Inside the Vault: The Salem Witch Trials
In 1693, Puritan preacher Cotton Mather published The Wonders of the Invisible World, providing a detailed account of each Salem witch trial case. Over time, the witch hunts have become heavily mythologized and embedded in our collective memory. However, popular depictions of the Salem witch trials rarely examine their complex global and social roots.
Join us on October 3, 2024, from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. ET (4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. PT) when our curators discuss what the Salem witch trials reveal about gender in seventeenth-century New England and how they fit into a larger global phenomenon with Dr. Karin Wulf, director of the John Carter Brown Library and professor of history at Brown University.
Submit your questions for Dr. Wulf here.
Featured Documents
Related Resources
- Spotlight on a Primary Source: Cotton Mather’s account of the Salem witch trials, 1693
- Video: “Religion and Witchcraft in Colonial America” by John Demos (Yale University)
- Video: “In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692” by Mary Beth Norton (Cornell University)
- Essay: “The Years of Magical Thinking: Explaining the Salem Witchcraft Crisis” by Mary Beth Norton (Cornell University)
I cannot attend the live program. Will it be recorded?
Yes! The program is recorded and sent in an email the following day to everyone who registers.
Future Programs
More coming soon.
About Inside the Vault
Inside the Vault: Highlights from the Gilder Lehrman Collection is an online program that highlights unique primary sources from the Gilder Lehrman Collection. From iconic historical treasures, such as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Emancipation Proclamation, to personal letters that reveal the contributions of ordinary American citizens, each session will investigate primary sources and discuss their background, impact, and potential use in the classroom.