I’ve been delving into some local history. Specifically the history of Salem, MA. I have long been fascinated with the Salem witch-hunt and what happened in that small town in 1690s. I first encountered this story through Arthur Miller’s famous play, The Crucible. My secondary school in Nairobi, Kenya, performed it one year. I was not an actor and so was not a part of that, but I was incredibly curious about the story. Young girls accusing people of being witches? Women, both old and young, being hanged? What on earth was going on?
Salem is a happening place in the month of October. Tourists flock to Salem and the locals put on quite the show, I hear. I have never been to Salem for Halloween. The closest I came to being part of the festivities in Salem was when I went to the Peabody Essex Museum in September. The town was bustling and finding parking was almost impossible. When I asked the lady working the information desk at the museum, she said the witch season had already begun. October apparently wasn’t long enough, so witch season in Salem now officially starts in September.
My reason for visiting the Peabody Essex Museum in September was to see their special exhibit: “The Salem Witch Trials: Reckoning and Reclaiming.” It was a fascinating walk through that time. Enough to wet my appetite, but I was nowhere near understanding what really happened. Also, the exhibit focused largely on fashion designer Alexander McQueen’s Fall/Winter 2007 collection In Memory Of Elizabeth How, 1692, based on his research into his ancestor Elizabeth How, one of the first women to be condemned and hanged in July 1692.
However, there were several books available at the exhibit, one of which was In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692, written by Mary Beth Norton. This book was a fascinating read.
I haven’t read enough about this topic, so I cannot compare Norton’s writings with other historians, but she makes connections with what happened to Salem with events that happened in Maine that sheds new light on the witch-hunt.
What I’m beginning to realize is that there were so many factors contributing to the witch hysteria that gripped this New England area. It wasn’t simply male leaders hating on women - there were many men who were hanged as well, specifically George Burroughs who was seen as the leader of the witches and most of the accusers were young women, some even girls. It wasn’t simply Puritans being superstitious. It wasn’t simply neighbors turning against neighbors to steal their lands.
I’ve tried to figure out my own fascination for this specific event in history. I’ll admit that I was initially drawn because it seemed to confirm that we, as a society, often turn our backs on outsiders, the ones who don’t fit in. But having read “In the Devil’s Snare”, I have come to appreciate the complexity of the times that the people of New England lived in. In many ways, its not unlike our times, when people are under much mental stress and fears, when people are looking for something or someone to blame for their woes.
I’ve fallen head long into this, unexpectedly. I’ll share more with you in the next few posts and also share with you how it’s feeding into my work.
Backstory: MOULTING No.7
The current witches photographic exhibit at the Peabody Essex Museum is by Sophie’s best friend when they were growing up… Frances Fitzgerald Denny…Frances and her family lived next door…so many sweet memories of these two…