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 19 of 471 notable people

0014 PROFESSOR

Ernest Fenollosa

1853 - 1908

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0024 INVENTION

Thomas A. Watson

1854 - 1934

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0038 COMPOSER

Arthur Foote

1853 - 1937

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0092 PAINTER

Alice Barber Stephens

1858 - 1932

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0119 POLITICIAN

Theodore Thurston Geer

1851 - 1924

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0124 CLERGY

Endicott Peabody (educator)

1857 - 1944

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0140 ASTRONOMER

Frank Washington Very

1852 - 1927

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0143 EDUCATOR

LeBaron Russell Briggs

1855 - 1934

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0168 GOLF

Mary Abbott (golfer)

1857 - 1904

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0181 POLITICIAN

Isaac Ambrose Barber

1852 - 1909

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0182 POLITICIAN

James Yancy Callahan

1852 - 1935

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0192 COACH

Thomas Trueblood

1856 - 1951

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0221 ASTRONOMER

Winslow Upton

1853 - 1914

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0232 PRIEST

Louis Sebastian Walsh

1858 - 1924

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0272 BASEBALL

Horace Phillips (baseball)

1853 - 1896

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0316 LIBRARIAN

Nathaniel Dana Carlile Hodges

1852 - 1927

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0381 BANK

Robert Winsor

1858 - 1930

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0412 FARMER

Walker M. Curtiss

1852 - 1917

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0455 LAWYER

Leroy D. Thoman

1851 - 1909

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