The Devil Is in the Details: The Trouble with Memorialising the Salem Witch Trials
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7146/lev112026167520Keywords:
Salem, memorialisation, memory activism, witchcraftAbstract
The Salem Witch Trials were North America’s deadliest witch-hunt, resulting in at least twenty-five deaths and hundreds of accusations. While historians have extensively studied the trials themselves, comparatively less attention has been paid to how Salem has publicly remembered this dark chapter in its history – and how it has not. This article examines the 1992 Salem Witch Trials Memorial as a contested site of civic memory, analysing inscriptions, protest posters by local contemporary witches, and media coverage. It argues that the memorial attempts to restore the victims’ moral and historical dignity within a Puritan ethical framework, yet provokes challenges from modern witch communities who reject its portrayal of witchcraft as inherently evil and Satanic. These debates reveal broader struggles over memory, tourism, authority, and the ethics of commemorating historical injustice.
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