Salem Witch Museum

The Not So Good Life of the Colonial Goodwife
2021-10-21 18:30 - 19:30 (America/New_York) | Virtual Event
Binge-watch Vikings, Turn, or Frontier, and you’ll see people being disemboweled, tortured, and decapitated – but you won’t see anything about menstruation, chamber pots, birth control, breastfeeding, or poopy babies. It’s 2021! Even though Google cars have been invented and women won the vote 101 years ago, these “unsanitary” subjects still make people uncomfortable and are omitted from history.
Discover what life was really like for New England’s colonial women – because we’ve always been curious about: menstruation, sex, birth control, childbirth, sickness, and medicine.
For instance, in an era when underwear hadn’t been invented, what did women do when they had their periods? What were early American birth control methods? It was suggested that women try jumping backwards seven times after intercourse to expel sperm, drink water that blacksmiths used to cool metals, or insert a mixture of dried crocodile dung and honey into the vagina.
The Not-So-Good Life of The Colonial Goodwife not only makes audiences laugh and grimace – it also honors our foremothers. It’s not about quilting bees and spinning wheels – it’s a virtual presentation about the little-known issues faced by New England’s colonial women. Perhaps women need to be reminded how far we’ve come to see how far we still can go.
We are very excited to offer this event virtually! The event will be held live on Zoom at 6:30 EST. Once you have purchased a ticket, you will receive a confirmation receipt. The day before the event (October 20), you will receive an email with the Zoom link and password to access the virtual event room.

In Memory of Ann Dolliver
2022-03-27 11:00 - 12:00 | Virtual Event
In 1692, Ann Dolliver, the daughter of Salem Town’s elder minister, lived with her three children on the land where the Salem Witch Museum stands today. Despite the fact that Ann was the daughter of a respected New England reverend and sister of a Justice of the Peace, she was accused of witchcraft and arrested in June of 1692. Abandoned by her husband, left with three children, forced to move home with her father and step-mother in her 40s, she was described by her father as “melancholy” and “crazed in her understanding.” What little information is known about Ann Dolliver paints the picture of a sad and tragic life. Additionally, over the course of this research, our Department of Education has uncovered new information about another woman involved in the witchcraft trials, which will be discussed towards the end of this presentation.
This free, virtual presentation will take place on March 27th at 11:00 EST on Zoom. If you are unable to attend live, this event will also be recorded and shared on our YouTube page for future accessibility.

Zoom Link:
Please click the link below to join the webinar:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89343721142?pwd=[REDACTED]
Passcode: [REDACTED]
Or One tap mobile :
US: +13126266799,,89343721142#,,,,*[REDACTED]# or +19292056099,,89343721142#,,,,*[REDACTED]#
Or Telephone:
Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):
US: +1 312 626 6799 or +1 929 205 6099 or +1 301 715 8592 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 669 900 6833 or +1 253 215 8782
Webinar ID: 893 4372 1142
Passcode: [REDACTED]
International numbers available: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kdqyFjCrN3

Ancestor Stories: Authors Discuss their Family Connections to the Salem Witch Trials
2022-05-01 11:00 - 12:30 | Virtual Event
Join us for this fascinating, hour-long virtual panel discussion with three notable Salem witch trials authors. During this discussion historian and archivist Richard Trask, descendant of Mary Esty, Rebecca Nurse, and John Procter, historical fiction author Kathleen Kent, descendant of Martha Carrier, and historian Mary Beth Norton, descendant of Mary Bradbury, will discuss how they discovered their ancestry and how it has informed their work.
The event will be held live on Zoom at 11:00 am EST on Sunday, May 1st. Once you have purchased a ticket, you will receive a confirmation receipt. The day before the event (April 30th), you will receive an email with the Zoom link and password to access the virtual event room.

