Mary H. Northend Photographs

Mary Harrod Northend was born in Salem, Massachusetts, the daughter of William D. and Susan Stedman Harrod Northend and a descendant of several old Massachusetts families.  She suffered from poor health during her childhood and was not able to attend school regularly.  Even so, she became interested in writing, honed her skills, and became a very prolific and popular author.  She wrote on a wide variety of topics, mostly for magazines, but also penned eleven books.  Miss Northend was a noted authority on colonial architecture and customs and had many photographs taken of old homes and antiques to illustrate her articles and books.  Miss Northend used a professional photographer to take many of her photographs.  She died in her native Salem in 1926 from an operation necessitated by an automobile accident.  

The Northend Collection contains glass plate negatives, and the corresponding study prints, related to architecture, interiors, furniture, ceramics, clothing, glass, lighting devices, and metalwork.  The online collection represents the photos of architecture and interiors of homes mostly in Salem and surrounding towns, with bibliographic notes on books and articles illustrated by the photos.