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Salem witchcraft trials scrapbook at the Superior Court in Salem, Massachusetts, 1973 (AP photo)

by Margo Burns, associate editor, Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt On January 11, 2023, the Peabody Essex Museum turned over 527 original documents from the 1692 Salem witchcraft trials to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Archives in Boston. Owned by the …

Documenting the past, preserving its future: Salem witchcraft papers Read more »

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Connecticut State Capitol, Hartford

On 25 May 2023, the Connecticut General Assembly approved the Resolution Exonerating the Women and Men Convicted for Witchcraft in Colonial Connecticut. The resolution reads: “WHEREAS, the courts in the early British colonies of Connecticut and New Haven indicted at …

17th-century Connecticut witches exonerated Read more »

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In January 2023, the Peabody Essex Museum’s Phillips Library returned 527 Salem witch trials (SWT) documents to the Judicial Archives at the Massachusetts State Archives facility in Boston. Established in 1692 after the dismissal of the Court of Oyer and …

Salem witch trials documents return to SJC Read more »

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Timeline of Elizabeth Johnson Jr.’s conviction to exoneration for the Salem witch trials of 1692.

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Examination of Elizabeth Johnson Jr.

By Tony Fels On July 28, 2022, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts formally exonerated the last innocent victim of the infamous 17th-century Salem witch hunt. Elizabeth Johnson Jr., known to her contemporaries as Betty, was a 22-year-old resident of Andover, Massachusetts, …

What Elizabeth Johnson’s exoneration teaches about the Salem witch hunt Read more »

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On 10 August 1692, 22-year-old Elizabeth Johnson Jr. of Andover, Massachusetts, was arrested for witchcraft. Probably influenced by 7-year-old Sarah and 10-year-old Thomas Carrier’s confessions, she told Justice Dudley Bradstreet that she too was baptized by Martha Carrier and participated …

Civics in action: Exonerating Elizabeth Johnson Jr. Read more »

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By Tony Fels On June 7, 2021, the NPR show, “Here and Now,” aired a segment on the 400th birthday of Rebecca Nurse, broadcast from the Rebecca Nurse Homestead in Danvers (formerly Salem Village), Massachusetts. Readers of Witches of Massachusetts …

Traditional Understanding Overshadows Academic Explanations at Rebecca Nurse Commemoration Read more »

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The Supreme Judicial Court celebrated its 325th anniversary in Salem in January 2018. Previously known as the Superior Court of Judicature, this high court took over after the Court of Oyer and Terminer was dismissed by Governor William Phips in …

Treasures of the court house Read more »