East India Marine Society

The East India Marine Society (est. 1799) of Salem, Massachusetts, United States, was "composed of persons who have actually navigated the seas beyond the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn, as masters or supercargoes of vessels belonging to Salem." It functioned as a charitable and educational organization, and maintained a library and museum. It flourished especially in the 1800s–1830s, a heyday of foreign trade.

In 1910 the society reincorporated as "Trustees of the Salem East India Marine Society."

The society founders were invested in the establishment of a museum from the beginning: their third objective was "to form a Museum of natural and artificial curiosities, particularly such as are found beyond the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn." Within three years, their collection had grown too large for their building, so they relocated to the Salem Bank building, constructed by Colonel Benjamin Pickman, on Essex Street.

In 1825 the society dedicated the newly constructed East India Marine Hall, designed by architect Thomas Waldron Sumner. It shared the building with the Asiatic Bank and Oriental Insurance Company. Museum staff included Seth Bass, Malthus A. Ward, and Henry Wheatland.

The museum existed under the East India Marine Society name from 1799 until 1867, when it was purchased by George Peabody for $140,000. The East India Marine Hall and its collections were combined with those of the Essex Institute in the fields of natural history and ethnology, and reimagined as the Peabody Academy of Science. In 1915, the Peabody Academy of Science transitioned into the Peabody Museum of Salem; after merging with the Essex Institute completely in 1992, it became the Peabody Essex Museum.

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