Bush House Museum Tours Temporarily Suspended Until Further Notice 

We’re Preparing for an Exciting New Visitor Experience

Beginning immediately, guided tours and specialty tours at Bush House Museum are temporarily suspended until further notice as we prepare for the opening of the restored Servants’ Quarters this fall.

This temporary closure allows us to safely complete restoration work in the historic home while protecting our visitors, volunteers, and staff. During this time, crews are repainting the space using historically appropriate colors and reclaiming original flooring to create an authentic interpretation of this important area of the museum.

A New Chapter of Bush House History

The restoration of the Servants’ Quarters will introduce visitors to a fascinating and often overlooked part of life at Bush House. Through thoughtfully recreated spaces and historic artifacts, the new exhibit will explore the daily lives of the women and men whose work supported the Bush household at the turn of the twentieth century.

When the exhibit opens this fall, visitors will discover:

  • A recreated servant’s bedroom
  • Historic tools, utensils, and household equipment used in daily work
  • Stories of the individuals whose labor kept the household running
  • Insights into the lives of domestic workers and their connections to the Salem community

This new experience offers a richer, more complete understanding of the people whose contributions were essential to the Bush family and to Salem’s history.

We appreciate your patience as we complete this exciting restoration project. We look forward to welcoming you back early September to explore the newly restored Servants’ Quarters and experience a new perspective on Bush House Museum.

Upcoming Events and Special Tours

Check back soon for more Upcoming Events at the Bush House Museum.

Past SPECIAL TOURS

Current shows in the new “AMERICA WALDO BOGLE GALLERY”

The Immigrant Story: I Lived to Tell the World | Jim Lommasson

recent shows in the new “AMERICA WALDO BOGLE GALLERY”

PAST Events

PAST Special installations

The Re-Imagining Process

The Salem Art Association (SAA) believes in the power of art to not only educate, entertain, delight, and dazzle, but to simultaneously interrogate, stimulate, and challenge. Ultimately, we hope that our exhibitions will generate thoughtful reflection and conversation, while fostering growth and healing across our community. 

As caretakers of the Bush House Museum, SAA has a special responsibility to look closely at the historical record and, when evidence of oppression or racism comes to light, to acknowledge wrongdoings in an honest and upfront manner. To this end, we must clearly and unequivocally condemn Asahel Bush’s racist words and actions. 

SAA is currently working to redefine the history, artifacts and art being presented at Bush House Museum. This Re-Imagining process is meant to be ongoing, inclusive, and intentional. We believe this work is necessary and important both as a local project here in Salem as well as a part of our broader national conversation about colonialism, oppression, discrimination, and racism in America.

Going forward, the fundamental building blocks of this work will be our newly crafted Mission, Vision and Values Statements – which are copied below.

We welcome your feedback and, as always, are interested in hearing your ideas and suggestions for future programming and exhibitions.

Matthew Boulay, Ph.D.

Executive Director

Salem Art Association

The Bush House Museum is preserved to explore and interpret Salem’s Bush Family and Bush’s Pasture Park, the cultural diversity of Salem history and the development of early Oregon. Bush House Museum is supported in part by a grant of Transient Occupancy Tax funds from the City of Salem.

Asahel Bush was founding editor of the Oregon Statesman newspaper, 1851-1863, and co-founder of Salem’s Ladd & Bush Bank in 1868. Bush had the Leslie house moved off the property in 1877, and the two-story Italianate home was completed the next year. Along with the extant farm buildings, the Bush House Museum retains a significant amount of original furnishings, wallpaper and fixtures. There is also an archive of original photographs, documents and ephemera documenting the Bush Family. Since 1953, the Bush House Museum’s guided tours and programming have been a significant cultural-heritage asset for Salem residents and visitors.

Image: An Early View of the Bush House and Mission Street, c. 1885

For more information about Asahel Bush, please visit the Oregon Encyclopedia, a project of the Oregon Historical Society.

Bush Conservatory constructed in 1882 for Eugenia “Genie” Bush