September 3, 2025 • 35 mins
Episode Summary: Jennifer Tozer, librarian at Pueblo Community College in Colorado, shares how she created "Witch Trials: Accusation to Exoneration" - a comprehensive month-long educational program running throughout October. When traditional museum exhibits weren't available, Jennifer built her own visual displays from scratch, featuring poster exhibits, author presentations, virtual tours with the Salem Witch Museum, and discussions connecting historical witch trials to modern-day accusations.
For Educators: This episode offers practical inspiration for teachers looking to create engaging historical programming with limited budgets. Jennifer's approach demonstrates how to make distant history relevant to today's students while addressing misconceptions and encouraging critical thinking.
Program Details: "Witch Trials: Accusation to Exoneration" runs throughout October at Pueblo Community College Library, featuring interactive exhibits, scavenger hunts, and community presentations.
Perfect for history teachers, librarians, and educators interested in innovative programming that brings historical events to life for modern students.
Links
Buy the book A Salem Witch by Dan A Gagnon
Buy the book The Heretics Daughter by Kathleen Kent
Pueblo Community College's Humanities Newsletter with Witch Trials History Event Dates
The Thing About Salem Patreon
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Josh Hutchinson (00:00):
Welcome to The Thing About Witch Hunts.
(00:02):
I'm Josh Hutchinson. Sarah Jack: And I'm Sarah Jack.
Today we're talking with Jennifer Tozer, a librarian at
Pueblo Community College in Colorado, who has created
something truly special for her students and community this
fall. Josh Hutchinson: Jennifer has
designed a comprehensive educational program called Witch
Trials (00:22):
Accusation to Exoneration that runs throughout
October. What started as her personal
fascination with Witch trial history has grown into an
impressive month-long series featuring poster exhibits,
author presentations, virtual tours with the Salem Witch
Museum, and discussions about modern witchcraft accusations.
Sarah Jack (00:42):
We love how Jennifer has tackled the challenge of
bringing this history to life when traditional museum exhibits
weren't available. She's built everything from
scratch, creating visual displays that walk visitors
through the Salem Witch Trials while connecting them to ongoing
issues of injustice today. Josh Hutchinson: Let's hear how
a librarian's passion project ishelping bridge educational gaps
(01:05):
and reduce stigma around both historical and contemporary
witch hunts. Sarah Jack: Welcome to The Thing
About Witch Hunts podcast, Jennifer Tozer.
Jennifer Tozer (01:16):
Thank you. I'm excited to be here.
Josh Hutchinson (01:18):
Yeah. Thank you so much for joining
us. Could you please tell us about
your work and expertise and whatyou've been working on?
Jennifer Tozer (01:27):
Yeah, so I am a librarian.
Currently, I work at the Pueblo Community College Library.
I did work at the public libraryfor five years, so I have been
in the library space for quite awhile.
I'm new to the PCC library, though.
At the college, we don't do as much programming as we did at
(01:47):
the public library, but I get todo some of that.
I also work with the students one-on-one, help them with
research. I go into the classrooms and do
orientations on the library, what the library offers, that
kind of thing. And I do get to still do some
programming. And so that's where this comes
in. Sarah Jack: Yeah, what should we
(02:07):
know about Pueblo? Jennifer Tozer: So Pueblo is a
really kind of melting pot of people.
It's a very unique community. Even though it's a pretty good
size city, I guess you would call it, it has a very small
town feel. So there's a lot of people
who've been here their whole lives.
It's very, I don't know, it's just very eclectic.
(02:28):
There's a lot going on. It's very Hispanic oriented.
The college is a Hispanic serving institution, as well.
We have a huge Hispanic population here.
So yeah, just kind of a little bit of everything.
It's in the southern part of thestate, so yes, it does get very
hot. Sarah Jack: Yeah, my parents
were Pueblo residents for 15 years or so.
(02:48):
I hope I'm getting that number right.
My mom was a educator over at Colorado State Pueblo, and so I
got to visit and spend time in Pueblo and yeah, it's amazing.
So I was really pleased when youreached out to tell us about
what you're doing, which is whatwe're gonna get to now, because
(03:09):
there's such a special place in my heart for Pueblo and its
history. Jennifer Tozer: Oh yeah, it's
exciting. Josh Hutchinson: What inspired
you to create your fall programming that we're gonna
discuss here? Jennifer Tozer: Really, it was
just a lot of, it was my own personal interest.
Because I'm new to this role andI bring different experience
(03:31):
from the public library, I really wanted to start creating
different things for the students that weren't just
purely about their classes or megoing into the classroom and
talking about what the library can do.
I wanted some kind of, just morelike relief for the students.