Beyond Salem: The Witch Trials in Torsåker, Sweden
2022-06-05 11:00 - 12:00 | Virtual Event
Though the Salem trials of 1692 are today one of the most famous in the Western world, they were far from the largest or deadliest. Nearly two decades before Salem, the Torsåker parish in Sweden was overtaken by a terrible witchcraft panic. In just one day in 1675, 71 people were beheaded and burned at the stake. By the time these tragic events came to an end, Sweden had experienced the largest witch-hunt in the country’s history.
Join us on Sunday June 5th for a virtual presentation given by Maria Nordlund, the foremost expert in the witch trials that took place in the village of Torsåker, Sweden. Maria is an archeologist and researcher with a long career at the Västernorrlands museum.
We are thrilled to be working in collaboration with the Witch Museum in Hola, Sweden. This will be a reciprocal presentation following a lecture given by our Education Department about the Salem witch trial.
This free virtual event will take place on Zoom at 11:00 am Eastern Standard Time on Sunday, June 5th. Registration is not required to attend the event.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86212109637?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 862 1210 9637
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Author Signing with Dan Gagnon
2022-06-30 13:00 - 17:00 | The Salem Witch Museum, 19 1/2 Washington Square North, Salem, MA, 01970, United States
Join us on Thursday, June 30th for an author signing event with Dan Gagnon. From 1:00-5:00 Gagnon will be on-site signing copies of his new book “A Salem Witch: The Trial, Execution, and Exoneration of Rebecca Nurse.”

This biography of witch trial’s victim Rebecca Nurse vividly recreates seventeenth century Salem, and in the process challenges previous interpretations of Nurse’s life and the 1692 witch hunt.

Dan Gagnon serves on the board of directors of the Rebecca Nurse Homestead Museum in Danvers, Massachusetts and also works as a high school history teacher on the North Shore.

Weather permitting, the signing will take place in our front garden gate entrance. In the event of rain, the signing will be moved inside. Admission to the museum will not be required to purchase a signed copy.

Memorializing the Witch Trials
2022-08-19 18:30 - 19:30 | Virtual Event
This year marks the thirtieth anniversary of the creation of the Salem Witch Trials Memorial. Erected in downtown Salem in 1992, this was an important moment for the city, as Salem continued to process the legacy and significance of these tragic events as a modern community. During the years leading up to the 300th anniversary, the Salem Witch Museum’s Executive Director and Education Director focused almost exclusively on this project. Drawing on our archives, we will examine such topics as, the discussions around the need for a permanent memorial, funding, the design selection, tercentenary events, and the creation of the Salem Award. This presentation will also discuss how the memorial has been treated by visitors and the community since its unveiling.
Join us on Friday, August 19 at 6:30 pm EST for this hour-long, free virtual event. We will record the event for those who are unable to attend live. The recording will be available on our website and YouTube page for future accessibility.
Zoom Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83675979839?pwd=[REDACTED]
Passcode: [REDACTED]

History of Haunted Happenings
2022-10-06 18:00 - 19:00 | Virtual Event
This year is an anniversary heavy year for us– as many of you may know! Not only is it the Salem Witch Museum’s 50th anniversary, it is also the 30th anniversary of the Salem Witch Trials Memorial and the 40th anniversary of Salem’s Haunted Happenings festival (both of which this museum was instrumental in creating).
Beginning in 1982 as a weekend-long, family-friendly fall festival, Haunted Happenings immediately surpassed all expectations, growing into an enormous annual celebration. Join us for this free virtual event as we discuss why this festival was created in Salem, its early days, and how it has grown and changed ever since! If you are a Halloween enthusiast, this is an event for you!
This presentation will take place on Zoom on Thursday, October 6th at 6:00 PM EST. We will record the presentation and share the recording on our YouTube page for future accessibility.

