Season 1, Episode 6: A Petition for Rebecca Nurse
In this episode, we are looking at the documentary record of the Salem Witch Trials. This disturbing tale of early America has fascinated generations and become a familiar story to many. But what it was like to witness this history firsthand? We’ll take a close look at the story of Rebecca Nurse, a respected woman in her 70s who was accused of witchcraft. Through original petition documents and printed trial records held in the MHS collections, we’ll explore Rebecca’s individual experience and the role her community played in both persecuting and defending her.
Click the image above to view one of the petition documents explored in the episode. Other passages referenced in the episode are from Deodat Lawson's published proceedings.
Episode Special Guest:
Elyssa Tardif is the Director of Education at the MHS and an early American literary scholar.
This episodes uses materials from:
Nocturne by Kai Engel (Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International)
Psychic by Dominic Giam of Ketsa Music (licensed under a commercial non-exclusive license by the Massachusetts Historical Society through Ketsa.uk)
Curious Nature by Dominic Giam of Ketsa Music (licensed under a commercial non-exclusive license by the Massachusetts Historical Society through Ketsa.uk)
Listen to a bonus episode below:
In today’s bonus episode, we are introducing you to another object in our collections related to the Salem Witch Trials – the so called Witch’s Bureau. You’ll hear from Chief Historian Peter Drummey and MHS Curator Anne Bentley as they explain how the bureau came to the MHS, the documents that link the furniture to the 1692 trials, and the clue that led them to unravel the bureau’s mysterious origins. Be sure to listen to episode 6, A Petition for Rebecca Nurse, before you listen to this bonus piece!
This episodes uses materials from:
By the Pond (Instrumental) by Chad Crouch, (Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License)
Curious Nature by Dominic Giam of Ketsa Music (licensed under a commercial non-exclusive license by the Massachusetts Historical Society through Ketsa.uk)
