SALEM, Mass. (AP) — Five women hanged during the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts are being remembered on the 325th anniversary of their deaths.
Salem planned a Wednesday ceremony at Proctor’s Ledge where Sarah Good, Elizabeth Howe, Susannah Martin, Rebecca Nurse and Sarah Wildes were hanged as witches on July 19, 1692. It was the first of three mass executions at the site.
The ceremony includes the dedication of a semi-circular stone wall memorial inscribed with the names of the 19 people hanged near Proctor’s Ledge, which scholars last year confirmed as the site of the hangings. Besides the 19 hangings, one man was crushed to death by rocks and five people accused of witchcraft died in jail.
“Having this site memorialized, especially as we mark the 325th anniversary of that tragic event, presents an opportunity for us to come together as a community, recognize the injustice and tragedy perpetrated against those innocents in 1692, and recommit ourselves to the values of inclusivity and justice,” Mayor Kim Driscoll said in a statement.
A descendant of Nurse was scheduled to speak, according to The Salem News.
Nurse also will be honored at a ceremony later Wednesday at the Rebecca Nurse Homestead in nearby Danvers. Danvers at the time of the witch trials was part of Salem known as Salem Village.
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