The Salem witch trials collection
Welcome to a digital collection of materials about the Salem witch trials crisis of 1692-1693 and its aftermath. Several types of content make up this collection and its sub-collections: original documents from 1692, items related to PEM exhibitions about the witch trials, and more. This collection will grow steadily over time as more material is digitized.
From 1980 to 2023, PEM’s Phillips Library was the temporary repository of the state’s Supreme Judicial Court collection of Witch Trial documents. These legal records, which were returned to the Judicial Archives following the expansion and modernization of the Massachusetts State Archives facility, are available to researchers around the world thanks to a comprehensive digitization project undertaken by the museum.
Centuries after this storied crisis, the personal tragedies and grievous wrongs of the Salem Witch Trials continue to provoke reflection, reckoning and a search for meaning. The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) holds one of the world’s most important collections of objects and architecture related to the Salem Witch Trials. Through exhibitions, research, publishing and public programming, PEM is committed to telling the story of the Salem Witch Trials in ways that honor the victims and amplify the teachings of wrongful persecution that remain relevant to today.
Since the 300th year anniversary in 1992, the Peabody Essex Museum has hosted four exhibitions about the Salem witch trials. Each collection below presents the text, graphics, gallery photography, and other interpretive materials, as well as the original documents that were on display during the gallery exhibitions.
See also these sites for more information and resources about the witch trials:
The Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive is an electronic collection of primary source materials hosted by the University of Virginia.
A guide to the primary sources of the Salem witch trials is a free portal to make it easier to access the on-line primary sources of the witch trials.