Proceedings of the 21st International Academic Conference, Miami

WITCH MEMORIES REMAIN: A LANDSCAPE HISTORY OF SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS

REBECCA LUSH

Abstract:

This paper aims to explore how Salem, Massachusetts has remembered the 1692 Witchcraft Trials. This is a very large and comprehensive topic so focus has been narrowed to observe how the landscape of Salem has been transformed in memoriam. In the period post-1692 Witch Trials there was active forgetting in Salem. A stigma surrounded the trials and their occurrence was sidelined in favour of industrializing the city. Beginning just prior to the 1960s were small, concerted efforts to bring the trials to the attention of the public. The landscape of the city began to alter – a process that has continued till this day. In the 1990s and 2000s, full-scale memorialization of the Witch Trials has left its mark on the landscape. Memorials, museums and stores are now found at the heart of the city all recapturing a once forgotten memory. This paper will specifically focus on the Witch Trials Memorial unveiled in 1992. The memorial has replaced an abandoned park in the middle of Salem, adjusting the tone of the space and its purpose. From this one memorial the culmination of Salem’s memorialization process can be observed and its impact on the landscape understood.

Keywords: Salem, Witchcraft, Landscape, Memorials, Memorialization

DOI: 10.20472/IAC.2016.021.022

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