October is upon us, which means it is time to think about Halloween costumes. This year, I’m thinking I’m going to be a special kind of witch: a modern #MeToo witch. With all that has transpired from the lawsuit that former MLB pitcher Trevor Bauer won, reflecting on the #MeToo movement’s toxicity fits with the season.
Contemplating my Halloween costume got me thinking about the Salem Witch Trials, a moment in American history which is still shocking. Most of us learned about the Salem Witch Trials in school, but the story never ceases to amaze me. The trials included a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of being witches in colonial Massachusetts starting around February 1692 and running until May 1693. In the tiny town of Salem, Massachusetts, 200 people were accused, 30 were found guilty, and 19 were hanged. Those were actual occurrences, actual deaths. The majority were women, but five men and two dogs were also executed. At least one man died while being tortured, and five died in jail.
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