Peabody Essex Museum — Attraction in Salem

I recently went to the Peabody Essex Museum for the first time. Based on that experience, I will never go back.

I stopped here with friends during a weekend away. I had a backpack with me that contained several medications and other personal items, so I didn't trust leaving it in a locker. Well, it turns out that PEM requires patrons to carry backpacks on their sides or fronts. Everything is behind glass cases and most rooms are pretty spacious, but OK, fine.

I started with my bag on my front. At one point I got my lip balm out, and without thinking, I slung the bag back onto my back (automatic action). An older, white, male security guard saw me. Rather than asking me politely to turn it around, he half-yelled, "You can't have that on your back." I recognize I was not following the policy in the moment, and it's his job to enforce it. And if I'd been tapping on display glass or jumping over a rope, that tone might be called for. But for turning around a compact backpack (which, for the record, ended up much closer to the display cases when I wore on my front verus my back)? His behavior was needlessly aggressive.

After that, I carried my bag on my front as we wandered, which was close to an hour. We then decided we were ready to leave after stopping at "All the Flowers Are for Me." Famously, this exhibit is a hanging, encased light installation in an otherwise open, huge room. Also, my friends and I were the only people in there. So, thinking there was nothing to potentially harm in this room, and wanting to give my back some relief, I turned my backpack around.

Within seconds, the man charged into the room. He got inappropriately close to us and once again berated me to turn my backpack around... in this open, enormous room. That confirmed two things: First, he'd been tailing me. Second, his actions were rooted in neither common sense nor an understanding of necessary enforcement. He enjoyed following and bullying.

As we left, the man was sitting on a bench outside the exhibit, appearently reading a pamphlet or magazine. We made our way down to the gift shop... lo and behold, he was suddenly right behind us again. I then passed through the shop to wait in the hall by the coat closet... and there he was again, in the atrium. Not a coincidence.

I should note here that I'm a BIPOC woman. Throughout this experience, I suspected this man's motives were rooted in a specific -ist, as throughout our visit, I saw a few not-BIPOC patrons with bags bigger than mine on their backs. However, as my friends and I left, this man had found a new target: a white patron with a service dog at the front security checkpoint. I wasn't party to the actual conversation, but the man was doing lots of pointing at this woman and her dog, and she looked distressed.

After this experience, I decided to read some reviews of PEM. Sadly, this type of behavior is well documented as having happened regularly among PEM staff going back many years. Moreover, in sharing this story with people I know, one friend told me that when she and her husband, both white, visited PEM several years ago, neither had bags, and they were also followed closely. Moreover, they got admonished for standing too close to the displays. While I wasn't there, I'm confident that these folks were not, in fact, inappropriately close to anything. So, PEM just seems to struggle writ large with respecting patrons.

Discouraging people from supporting museums is not my typical MO, but I can't recommend this one. There are scores of other museums within Salem and the Greater Boston area that invest in better collections and kind, decent staff.

Also, since the museum has replied to negative reviews over time: If anyone from PEM is reading this, don't waste our time by responding with a pat "we're sorry you had a bad experience." You have plenty of evidence of a pattern of aggressive, unacceptable behavior among your staff, and your allowing it to continue means you at least implicitly condone that behavior. If you want to do better, then...

As with all things 2020 there is little to do because of social distancing and the shutdowns, altering life in ways I couldn't have imagine a year ago. Yet here we are. Opportunities such as a visit to the PEM helps to allow activities to partake in, otherwise it's quarantine at home and the occasional venture out to a restaurant while outdoors. As the weather changes and it starts becoming cooler, this last option will be less appealing.

As we arrive to the front door, we are asked if we are from outside New England. If the answer is no, we can proceed forward. Then it's further screening questions. With satisfactory answers, you can proceed forward to the desk to purchase your tickets. We bought general admission, then tickets to the Salem Witch Trials exhibit and Salem Stories exhibit.

We were able to see the museum in a day's time, with exception to the Yin Yu Tang home and one of the exhibit sections. We were growing tired with sore soles, and decided to leave an hour early for the restaurant in the Salem Sound Square before the dinner rush.

The Salem Witch Trials Exhibit was timed, and you had approximately 1 hour. This was not enough time, as there was much to read. Most of the exhibit were documents, but to see primary sources from the Witch Trials of 1692 was fascinating. I could have spent the day in this one exhibit, absorbing everything before me. There are several artifacts from chests, a halberd, a door and windows from one of the first Salem Homes. However, to see boards from the Salem Jail which held the accused, was chilling. Such simple objects were a part of such misery, many do not realize that several people died in the jails while waiting to finish their own trials. They were not convicted but nonetheless, victims of the hysteria.

There is so much more to this museum. Salem was a major trade hub for America. Memories of my father telling me anecdotes about salem ship building and trade; there were so many ships from Salem in Chinese ports of trade, that the Chinese thought Salem was a country. Salem was a major shipbuilding port also, after the revolution sailors and shipowners created trade routes across the world, bringing world goods to American shores. This history is forgotten, it had contributed to the building of Salem (just walk through the McIntire district with the Federal style mansions). The rest of the museum is a reminder of this history, this is what made Salem what it is today.

The staff are friendly and helpful, courteous. The museum is clean. With social distancing requirements, the museum can be a bit if a maze as traffic is being tightly directed. One exhibit, the Fashion and Design, was accessable through either an elevator, or you had to go a certain direction through several exhibits. A staff member resigned to us that it was easier to guide visitors themselves rather than attempt with...

We visited on a Friday afternoon in mid-June 2025 around 3PM. We didn't have much time in the museum and didn't really get to see it all. But we did get in for FREE with our NARM (North American Reciprocal Museum) membership pass. 2 adults and 3 kids.

Parking was rough. We found spot in nearby parking lot but had to drive around multiple times. There is no parking at the museum and we couldn't fit in a garage because our minivan with cargo carrier was too tall. The parking fee was actually reasonably priced unlike the parking spaces in Boston.

The security at the door was really nice and directed us to the complementary lockers and coat check area. You get the keys for the lockers from the coat check. We were able to fit our backpacks and everything in there. You can walk around the museum with water bottles.

The museum stores are right at the front. There are kind of like 2 different ones divided by a hallway. The more kid stuff is in the front one near the door and the fancier stuff is close tot he inside of the museum and opens into the main atrium area. There is actually a gift shop extension just down the street a block or so which opens later than the giftshop in the museum. We didn't know they were affiliated until we tried to buy something and used our NARM discount.

Unfortunately with the time we had we had to run through the majority of the museum. We didn't get to see everything even though we basically ran through everything. My favorite was all the glass stuff in the room with the balcony and also the giant floating light square. My wife liked the Salem witch trial exhibit. The museum has a weird floor layout so pay attention or you might miss something.

We did have tickets as well for the Yu Tang House. It was the 5 of us and 1 other person for our time slot which was the last of the day. There was a nice person on the main floor who answered all our questions as we walked around. There was a second staffer upstairs who looked pretty grumpy and he just stared at us the entire time and honestly made us feel a little uncomfortable. We did feel a little rushed as I'm sure they wanted to close it down and be done for the day. We'd be a little more upset if we had paid more to visit. There is a pond in the middle but overall a cool thing to explore. We spent maybe 20 mins total in the house. They also gave you like plug-in headphone/earpieces to listen as well while in the house.

Overall a great museum and with what we paid, even better. We would 100% visit again because we had to rush our way through the entire thing. If you're in town and want something to do, I'd put this on top...