February 2021
Race and the Salem Witch Trials
Many are already aware one of the first people to be accused of witchcraft in 1692 was a woman of color, a slave named Tituba Indian. However, race deeply informed many other aspects of the 1692 trials and has dramatically contributed to the public memory of this event over time. Led by our Director and Assistant Director of Education, this presentation will examine the role of race in the context of the 1692 witch trials, as well as in the…
Find out more »April 2021
“Thrown into pits”: how were the bodies of the nineteen hanged Salem “witches” really treated?
What happened to the individuals once they were executed in 1692? This is a mystery that has haunted historians for centuries. Nineteenth-century historian Charles Upham stated that the deceased were “undoubtedly all thrown into pits dug among the rocks” after the hangings. In addition, more recent popular accounts and all too many walking tours of Salem tend to enlarge on the more gruesome aspects of the 1692 witch trials tragedy with tales of bodies carelessly disposed of far from consecrated…
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