Beginning in early 1692, both men and women were jailed, prosecuted and executed for witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts. The public is invited to find out the details of why and how these events happened when archivist Mickey DiCamillo, of The Historical Society of Moorestown, New Jersey, shares his presentation When There Were Witches: An Exploration of the Salem Witch Trials on Wednesday, Oct. 20, at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom.
In January 1692, a strange illness seized control of five young girls living in Salem Village, a contentious and divided town in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. When medical professionals couldn’t identify the illness, the town believed the girls had come “under an evil hand.” Events soon spiraled out of control with local divisions and a splintered colonial government feeding the frenzy.
DiCamillo unravels the events with archival documents from the period. Program participants will interact with transcripts from the 1692 interrogations of suspected witches, and will witness the difference between presumed innocent and presumed guilty. A Q&A session follows the 60-minute presentation.
Register for this free event online at grundylibrary.org or 215-788-7891.