So more fun things, different things.
I did some like stress relief yoga last semester, like around
(03:55):
finals time and just like different offerings that you
wouldn't really think about at the library, but because I have
a very eclectic background, so Iam a certified yoga instructor,
as well. I thought, well, why not bring
my interests into the school? And I'm sure some students and
some faculty and staff would also be interested in it.
And so I had asked my supervisorif she would be okay if I just
(04:18):
did some different things this fall, and she was like, go for
it. You know, I mean, might as well
try it, right? I have always been fascinated
with witches, the witch trials, witch history, all of that.
And so that was just my first thought.
I also love October and Halloween and all things
Halloween, and so I knew I wanted to do something around
Halloween, but I wanted to keep it very educational and
(04:40):
historical and relevant, and so that's why I went down this
road. Yeah.
Sarah Jack (04:45):
And so one of the first steps you took was
researching to see where you could go and, with your
planning, what has that been like?
Jennifer Tozer (04:54):
So it was interesting because I thought,
because it was such a, you know,Salem Witch Trials are such a
huge, topic, right? And they've been talked about, I
mean, I remember learning about it in high school.
We read The Crucible, that kind of thing.
So I reached out to a couple different museums, the Salem
Witch Museum, the Peabody Essex Museum.
I can never say that the way Massachusetts people say it.
(05:16):
I try. My husband's from Massachusetts,
and he always corrects my pronunciation, so they don't say
Peabody, they say Peabody. Anyways, I'm working on it.
But, and some other museums thathad had exhibits in the past,
but they, they didn't really have anything that was like a
traveling exhibit, which is pretty common nowadays, and I
figured they would have at leastsomething that I could borrow
for a limited time. Being an educational facility, I
(05:39):
also figured they'd probably be more open to loaning things.
But there really wasn't anythingout there.
Obviously, there's not a lot of artifacts that survived, from
the witch trials. But there's really not even any
like replicas. There's not a lot of information
other than some of the court documents, which are very hard
to read. I'm sure you both are familiar
with that. But I think it's funny because
(06:01):
they always say, oh, they don't teach kids cursive nowadays.
They're not gonna be able to read historical documents.
And I'm like, I can read cursiveand I can't read historical
documents. They're very hard to decipher.
So I thought that's not really what I was going for.
I wanted more of a kind of a visual and something that would
keep the students interested andentertained and they could go
through and learn, but also havethese visual references, and
(06:23):
there just really wasn't anything.
So I just decided to build it from scratch.
Josh Hutchinson (06:29):
And I'd really love to hear more about what
you've built, what is in the program that, what are the
elements you've put together? Jennifer Tozer: So because I
wanted that visual aspect, I decided to go with more of, more
like a poster exhibit that you would walk through.
We've done a couple of these when I was at the public library
about Pueblo history, or specifically, there was one on
(06:50):
the steel mill. And so that was where I got my
inspiration. They had these like informative,
they were really big, but they were big posters and they would
have some photos, but some information.
And so you could walk through and go through the timeline,
learn about different things, and come on the other end.
So it was almost like going through a museum, but really
it's just a poster presentation,but I do still want to have like
(07:11):
artifacts and some visual things.
We have some display cases. I also wanted to incorporate
that. And so as they're going through,
there, there are different posters that I've designed on
different aspects about the witch trials.
I do focus on the Salem Witch Trials, mostly, but then I do
talk about also the relevance today, and what your
organization is doing, things that are still happening in the
(07:34):
world today, because I, we thinkSalem and we think it's, oh, it
was forever ago and what does that have to do with me?
And if you think about it, it really wasn't that long ago, and
these things still happen today,and I just don't think a lot of
people know that. So I really wanted to start with
something that people would be interested in and might draw 'em
in but then also talk about why it's still relevant, why it's
(07:55):
important to talk about these things and learn about these
things and what's happening today.
And then I also wanted to just distinguish between what people
who identify as witches today and what that means versus what
we're talking about when we're talking about Salem and how they
thought witches had literally signed a contract with the devil
and it was evil and it was all of these things versus people
(08:17):
who practice witchcraft today and the differences there and
the stigma still around that, and try to reduce some of that,
that stigma and that like fear around it, I guess Sarah Jack:
And you've been to Salem. Did that inspire you that you
could share that message and reduce the stigma?
Jennifer Tozer (08:37):
Yes. So I have always wanted to visit
Salem, but growing up we didn't do a lot of vacations.
We definitely did not go north alot.
