SALEM, Mass. (AP) - The Latest on the dedication of a memorial to the 19 people hanged during the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts 325 years ago (all times local):
4 p.m.
Descendants of some of the 19 people who were hanged during the Salem witch trials have attended the dedication of a memorial at the site of the executions.
One of the descendants, Jeffrey Stark, said Wednesday the memorial “brings justice to the fact that they were wrongly accused.”
The ceremony came 325 years to the day when Sarah Good, Elizabeth Howe, Susannah Martin, Rebecca Nurse and Sarah Wildes were hanged at a site known as Proctor’s Ledge. It was the first of three mass hangings at the spot.
The semi-circular stone wall memorial is inscribed with the names of the people hanged at the site.
Mayor Kim Driscoll says the shadows from the tragic episode in U.S. history “extend across our city in ways we cannot see with our eyes.”
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2:30 p.m.
A memorial in honor of the 19 people hanged during the Salem witch trials has been dedicated 325 years after five women were killed at the exact spot.
Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll said Wednesday that the shadows from the tragic episode in U.S. history “extend across our city in ways we cannot see with our eyes.”
The ceremony came 325 years to the day when Sarah Good, Elizabeth Howe, Susannah Martin, Rebecca Nurse and Sarah Wildes were hanged at a site known as Proctor’s Ledge. It was the first of three mass hangings at the spot.
The semi-circular stone wall memorial is inscribed with the names of the people hanged at the site.
Salem State University history professor Emerson Baker was part of the team that confirmed the site of the hangings last year. He says a memorial is the right thing to do.
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11:20 a.m.
Five women hanged during the Salem witch trials in Massachusetts are being remembered on the 325th anniversary of their deaths.
Salem and Danvers are holding ceremonies Wednesday.
Salem is scheduled to hold a ceremony at Proctor’s Ledge where Sarah Good, Elizabeth Howe, Susannah Martin, Rebecca Nurse and Sarah Wildes were hanged as witches July 19, 1692. Proctor’s Ledge was the site of the hangings. A memorial also will be dedicated.
The Salem News reports that a descendant of Nurse is scheduled to speak.
Nurse also will be honored at a ceremony at the Rebecca Nurse Homestead in Danvers. Danvers used to be part of Salem known as Salem Village.
Twenty people in all were killed during the 17th century witch hunt.
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