42.2575° N, 87.8760° W

SALEM

Most Famous People Born in Salem, United States

Notable people
471
Peak decade
1950s
Median birth year
1899
Most distinctive
Librarian 14.5×
Through the Decades

One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Salem during each.

Notable Births by Decade

Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1950s with 36 notable births.

What Salem Is Known For

Click any row to filter the list of people below.

Politician is Salem's biggest profession — 18% of all notables (84).

Salem over-indexes on librarian — 14.5× the global rate.

Salem under-produces football — only 0.6× the global rate.

  1. Politician84
  2. Football33
  3. Lawyer26
  4. Actor21
  5. Baseball20
  6. Writer12
  7. Basket11
  8. Business10
  1. Librarian514.5×
  2. Baseball203.7×
  3. Lawyer263.2×
  4. Judge73.1×
  5. Officer82.6×
  6. Physicist52.5×
  7. Business102.1×
  8. Basket111.9×
  1. Football330.6×
  2. Painter80.7×

Profession Mix Over Time

Each band shows a profession family's share of Salem's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.

16501700175018001850190019502000
  • Politics & Law
  • Sports
  • Writing
  • Science
  • Film & TV
  • Military
  • Other
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Showing 23 of 471 notable people

0003 STATESMAN

John Hay

1838 - 1905

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0022 MILITAR

Frederick Townsend Ward

1831 - 1862

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0063 POLITICIAN

John Allen Campbell

1835 - 1880

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0072 ANTHROPOLOGIST

Frederic Ward Putnam

1839 - 1915

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0085 LAWYER

Joseph Hodges Choate

1832 - 1917

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0087 PAINTER

Fidelia Bridges

1834 - 1923

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0108 COMPOSER

Benjamin Johnson Lang

1837 - 1909

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0170 POLITICIAN

Clement Hall Sinnickson

1834 - 1919

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0204 POLITICIAN

George Hires

1835 - 1911

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0225 NURSE

Cornelia Hancock

1839 - 1926

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0246 JOURNALIST

Alfred Horatio Belo

1839 - 1901

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0261 ARMY

Barclay Coppock

1839 - 1861

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0267 LAWYER

William Gardner Choate

1830 - 1920

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0277 WRITER

James McDonald Chaney

1831 - 1909

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0303 JUDGE

David G. Swaim

1834 - 1897

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0326 INVENTOR

Joseph T. Murray

1834 - 1907

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0374 COLONEL

Arthur F. Devereux

1838 - 1906

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0375 PRIEST

Ozi William Whitaker

1830 - 1911

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0432 WRITER

Emily Lucas Blackall

1832 - 1892

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0437 NAVY

Thomas Lyons (Medal of Honor)

1838 - 1904

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0442 NAVY

Robert B. Wood

1836 - 1878

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0452 POLITICIAN

Thomas E. Sherwood

1835 - 1897

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0459 ABOLITIONIST

Edwin Coppoc

1835 - 1859

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