“Skeletons in the Closet” will be the topic of the Lynnfield Historical Society’s meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 18, at Centre Congregational Church.
Danvers resident and author Dan Gagnon will be the guest speaker. He will discuss the differences in how Rebecca Nurse was memorialized compared to fellow witchcraft trial victim George Jacobs.
After the Salem witch trials ended in the fall of 1692, residents sought to distance themselves from the hysteria. The 19 victims were buried in unmarked graves in and around what was then Salem Village, now Danvers. In 1885, Nurse’s descendants erected a marble monument in her memory at the Nurse Homestead in Danvers. Interest in Nurse surged in the 1950s when she was portrayed as a “sainted” figure in Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible.
In contrast, Jacobs’ remains were buried in obscurity until they were accidentally exhumed in the 1950s.
Gagnon has written a book about the Nurse, serves on the board of directors at the Nurse Homestead, and is chairman of the Danvers Historic District Commission.
Parking for the event is available in the lot behind Centre Congregational Church on Main Street. Refreshments will be served, and all are welcome.