ZOOM LINK:https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89418491663?pwd=[REDACTED]
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Tituba, Maryse Condé and escrevivência: Black Women and the Word as Legacy
2023-03-08 18:00 - 19:00 | Virtual Event
Tituba, an enslaved woman in the household of Salem Village’s minister, was one of the first to be accused of witchcraft in 1692. Under enormous pressure, she became the first to confess and claim there were more witches hiding in the colony.
Through word Tituba was defined as a witch and through the word she accepted this identity and thus kept herself alive. Maryse Condé’s acclaimed novel “Tituba, Black Witch of Salem” has sought to fill in the gaps in this story. Join us as we celebrate International Women’s Day on Wednesday, March 8th for a free virtual lecture given by Maria Carolina. In this presentation, Maria will discuss the concept of escrevivência (a term that refers to the specific writing of black women who, by narrating their own experiences, honor their ancestors) through the character Tituba and her relationship with Maryse Condé and other black women around the world.
Maria Carolina is a teacher and writer. A voracious reader, passionate about the word, she is dedicated to research using the methodology of oral history and escrevivência to analyze narratives produced by black women. She is the creator of @encruzilinhas, a project for reading and debating texts about blackness, gender, feminism, and militancy. She is a researcher at GEPHOM – EACH-USP and a doctoral student at EACH-USP, in the Graduate Program in Social Change and Political Participation, in which she develops research with black Brazilian women married to Italians.
This event will be hosted as a free webinar and will be recorded and shared on our website/YouTube page for future accessibility. The event will be held live on Zoom on Wednesday, March 8th at 6:00 pm Eastern Standard Time.
Zoom Link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89633138046?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 896 3313 8046
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Learning From Our Mistakes: Researching the Salem Witch Trials
2023-04-21 18:00 - 19:00 | Virtual Event
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 discuss some misconceptions about the Salem witch trials, highlighting how mistakes are made, repeated, and eventually corrected. Where were the innocent victims executed? Were bored, teenage girls to blame? What is the ergot theory?
This presentation will take place on Zoom on Friday, April 21st at 6:00 PM EST. The presentation will be recorded and shared on the Salem Witch Museum YouTube page for future accessibility.
No registration is required for this event.
Please click the link below to join the webinar:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84161286148?pwd=[REDACTED]
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Witch Hunting is Not a Thing of the Past in Africa
2023-05-15 18:00 - 19:00 | Virtual Event
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 countries. Across the continent, thousands, mainly women and elderly persons, are accused, tried, attacked, killed, imprisoned or banished every year. Join us on Monday, May 15th for a fascinating virtual lecture given by Dr. Leo Igwe, Director of the Advocacy for Alleged Witches. In this presentation, Dr. Igwe will use several cases to illustrate the range of witch persecution and why this early modern phenomenon persists in contemporary Africa.
The event will be held live on Zoom on Monday March 15th at 6:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. This event will be hosted as a free webinar and will be recorded and shared on our website/YouTube page for future accessibility. No registration is required for this event.
Please click the link below to join the webinar:
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89781456992?pwd=[REDACTED]
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Author Signing with Heather B. Moore
2023-06-22 12:00 - 16:00 | The Salem Witch Museum, 19 1/2 Washington Square North, Salem, MA, 01970, United States
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 Cotton Mather as “one of the most impudent, scurrilous, wicked creatures in the world,” is instead brought to life as a warm and loving wife and mother, strong-willed and courageous.

The signing will take place from 12 noon to 4 pm, on our front plaza.

“Condemn Me Not” is currently available on our online store.
https://salemwitchmuseum.com/…/condemn-me-not-accused…/

Witch Trials and Antisemitism: A Surprisingly Tangled History
2023-07-20 18:00 - 19:00 | Virtual Event
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 plague, and ate children.
With antisemitic incidents on the rise, it is now more important than ever to consider the lessons of history and the patterns of behavior that occur time and time again. This presentation will consider the long and tangled history between antisemitism and witchcraft beliefs, considering how the allegations and stories used to demonize a group of perceived outsiders have been repurposed again and again, never fully disappearing.
Co-sponsored by Voices Against Injustice, this free virtual lecture will be hosted on Thursday, July 20th at 6:00 pm EST on Zoom.
The presentation will be recorded and shared on the Salem Witch Museum website and YouTube page for future accessibility.
Please click the link below to join the webinar:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84833463232?pwd=[REDACTED]
Passcode: [REDACTED]

“Crazed in Her Understanding”: Women’s Woes During the Salem Witch Trials
2024-03-15 18:00 - 19:00 | Virtual Event
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 off the moon”?
In this presentation, we will discuss several women involved in the Salem witch trials who appear to have struggled with mental health issues. We will consider how these records paint a picture of each of these seventeenth-century women, providing clues about their personal struggles.
Join us on Friday, March 15st at 6:00 pm EST for this free virtual lecture. The presentation will be recorded and shared on the Salem Witch Museum website and YouTube page for future accessibility. No registration is required.

