Peabody Museum of Salem

The Peabody Essex Museum features a glass-covered atrium, the Atrium of the East India Marine Hall, that dominates its street presence. This institution grew from the East India Marine Society, founded in seventeen ninety-nine by Salem sea captains who navigated around the capes of Africa and South America. Each member had to bring back a natural or artificial curiosity from their voyages. Captains brought home everything from Fijian shell necklaces to carved ivory, creating a collection that cataloged the global reaches of Salem trade.