The Essex Institute (1848–1992) in Salem, Massachusetts, was "a literary, historical and scientific society."[1] It maintained a museum, library,[2] historic houses; arranged educational programs; and issued numerous scholarly publications. In 1992 the institute merged with the Peabody Museum of Salem to form the Peabody Essex Museum.[3]
On December 8, 2017, Dan L. Monroe, PEM’s Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Director and CEO, issued a statement announcing that the 42,000 linear feet of historical documents will be permanently relocated to Rowley, MA to allow Plummer Hall and Daland House, the two historic buildings which had housed the Phillips Library, to undergo critically needed preservation and renovation work.[4]