She has been researching Emmerton since 1992, and impersonating her for tourists since 1996, and says the woman is a bit of a mystery. 

“I became very interested in the story of Caroline Emmerton and the work that she did, both in historic preservation and in social service,” said Axelrod, who lives in Lynn and used to work at the Gables, where she now volunteers. “I wanted to know more, and got to go into the archives and see what was there. There was not a lot. No personal papers, no business papers.”

But the things we do know about Emmerton’s life are more than enough to justify celebrating her 150th birthday, which The House of the Seven Gables will do this year with parties, lectures and exhibits.

“It’s a commemoration of the mission that she left for us,” said Julie Arrison-Bishop, special projects manager at the Gables. “We’re so proud of the fact that we still have this dual mission, of historic preservation of our national historic district museum campus, and also our social work within the community.”

Emmerton is being honored this month with an exhibit, “Caroline Emmerton: An Unbounded Vision,” which recently opened in the visitors area at The House of the Seven Gables. The exhibit describes her career in illustrated panels, in addition to presenting some personal items.

“We do have some special items from our collection, including Caroline Emmerton’s personal punch bowl that she used for entertaining,” Arrison-Bishop said. 

Read the entire Salem News article here.