Tag: Rebecca Nurse Homestead

Book Discussion at Danvers Historical Society

On By Daniel A. GagnonIn 1692 Witch Trials, Danvers History, Uncategorized2 Comments

This Wednesday, December 15, I will be giving a talk at the Danvers Historical Society about my new biography of Salem Village Witch-Hunt victim Rebecca Nurse: A Salem Witch: The Trial, Execution, and Exoneration of Rebecca Nurse. The event is free, and starts at 7pm in Tapley Memorial Hall on Page Street. In addition to Nurse, whose home is a museum today on Pine St. in Danvers, I’ll also discuss some of Danvers’ other links to the 1692 Witch-Hunt. Books will be available for sale and for signing. More details can be found here.

For long-distance followers of the blog, the Danvers Historical Society presentation will be recorded and posted on their website after the event. Additionally, on January 6th I will be giving a Zoom presentation on the book with the Rockport, Mass. public library. Details for that free event can be found here.

For more information on A Salem Witch, reviews, and links to order it, see my author website here.

Rest assured, there will be more Danvers history blog posts in the coming year.

-Dan Gagnon

Livestreamed Tour of the Rebecca Nurse Homestead

On By Daniel A. GagnonIn 1692 Witch Trials, Danvers History, Media Appearances, UncategorizedLeave a comment

On August 1, 2020, I presented a livestreamed tour of the Rebecca Nurse Homestead that was broadcast online as part of America’s Summer Roadtrip 2020, a program that allowed people to virtually ‘visit’ historic sites that otherwise might not be accessible during the coronavirus. The Nurse Homestead, the only home of a victim of the 1692 Salem Village Witch-Hunt that is preserved and open to the public, was chosen as one of 12 significant sites in American history to participate in this program that drew thousands of viewers from across the world.

The recorded tour of the Nurse Homestead can be viewed here: Nurse Homestead – America’s Summer Roadtrip 2020

Journal Article Published – “Skeletons in the Closet: How the Actions of the Salem Witch Trials Victims’ Families in 1692 Affected Later Memorialization.”

On By Daniel A. GagnonIn 1692 Witch Trials, Danvers History, Uncategorized2 Comments

My article, “Skeletons in the Closet,” appeared in this fall’s issue of the New England Journal of History:

Skeletons in the Closet – Gagnon

Gagnon, Daniel A. “Skeletons in the Closet: How the Actions of the Salem Witch Trials Victims’ Families in 1692 Affected Later Memorialization.” The New England Journal of History 75/76, no. 2/1 (Spring/Fall 2019): 32–73.

 

Upcoming Presentation: Legacies of Rebecca Nurse and George Jacobs Sr., post-1692

On By Daniel A. GagnonIn 1692 Witch Trials, Danvers HistoryLeave a comment

At the invitation of the Danvers Historical Society, I will be presenting some of my research on the legacies of witch trials victims Rebecca Nurse and George Jacobs Sr., especially focusing on the differences in how they were later memorialized by their descendants and the community.

The presentation will be at Tapley Memorial Hall on Page St. in Danvers on the evening of May 16, 2019. More details to come. Check https://www.danvershistory.org/events/events.html for updates.

Online Historical Resources for Danvers and Salem Village History

On By Daniel A. GagnonIn Danvers History, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Just added to the menu above is a page entitled “Online Historical Resources” (https://spectersofsalemvillage.com/online-historical-resources/).  This page features primary and secondary sources relating to Danvers, Salem Village, and 1692 history. These sources are all available online through the links under each bibliographical entry.

More sources, especially from the 19th and 20th century, will be continually added. Additionally, suggestions are always welcome!

First Update: Map of Sites in the Life of Rebecca Nurse

On By Daniel A. GagnonIn 1692 Witch TrialsLeave a comment

Just published, and located on the menu bar at the top of the page, is the Map of Events in the Life of Rebecca Nurse. Based on primary source research with documents from 1692 along with maps of the Salem and Boston area,this map shows the locations of many important sites relating to the 1692 Witch-Hunt. Although done with a focus on the case of Rebecca Nurse in particular, many of these sites (such as the Salem Town Court House, Salem Village Parsonage, the execution site, etc.) are important to the events of 1692 overall, and are connected to many or most cases of those accused of witchcraft in 1692.