The featured exhibit at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts is now "The Salem Witch Trials: Reckoning and Reclaiming". This show runs through March 20, 2022, and it is really three small exhibits inside one gallery, including two artistic projects by living people who used the 1692 witch hysteria as inspiration for their installments on display.
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| John Proctor's sundial |
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| George Jacob's walking stick |
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| This chest was owned by the Osborn family of Salem |
Before the two featured art installations there were some artifacts and documents related to the 1692 witch trials on display. Many of these artifacts and trial documents had been featured in last year's exhibit "The Salem Witch Trials 1692". I was disappointed to not see a lot of new objects, but glad that these objects were here to put the art installations into context.
Alexander McQueen, the fashion designer, knew that his family history included Elizabeth How, who was hanged as a witch in 1692. His mother was an amateur genealogist. He was inspired to create his 2007 winter collection in memory of How, and used symbols from the witch trials in his design. A long, elegant, black evening gown from this collection is on display, as well as photographs and videos of the fashion show that featured these. A long timeline of the witch trials encircles the room, with the actual documents and artifacts from Elizabeth How's trial and other trials. This installation was well done.
The "Major Arcana: Portraits of Witches in America" exhibit is photographs of modern people who identify themselves as modern witches, presented by photographer Frances F. Denny. Each portrait includes a statement from the person abut their identity as a witch. The public was invited to share their impressions of the exhibit on social media using #1692witchtrials, or by pinning up a card on a nearby wall.
This exhibit was much smaller than the one last fall/winter at the PEM, "The Salem Witch Trials 1692". It's focus was on art, with a little of the history of the 1692 events on display to put the art into context.
For the truly curious:
My blog post on the earlier PEM exhibit "The Salem Witch Trials 1692":
From the Peabody Essex Museum website:
UPDATE:
A blog post by Donna Amelia Segar of Salem State University:
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To Cite/Link to this blog post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "At the Peabody Essex Museum's new Witch Trials Exhibit", Nutfield Genealogy, posted November 8, 2021, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2021/11/at-peabody-essex-museums-new-witch.html: accessed [access date]).
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