roger Conant, prompted by his residence in East Budleigh and his marriage to Bonnie Treadwell Blackwell, whose family lived in Salem for many years after having arrived in Ipswich in 1635.
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“Serving up Freedom”
June 13th
A Salem Story of Change-Making Dinners
Working together, a famous Salem family and their abolitionist network of kitchen staff forever altered history and our country with their dinners at Hamilton Hall. Learn about the Remond family, the big dinners, and their incredible influence, and enjoy seeing some of the delectable — and influential — menus.
We welcome two speakers for this:
Donna Seger, Professor of History at Salem State University and co-author and co-editor of Salem’s Centuries: New Perspectives on the History of an Old American City.
Rebecca Johnson, Marketing and Program Coordinator at historic Hamilton Hall.
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“Becoming the City of Peace: How Naumkeag became Salem”
June 13th
We welcome Ben Shallop, author of “The Founding of Salem; City of Peace” will discuss the events of 1626-1628, the indigenous community that was here when fishermen under Roger Conant first arrived in 1626, Roger Conant’s time as Governor of the Fishing Station, and the transfer of power to the Puritans in 1628 that inspired the name “Salem” that today we all know so well. Mr. Shallop’s lifelong love of history began during his childhood in Salem, Massachusetts. Over the years, he has worked in the Florida Park Service, in education, and as a community and labor organizer. It is this working-class perspective that he brings to his history of the early settlement of Salem. He moved back to Salem in 2008 and began to rediscover the history that had initially inspired his love of learning as a child. Today, Mr. Shallop works as a union representative in the growing Massachusetts film industry and is an active member in several civic organizations in Salem.
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Jacqueline “Jacquie” Valatka is a Finance Manager, business strategist, and community advocate with expertise in financial analysis, strategic planning, process improvement, and organizational effectiveness. With experience across diverse industries, she specializes in helping organizations improve operations through innovation and data-driven decision-making.
Born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya, Jacquie holds degrees in Accounting and Finance and an MBA from Northeastern University. She has served as President of the Institute of Management Accountants since 2010 and has been Business Manager at The House of the Seven Gables since 2017.
Passionate about community building, cultural exchange and preservation, environmental stewardship and the arts, Jacquie serves on nonprofit boards, supports public art initiatives, and works to foster connection through creativity. She lives in Salem with her husband and two children.
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“Providential Strawberries: Foodways of the English Colonizers”
June 14th
We welcome Kristina Stevick, local historian. Kristina Wacome Stevick combines her training in the arts and social sciences to create original theatre about local history. Her company, History Alive, Inc. is the producer of “Cry Innocent: the People vs. BridgetBishop”, the audience-immersive witchcraft examination that has been running since 1992. Kristina is the author of more site and occasion-specific theatrical commissions than she can recount. Programming partnerships have included The House of the Seven Gables, The Witch House, Salem 1630: Pioneer Village, The Ipswich Museum, The Marblehead Museum, Hamilton Hall, The Salem
Inn, Essex Heritage, and the City of Salem. A current iron in the fire is “Love, Your Salem”—a selection of 40 change-making Salemites who will be brought to life on August 1st as part of the Salem 400+ Heritage Days
Parade. Another is “Fashioning for Freedom”—a series that inverts the convention of a fashion runway to celebrate the lives of social justice innovators. Kristina credits her mom for her love of historic properties, her dad for the example that world building is a
worthy occupation, and her husband, kids and chosen family for their open minds and willing spirits.
June 13th and 14th
1PM “Why did Roger Conant leave England? The backstory to his decision to set up a lasting settlement in America.” Speaker: Ian Blackwell from East Budleigh, UK
2PM “Providential Strawberries: Foodways of the English Colonizers”
Kristina Stevick, historian, History Alive, Inc. Salem, MA
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Thursday June 18th
Thursday 18th 3pm to 5pm
♦ 12:30pm to 1pm
Tanya Rose Lane presenting for Thomas (Spirit Tree) Green (due to illness Thomas will not be presenting.)
Enrolled member of the Massachusett tribe
Will be presenting information on traditional indigenous fish weirs and the harvest of fish produced from them. Learn about the finished product derived from the passive collection of resources from the ocean and process of preserving through smoking.
♦ 1pm to 4pm Culinary Cures: Cooking Herbs as Medicine
Type: Drop-in Demonstration with Dan Marshall
Early English settlers relied on their kitchen gardens for food and medicine, transplanting familiar plants to a new world. Traditional herbal treatments for disease developed in European medicine often relied on culinary ingredients like rosemary, sage, and garlic. Over time, new plants and experiences encountered in America blended with the old.
Join historian Dan Marshall to explore some of the books, journals, and writings that shed light on how the seeds of medicine crossed the Atlantic and thrived in new soil. Lend a hand as Dan creates simple remedies made from simple kitchen ingredients.
This program is sponsored by The Essex National Heritage Area
