Giles and Martha Corey both faced accusations by multiple people. In March, Giles testified against Martha claiming that she bewitched him and his farm animals. In September, when Giles refused to participate in his own trial, the court ordered him to be pressed under stones in order to extract a plea. He remained silent and died under the weight in the only death by pressing in Massachusetts history. Martha and seven other victims were hanged days later.

The Putnams, a well-established Puritan family, owned much of the land in Salem Village and supported the Reverend Samuel Parris. They were deeply involved in the search for witches, accusing and testifying against many members of their community and extended family.

Jonathan Corwin (1640–1718) was a merchant and political figure who held various positions, including serving as magistrate during the 1692 pretrial examinations. Corwin lived in the house now known as the Witch House on the corner of Essex and Summer streets. Corwin remained on the bench until October 1692, when the governor officially disbanded the special court of oyer and terminer (meaning “to hear and determine”) that was convened for the witch trials. We do not know much about how Corwin felt about the trials because he spoke little during the examinations and never made any public statements. However, he never apologized for his role in the trials. His brother-in-law John Hathorne served as magistrate, and one of Corwin’s children was listed as “afflicted” in Tituba’s examination in March. His mother-in-law Margaret Thacher was accused of witchcraft, but the charges against her were ignored and no arrest warrant was issued.

Born in England, Samuel Sewall (1652–1730) and his family emigrated to Newbury, Massachusetts, in the 1660s. A Harvard graduate, Sewall initially trained to become a clergyman. He later pursued a career in business, politics and public service after marrying the daughter of a wealthy Boston merchant. His wife’s first cousin was the Reverend Samuel Parris, and he derived significant income from real estate holdings. Sewall was one of nine judges appointed by Governor Sir William Phips to serve on the court in Salem to “hear and determine” accusations of witchcraft. These judges were respected, educated and affluent members of the community, but none had formal legal training.

While fulfilling his role as judge, Sewall took part in proceedings that sent 19 innocent people to their deaths. In the aftermath of the trials, Sewall’s troubled conscience led to a change of heart, and in January 1697, he made a public confession of guilt, remorse and repentance for the part he played in the trials and apologized for his role in the proceedings. For the rest of his life, Sewall regularly observed a day of fasting as evidence of ongoing contrition. Sewall continued his judicial career for many years, culminating in 1718 with his appointment as Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Judicature. Sewall is also remembered for publishing the first anti-slavery tract in America in 1700.

Many inventive theories circulate about the Salem Witch Trials, but the crisis was not caused by poisoning from rotten bread, property disputes or an outbreak of encephalitis. The panic grew from a society threatened by nearby fighting between the British and the French over occupying Maine, as well as a malfunctioning political and judicial system in a setting rife with religious conflict and intolerance.

Ongoing conflict with French colonists and their Indigenous allies to the north of Massachusetts contributed to the unease in Salem. Along with social unrest, a smallpox epidemic and the driest summers and coldest winters on record caused widespread misery. By the 1670s, tensions between rural Salem Village (now Danvers) and the prosperous Salem Town flared. Contentions multiplied when Salem Village formed its own church and appointed a controversial minister. These events and conditions laid the foundation for the most lethal and widespread outbreak of witchcraft accusations in North America. Then, in 1691, England’s King William and Queen Mary issued a charter for the colony, giving more control to the crown through appointed officials and threatening Massachusetts’ status as a Puritan colony.

The first claims of bewitchment occurred at the Reverend Samuel Parris’s parsonage in Salem Village, known today as Danvers, in January 1692. From February to June, the afflictions and accusations spread rapidly across much of the colony. Local constables detained suspects for examination at the behest of magistrates, who then publicly questioned the accused to determine cause for trial.

Despite many courageous pleas, all of those convicted of witchcraft found their reputations and relationships shattered by the experience. Some of the victims suffered a court-sanctioned seizure of their belongings, resulting in a loss of their identity and standing in the community. Ultimately, the court’s verdicts and sentences led to the unjust execution of 19 of the more than 170 individuals accused.

