The Salem Witch Trials: Reckoning and Reclaiming

Around this time of year people forget the true lesson behind the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. No, it is not that witches lived in New England in the 1600s. The lesson is that anyone, especially those who think for themselves, can be unjustly persecuted with just a whisper if they cross the wrong person. And as we’ve seen as history repeats itself over and over, that can happen anywhere, anytime. 

That’s why when I visit Salem, I am there more for the culture than the tourist attractions. And the hub of North Shore’s culture is housed at the Peabody Essex Museum. This year the PEM has opened a new exhibit on the 1692 Witch Trials, and they have plenty to draw on since this New England gem is home to the largest collection of historical items from these tragic events.

The Salem Witch Trials: Reckoning and Reclaiming is a small exhibit, but it packs a punch, providing the viewer with three different phases that transport us way beyond 1692. It takes us out of the shameful, fear-mongering times of the late 1600s and into a more female-empowering 2000s. 

Laying the Groundwork

The first thing you see what you walk in is a large window, installed into a wall in the middle of the room. The window belonged to the Towne Family. All three daughters of this family were accused of witchcraft, including Rebecca Nurse, and only one of the three escaped the noose. According to one of the exhibit’s curators, Dan Lipcan, the window was a place where family secrets could escape and was included in the exhibit to illustrate that no one was safe during those uncertain times.

To the left of the window is a handloom owned by the Putnam family. The Putnams were one of the families that acted as accusers in the witch trials. What is remarkable about this loom is there are folk magic symbols carved into the base. This shows how the concept of magic was a common one in the culture but only certain practices were considered acceptable. 

The Reckoning

Possibly my favorite room houses the most gorgeous form-fitting black velvet press sample runway dress from the PEM’s collection from Alexander McQueen’s Fall/Winter 2007 collection, In Memory of Elizabeth How, 1692. The late designer based this collection on his research into his ancestor and victim of the Salem Witch Trials, Elizabeth How. Next to the dress is a television displaying selections of the collection’s runway debut.

Around the room are documents that tell How’s story from accusation to her arrest to her court testimony, indictment, execution and then, finally, her pardon and restitution made to her family twenty years after her death. 

It is the juxtaposition of McQueen’s gothic design next to these historical documents that bear no real evidence of How’s guilt that really struck me. In embracing symbols of witchcraft, paganism and magic, he is reclaiming How’s power, which is exactly what her accusers wanted to take from her when they called her witch.

The Reclaiming

Starting in the 1960s, people began reclaiming the word, “witch” as a power move. And to share just a few of the inspiring stories behind the witches in our country today, photographer Frances F. Denny shared a selection from her series Major Arcana: Portraits of Witches in America. Each of the 13 images is accompanied by a personal essay straight from the subject’s mouth. 

According to Denny, the word “witch” has evolved from its historical use to silence and control women to now empower them. The series sets out to, “diversify our perception of what a witch is,” according to Lydia Gordon, PEM’s Associate Curator and exhibition co-curator. 

As a huge fan of HausWitch, I was thrilled to see Salem’s own Erica Feldmann included as one of the selected portraits. But the witch that inspired me the most was Karen Rose from Brooklyn, New York. She had told Denny, “Many would call me a witch because of my knowledge of things that are intangible and not always seen.” That statement really made me understand the meaning of the word, “witch,” in today’s society and how it is not a term to use derogatorily or stereotypically. 

The Takeaway

The Salem Witch Trials: Reckoning and Reclaiming makes a statement that cannot be denied. The title “witch” has taken an evolutionary journey from life-ending threat to female empowerment. 

What I took away from it is we should all be a little more delicate in how we throw around labels. And that we should not be afraid of those who may be a little more in tune with the universe than the rest of us. 

Thank you so much to the PEM for having me. The Salem Witch Trials: Reckoning and Reclaiming is open through March 20, 2022.