Past Program Highlights

Historic Northampton will open a new exhibit chronicling an intriguing case of New England witchcraft beginning more than forty years before the notorious events in Salem. Bridget Marshall will discuss her research on the Mary Bliss Parsons witchcraft case at the exhibit opening on Sunday, October 27th at 2 P.M. in the historic Parsons house. The Parsons were one of the first families of Northampton and Mary Parsons was the subject of three separate witchcraft-related trials: in 1656, 1674, and 1678. Her story is a fascinating one, and sheds light on the workings of the Puritan mind and the early years of the colony. The opening will also feature demonstrations of a prototype website on the Mary Parsons Witchcraft Trial being developed by Northampton teachers and the Center for Computer-Based Instructional Technology at the University of Massachusetts. The project is sponsored by Historic Northampton and funded by the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities.

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