Please click the link below to join the webinar:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84433996229?pwd=[REDACTED]
Passcode: WHM

Author Signing with Janice Thompson
2024-05-24 12:00 - 16:00 | The Salem Witch Museum, 19 1/2 Washington Square North, Salem, MA, 01970, United States
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 women who were falsely accused of witchcraft in 1692. Told through the eyes of Sarah Cloyce, the only one of the trio who escaped execution, the book focuses on some of the complex issues that were prevalent in the decades leading up to the tragedy, among them boundary disputes, religion, wars, and disagreements with Mother England.
The signing will take place from 12 noon to 4 pm on our front plaza.
Dry Tinder is available in our online store at: https://salemwitchmuseum.com/product/dry-tinder-a-tale-of-rivalry-and-injustice-in-salem-village/

Cotton Mather and the Salem Witch Trials: Separating Fact from Fiction Marilynne Roach, Rachel Christ-Doane, and Tricia Peone
2024-08-08 13:00 - 14:00 | Virtual Event
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 why has he been such a polarizing figure?
Join us for a virtual roundtable discussion with Salem witch trials historian Marilynne Roach (author of The Salem Witch Trials and Six Women of Salem), Rachel Christ-Doane (Director of Education at the Salem Witch Museum), and Tricia Peone (Project Director of New England’s Hidden Histories at the Congregational Library & Archives).
The discussion will focus on Cotton Mather’s writings about witchcraft, misconceptions about his role in the Salem witch trials, and his legacy today.
The event is free to all, but registration is required via this link: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_V21PJveNS3CLbi9yetg0IA
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about the webinar.
For more information, please email programs@14beacon.org.

SPEAKER BIOS
Marilynne Roach is a writer, researcher, illustrator, and lecturer who has so far written nine books on topics ranging from Thoreau at Walden to the Salem witchcraft trials. She was an associate editor on the definitive Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt and a member of the Gallows Hill Project that proved the correct location of the 1692 hangings (included in Archaeology Magazine’s list of the world’s ten most important discoveries of 2016). Roach’s The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege is considered the bible of the Salem witch trials.
Rachel Christ-Doane is the Director of Education at the Salem Witch Museum. She holds a BA in History from Clark University and MA in History and Museum Studies from Tufts University. As Director of Education she trains museum docents, works with students and teachers, creates educational programming, oversees exhibit curation, and engages in a range of research. Her recent publications include, “The Salem Witch Trials Memorial: Finding Humanity in Tragedy” (Smithsonian Folklife, 2022) and “The Untold Story of Dorothy Good, Salem’s Youngest Accused Witch” (American Ancestors, 2023).
Tricia Peone is the Project Director of New England’s Hidden Histories at the Congregational Library & Archives. She previously worked at Historic New England, where she was a research scholar for the Recovering New England’s Voices project. She has also previously worked as a university lecturer teaching classes on the Salem witch trials, early New England, and public history, and as a researcher for cultural heritage organizations. Her scholarship focuses on early modern magic and witchcraft and her work on these subjects has appeared in journals, books, blogs, and on radio and television. She holds a PhD in history from the University of New Hampshire with a specialization in the early modern Atlantic world and history of science.

The Wonderful Woman Behind Oz
2025-03-26 18:00 - 19:00 | Virtual Event
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 to include good witches in his story, this presentation will discuss the influence of one powerful close connection, Matilda Joslyn Gage. Though her name is unfamiliar today, Gage was an important leader of the first wave feminist movement, a trailblazing human rights activist, and the mother-in-law of L. Frank Baum.
Join us on Wednesday, March 26th at 6:00 pm EST for this free virtual program about the fascinating woman behind Oz. This presentation will discuss the life and work of Matilda Joslyn Gage, her relationship with her famous-son-in-law, and the effect of Baum’s work on the evolving perception of the witch.
The presentation will be recorded and shared on the Salem Witch Museum website and YouTube page for future accessibility. No registration is required.
Webinar access here passcode MJG.

