Salem Women's
History and
Business Community
History and
Business Community
Salem Witch Museum
Associated women:
• Bridget Bishop
• Martha Carrier
• Martha Corey
• Mary Easty
• Sarah Good
• Dorcas Hoar
• Elizabeth Howe
• Susannah Martin
• Rebecca Nurse
• Alice Parker
• Mary Parker
• Ann Pudeator
• Margaret Scott
• Sarah Wildes
Salem sites:
• Witch Trials Memorial
• Corwin House/Witch House
• Phillips Library,
Peabody Essex Museum
• Sites in Danvers (formerly
Salem Village)
• Bridget Bishop
• Martha Carrier
• Martha Corey
• Mary Easty
• Sarah Good
• Dorcas Hoar
• Elizabeth Howe
• Susannah Martin
• Rebecca Nurse
• Alice Parker
• Mary Parker
• Ann Pudeator
• Margaret Scott
• Sarah Wildes
Salem sites:
• Witch Trials Memorial
• Corwin House/Witch House
• Phillips Library,
Peabody Essex Museum
• Sites in Danvers (formerly
Salem Village)
Washington Square North at Brown Street — Open to the public
Housed in the 1844-6 Gothic Revival meeting house of Salem's East Church (today, part of the First Church in Salem), the Salem Witch Museum tells the story of the days leading up to the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, what happened during the trials, and immediately afterward. In Salem Village (today, Danvers) young girls started the hysteria which led to the deaths of innocent Christian women and men.
What many Americans don't realize is that our present-day judicial system resulted from the 1692 trials. The Court of Oyer and Terminer (to "hear" and to "speak"), which allowed spectral evidence to be presented at trial, was finally disbanded in favor of a court that evolved into today's Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Today, the SJC is headed by its first woman chief justice — the Honorable Margaret H. Marshall.
The descriptive text from the museum's website tells their story best:
“ 'She afflicts me! She comes to me at night and torments me!
She's a witch!'
Words such as these struck terror into the hearts of Salem townspeople in the early spring of 1692 as hysterical young girls called out names.
By summer, 180 people had been accused and imprisoned — defenseless against accusations of witchcraft in a society driven by superstition and fear. The court, formed to try the victims, acted quickly. Bridget Bishop was tried on June 2 and hanged on June 10 thereby setting the precedent for a summer of executions.
The Salem Witch Museum brings you there, back to Salem 1692. Visitors are given a dramatic history lesson using stage sets with life-size figures, lighting and a narration — an overview of the Witch Trials of 1692.
Their new exhibit, Witches: Evolving Perceptions, examines the stereotypical witch, aspects of witchcraft in the 17th century, modern witchcraft and the phenomenon of witch hunts."
And by the way: The museum's director is a woman (Tina Jordan), and so is their director of education (Alison D'Amario)!
For further study in Salem
The Phillips Library of the Peabody Essex Museum owns a significant collection of records and objects about the Salem Witch Trials.
Sources
• Salem Witch Museum website
• Architecture in Salem by Bryant F. Tolles Jr.
• Boston Women & The Law: A Walking Trail through Four Centuries
of Boston Women's Legal History by Bonnie Hurd Smith
Housed in the 1844-6 Gothic Revival meeting house of Salem's East Church (today, part of the First Church in Salem), the Salem Witch Museum tells the story of the days leading up to the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, what happened during the trials, and immediately afterward. In Salem Village (today, Danvers) young girls started the hysteria which led to the deaths of innocent Christian women and men.
What many Americans don't realize is that our present-day judicial system resulted from the 1692 trials. The Court of Oyer and Terminer (to "hear" and to "speak"), which allowed spectral evidence to be presented at trial, was finally disbanded in favor of a court that evolved into today's Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Today, the SJC is headed by its first woman chief justice — the Honorable Margaret H. Marshall.
The descriptive text from the museum's website tells their story best:
“ 'She afflicts me! She comes to me at night and torments me!
She's a witch!'
Words such as these struck terror into the hearts of Salem townspeople in the early spring of 1692 as hysterical young girls called out names.
By summer, 180 people had been accused and imprisoned — defenseless against accusations of witchcraft in a society driven by superstition and fear. The court, formed to try the victims, acted quickly. Bridget Bishop was tried on June 2 and hanged on June 10 thereby setting the precedent for a summer of executions.
The Salem Witch Museum brings you there, back to Salem 1692. Visitors are given a dramatic history lesson using stage sets with life-size figures, lighting and a narration — an overview of the Witch Trials of 1692.
Their new exhibit, Witches: Evolving Perceptions, examines the stereotypical witch, aspects of witchcraft in the 17th century, modern witchcraft and the phenomenon of witch hunts."
And by the way: The museum's director is a woman (Tina Jordan), and so is their director of education (Alison D'Amario)!
For further study in Salem
The Phillips Library of the Peabody Essex Museum owns a significant collection of records and objects about the Salem Witch Trials.
Sources
• Salem Witch Museum website
• Architecture in Salem by Bryant F. Tolles Jr.
• Boston Women & The Law: A Walking Trail through Four Centuries
of Boston Women's Legal History by Bonnie Hurd Smith