Few local people were willing to question the witch hunt initially because it could put them under suspicion. Opposition grew over the summer of 1692 as it became increasingly clear that the court was failing to protect innocent lives. Later that fall, several leading ministers of the colony wrote books criticizing the trials, despite a public defense by Reverend Cotton Mather and a publication ban by Governor Sir William Phips. The opposition became more vocal over time and, finally, in 1697, the Massachusetts government ordered a day of public fasting and prayers for forgiveness of the colony’s sins, including the witch trials. Belief in witches declined gradually in the 18th century as the ideas of the scientific revolution spread. The Salem trials had proved it was impossible to convict a witch without endangering innocent lives as well. Following the trials and executions, many involved, like judge Samuel Sewall, publicly confessed error and remorse. Massachusetts issued its first pardons for victims of the witch trials in 1703. Several later rounds of exonerations, occurring over hundreds of years, attempted to complete this process for all victims. Efforts to serve justice continue even today: Massachusetts exonerated Elizabeth Johnson Jr. of Andover through legislative action in 2022.

Shame over the witch trials ran so deep that it took 300 years before a memorial to the victims was constructed in Salem. Today, the community fully acknowledges the place the witch trials hold in American history and local groups strive to make amends. The volunteer community organization Voices Against Injustice (VAI) maintains the Salem Witch Trials Memorial and provides programming that connects the events of 1692 to today. The organization also presents the annual Salem Award for Human Rights and Social Justice, which recognizes and celebrates individuals and organizations that confront fear and injustice with courage to honor the legacy of those who did the same in 1692.

Dedicated in August 1992, the Salem Witch Trials Memorial is located on Liberty Street, Salem. It was designed by Maggie Smith and James Cutler to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the trials. The memorial is maintained by the volunteer community organization Voices Against Injustice.

Yes – descendents of the Salem Witch Trials victims and accusers live all over the world, and many travel to Salem to trace their ancestral roots.

The term “witch hunt” has become synonymous with intolerance, injustice and the rush to judgment. The phrase has been used by politicians across the spectrum to tarnish the opposition, from rhetoric on the smallpox vaccine controversies of the 1720s to the American Revolution, abolition of slavery and fears of communist subversion.

Witch hunts occurred in Europe hundreds of years before the Salem Witch Trials. Belief in witchcraft in Early Modern England was widespread, but not universal. By the late 17th century, several English scholars and religious figures rejected the idea that witchcraft existed, a concept debated in the American colonies. The persecution of women and those perceived to be “other” still happens around the world today.

Known as the Witch City, Salem welcomes around 1 million tourists every year. The witch insignia can be found on the masthead of The Salem News, on Salem police cars and on the uniforms of the local high school football team. In 1982, the city of Salem planned the first Salem Haunted Happenings Festival during Halloween weekend. The festival was an effort to provide family-friendly events for guests who were interested in visiting the Witch City. Following the first festival’s success with about 50,000 guests in attendance, the annual event has continued to grow each season, drawing history buffs and Halloween enthusiasts from all over the world. Salem Haunted Happenings is a festive celebration of Halloween and fall in New England that runs annually from October 1–31. Events include a Grand Parade, the Haunted Biz Baz Street Fair, Family Film Nights, costume balls, ghost tours, haunted houses, live music and chilling theatrical presentations.

Puritanical Massachusetts and its rush to judgment are the backdrop for the 1850 novel The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathanial Hawthorne, descendent of witch trial judge John Hathorne. The Salem Witch Trials inspired Arthur Miller’s 1953 play The Crucible, which is a partially fictionalized story of the trials. It was an allegory for the United States government’s persecution of people accused of being communists throughout the 1940s and 1950s. The events have also inspired countless TV shows, films and even musical genres. Recently, PEM worked with contemporary artists who have ancestral ties to the tragic events in Salem. The resulting exhibition, The Salem Witch Trials: Reckoning and Reclaiming, included the work of contemporary artist Frances Denny, who has photographed a broad array of people who identify as witches today, as well as the work of British fashion designer Alexander McQueen, who was a descendent of one of the accused in Salem.