Our Founding Mothers and Fathers: Revolutionary War Connections to the Salem Witch Trials
2025-08-07 18:00 - 19:30 | Virtual Event
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 the biblical instruction “be fruitful and multiply” to heart.
We often find fascinating connections between the Salem witch trials and the Revolutionary War generation, particularly the one most often referred to as our “Founding Fathers.” With Rev250 celebrations in full swing, this presentation will share some of these interesting stories, including that of Reverend George Burroughs, the Putnam family of Salem Village, Reverend John Hale of Beverly, and Abigail Faulkner of Andover.
Join us on Thursday, August 7th at 6:00 pm EST for this free, virtual program.
Registration is required for this event. Please register here.

Witch Panic! Massachusetts Before Salem
2025-09-25 18:00 - 19:00 | Virtual Event
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 Witch Panic! Massachusetts Before Salem, an exhibition at the Springfield Museums. A married couple living in Springfield, the Parsons faced accusations of witchcraft in 1651, over forty years before the events of Salem. Listen to their neighbors’ testimony and explore how evidence came from aspects of everyday colonial life. Uncover how their alleged witchcraft involves one of the first banned books in English North America and learn how the edition on display connects Springfield to the Salem Witch Trials. The exhibit Witch Panic! Massachusetts Before Salem is on display at the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History through November 2, 2025.
Registration is required for this event. Please register here.

Profoundly Vulnerable: The Story of Four Witchcraft Accusations
2026-03-05 18:00 - 19:00 | Virtual Event
Join us on March 5th for our first virtual lecture of 2026, “Profoundly Vulnerable: The Story of Four Witchcraft Accusations,” presented in celebration of the 39th annual Women’s History Month.
There were many reasons why a woman in seventeenth-century New England might be accused of witchcraft, but those who were alone, poor, and, perhaps, quarrelsome were in particular danger. We will focus on four women targeted during the Salem witch trials. Rachel Clinton, Sarah Good, Margaret Scott, and Ann Dolliver each had promising beginnings in the New World but, through no fault of their own, found themselves in desperate circumstances.
This free virtual program will be hosted on Thursday, March 5th at 6:00 pm ET. Registration is required for this event. Please register here.

Enchanted Plants: An Exploration of Common and Uncommon Plants in Folklore and Magic
2026-05-07 18:00 - 19:00 | Virtual Event
From the tangled forest to the garden gate, join folklorist, rotten botanist, and author Varla Ventura for an exploration of some of the world’s most enchanted plants. We’ll start in the Queen’s Garden of cultivars, then amble over to the Cottage Garden where ordinary plants offer extraordinary stories. Carefully we’ll slip through the iron gates of the Witch’s Garden to discover poison plants that have shaped history. We’ll gallop on to meadowlands, forests, and finally the sea. From the ordinary apple to the fabulous foxglove, we’ll discover plants that have played a significant role in fairy tales, folklore, and history.
This free virtual program will be hosted on Thursday, May 7th at 6:00 pm ET. Please register here.

Our Founding Mothers and Fathers: More Revolutionary War Connections to the Salem Witch Trials
2026-09-17 13:00 - 14:00 | Virtual Event
Each year we meet hundreds, if not thousands, of individuals who 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 the biblical instruction “be fruitful and multiply” to heart.
It is fascinating to consider the many connections between the Salem witch trials and the Revolutionary War generation, particularly the one most often referred to as our “Founding Fathers.” Part II of our Rev250 lecture series will focus on four more connections, including witchcraft skeptic Robert Calef, Ipswich court clerk Thomas Wade, condemned witch Mary Bradbury, and accuser Bathsheba Pope.
Join us on Thursday, September 17th at 1:00 pm for this free, virtual program.
Registration is required for this event. Please register here.
