Salem Witch Trials Memorial
From Salem Links and Lore
- The Salem Witch Trials Memorial was built adjacent the Charter Street Cemetery and dedicated in the year of Salem's tercentenary (300th anniversary), on Aug. 5, 1992.
- The design incorporates multiple elements of stone and plantings to symbolically represent the social indifference to the persecutions that were taking place in Salem in 1692. The memorial is surrounded on three sides by a hand-crafted granite dry wall. Inscribed in the stone threshold entering the memorial are the victims' protests of innocence. Six locust trees represent the stark injustice of the trials.
- Cantilevered stone benches bear the names and execution dates of each of the twenty victims.
- The Salem Witch Trials Tercentenary Committee was awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for the memorial project. The design has received national critical acclaim. Dedicated on Aug. 5, 1992, with Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel as keynote speaker. Salem Award winner Gregory Allen Williams, honored for his heroism in the Los Angeles riots was speaker as well.
- The design, chosen from among 246 entries was the result of a collaboration between architect James Cutler and artist Maggie Smith, from Winslow, Washington.
- In 2012, the Salem Award Foundation headed a project to restore the memorial for the 20 year rededication.
- Salem is planning a new memorial at "Proctor's Ledge" near Pope and Proctor Streets, behind the Walgreens on Boston Street. It is hoped to be completed for Salem's 325th anniversary of the Salem Witch Trials. For more details see the entry for Proctor's Ledge Witch Trials Memorial
See Also
- Vertical File in Salem Collection - Witchcraft Trials Memorial Statue
- Salem Witchcraft Tercentenary Committee Photos from the dedication of the Memorial.
- Salem Witch Trials Memorial Historical Marker Database
- "Witch Trial memorial dedicated" Salem Evening News, Aug. 6, 1992. p1
- "Remembering the injustice; Salem Witch Trials Memorial rededicated" Salem Evening News, Sept. 10, 2012, p. 1
- "Repairing history: makeover begins on Witch Trials Memorial" Salem News, June 7, 2012, p. 1
