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Weathervane Newsletter Summer 2001
Humanities Grant Funds "The Goody Parsons Case: A Journey to the Seventeenth Century"
The Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities has funded a collaborative project between Historic Northampton and the Center for Computer-Based Instructional Technology at the University of Massachusetts to develop a multi-faceted program using a case study in local history to build public programs and exhibits and to enrich school curriculum.
Over the last thirty years, social history has transformed how we view the past. Social history focuses not on generals and presidents, but on how ordinary people lived. The study of witchcraft is an example of a growth of interest in interdisciplinary history as it necessarily focuses on community, religion, gender roles, economic relationships, and individual psychology. Mary Parsons is perhaps the most infamous resident of Northampton's early settlement period. Between 1656 and 1678, Mary Parsons of Northampton was tangled in three different legal cases involving witchcraft. As historian John Demos put it: "Witchcraft belonged to the regular business of life in premodern times or at least it belonged to the belief system, the value structure, the predominant psychology of the times." As Demos and others have demonstrated, the study of witchcraft cases opens a window into the daily lives of seventeenth century New Englanders. The documents and records associated with each case afford a rich source of primary material, not only for scholars, but also for classroom investigations into New England history and culture.
The Mary Parsons story is a fascinating one, and sheds light on the workings of the Puritan mind and the complicated social and cultural structures of the colonial period. Historic Northampton and CCBIT will explore the Mary Parsons case by mounting a museum exhibit in the Parsons House and by creating an interactive website that will contain 17th century court documents and transcriptions. In a later phase of the project, K-12 teachers in Northampton will develop curriculum that will incorporate museum exhibits and programs and primary materials included on the website. This combination of museum exhibit, scholarly work, public participation, and technology will provide a way to make community-based local history resources a touchstone for exploring larger issues in American history and culture by taking history out of the classroom and into the community.
The minigrant will fund the initial or research stage of the project. Additional funding will be sought to complete the exhibit and curriculum development.
Contents Historic Northampton.