History is like a game of telephone: an incorrect fact can be passed from person to person and become conventional wisdom. Through diligent research, historians strive to untangle these errors. Join us during Salem Ancestry Days for an hour long, free virtual lecture given by our Department of Education. In this talk, we’re going to...
Witch hunting is a thing of the past in the western world. Witch persecution is alluded as a tragic episode that happened centuries ago. Incidentally, this is not the case in many parts of Africa. Witch persecutions and trials are ongoing incidents in the region. Witchcraft accusation is a form of death sentence in many...
We’re delighted to welcome author Heather B. Moore, a tenth-generation descendant of Susannah Martin, for a signing at the Salem Witch Museum on June 22, 2023. Moore’s historical fiction work, "Condemn Me Not," is an affecting and moving re-telling of Martin’s story. In Moore’s hands, the woman who was infamously cemented in history by Reverend...
Why do witches wear pointed hats? Or have big noses? Or eat children? The answers, it may surprise us to learn, can be found in the history of antisemitism. Before witchcraft became a dominant scapegoat for misfortune in Europe, it was Jews who were often said to be demonic, evil individuals who poisoned wells, spread...
Studying the lives of colonial women can be a difficult undertaking. Ferreting out basic information, from a birthday to a maiden name, is often impossible. This is particularly challenging when one comes across a woman who is described as mentally unwell. What does it mean to be “crazed in her understanding,” “melancholy,” or “one part...
We’re delighted to welcome author Janice Thompson for a book signing at the Salem Witch Museum on Friday, May 24, 2024. Thompson’s first novel is a historical fiction work titled Dry Tinder: A Tale of Rivalry and Injustice in Salem Village. The tale is based on the true story of the Towne sisters, three innocent...
Cotton Mather is perhaps most famous for his role in the Salem witch trials. He was also the minister at Boston’s North Church (Second Church) and a prolific writer with a transatlantic audience. Mather has often been portrayed as an instigator of the trials and a witch hunter. But what exactly did he do, and...
In 1900, America was introduced to both its first fairytale and its first good witches. L. Frank Baum’s iconic children’s story The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ushered in a new age for the witch, transforming these monstrous figures of old into good, kind, and beautiful characters. While we will never know what precisely inspired Baum...
The American Ancestors organization once estimated 15 million people can trace their family line back to the Salem witch trials. We often tell visitors that the English colonists of 1692 were the founding fathers and mothers of our country. They were themselves descended from the earliest settlers, who were establishing a new country and took...
Salem’s witch trials were the last frenzy of witchcraft accusations in colonial New England. But what was the first? Join us for a free virtual lecture with Elizabeth Kapp, Curator of History at the Springfield Museums, on Thursday, September 25th at 6:00 pm EST. Discover the story of Mary Lewis and Hugh Parsons featured in...