My mom hates the cold, so we would always go south when we
went on vacations. And so my husband is from
Massachusetts, like I mentioned,and I did finally get to go back
there, and it took me 40-some years, and so I thought, why not
(08:58):
try to bring this to people who,like me, maybe couldn't get
there or haven't been able to make it there and just try to
bring part of that experience toPueblo, and to people who maybe
can't get out. I know there's a lot, especially
here at Pueblo Community College, we have some
lower-income students and families, and they can't always
go to all of these places. And so one of my goals when I
(09:21):
was at the public library, a lotof it was bridging that
technology gap, which we do hereas well.
But I also wanted to just bridgethat, that gap that not everyone
can have all of these experiences, but it's the next
best thing, right? So you're bringing it to the
students. And so that, that was my hope
with that. Oh, and I get to go back to
Salem this fall. I'm actually going right before
(09:43):
this program. I am going at the end of
September, beginning of October,I'm gonna go back to Salem only
for a couple days, 'cause the trip was supposed to be to
Vermont for like some leaf peeping.
I've always wanted to go to Vermont in the fall and it's my
anniversary and so we were gonnago to Vermont, and I asked my
husband, well begged basically, can we please go to Salem for a
(10:03):
couple days? So he just knows that's a thing
now. Whenever we go to the East
coast, we have to go to Salem. But it's very exciting, 'cause
I'll get to meet some of the people I've been working with
and tour some of the places thatI didn't get to go the first
time I went. And so I'm very excited.
Josh Hutchinson (10:18):
And, I understand that part of what
you're bringing to the students also involves a virtual tour
with the Salem Witch Museum? Jennifer Tozer: Yeah.
So the Salem Witch Museum does what they call, I think it's
like a virtual field trip kind of a thing.
And they had different aspects that they focus on, and so the
(10:41):
one that we chose, we, I worked with a professor here who
teaches criminal justice, and sowe thought that would be really
fascinating to bring to his students.
And the criminal justice professor and I decided to do
one of the virtual tours that they had.
It's the Salem Witch Trials, specifically 17th century law
and how that played into it. As you both know, there was a
(11:05):
lot of things that we don't accept now.
They were guilty until proven innocent, and they accepted some
evidence that we would never consider today.
And so I think that'll be reallyinteresting for the criminal
justice students to learn about specifically.
And we were hoping to do more, but they are kind of expensive
to purchase, and our budget for this was very limited, which is
again, why I'm building it myself.
(11:27):
And so we are doing a couple of those classes through the Salem
Witch Museum, and I've worked with the education director
there, and she sounds great, andI've watched a few that they
have on their website. So, unfortunately, we're not
able to record these or share them, but we are gonna share
them with the specific criminal justice classes, which I think
will be really meaningful for them.
(11:47):
And so that was why we decided to go that route.
But they have so many great options, like women's history
around the witch trials and justthe witch trials in general.
They have things on there for a younger audience, older
audience, like it's great. Sarah Jack: Fantastic.
And can you tell us about the other presentations that you are
bringing in for the programming?Jennifer Tozer: Yeah.
(12:08):
Well, because I'm a librarian, Ithought, I really wanted to work
with some authors who have talked about this topic, and so
one of the authors I'm working with is Kathleen Kent, and she
wrote the book The Heretic's Daughter.
It is not completely factual, but it is like a historical
fiction novel, and it is all about Martha Carrier, who is
(12:31):
actually Kathleen Kent's ancestor.
So she wrote this book around Martha Carrier, who is one of
the convicted in the witch trials.
And she was hanged. And so she wrote about that and
just the story she had grown up hearing about, but then tried to
really, write it in a realistic way.
I don't read a lot of historicalfiction.
It's not really the genre I tendto gravitate to, but I really
(12:54):
enjoyed the book. And I lucked out because I was
following her on social media and when I reached out, she was
like, I would love to come in person.
And I was like, oh, I thought she lived in Texas or wherever
it said on her website, but she,I guess, had recently moved to
Colorado, so she's gonna be herein person, which is great.
So I'm very excited about that, because it will be in person.
(13:14):
I'm hoping that we get great attendance for that.
It's also gonna be offered hybrid, so like people can join
virtually, as well. And we're gonna give a signed
book away, so if they do come inperson, they'll get a chance to
win her book. And she'll be here.
We'll do like an author reception after her
presentation, and she'll sign some books.
We don't have books for sale, 'cause we don't do that at the
(13:36):
library, but if you they bring their own book, they can get it
signed. And so that's gonna be super
exciting. And then I also have another
author, Daniel Gagnon. He is actually a Massachusetts
resident. So his presentation is gonna be
completely virtual, but his book, A Salem Witch, it's all
about Rebecca Nurse. So it's basically like her
(13:58):
biography, everything from whereshe started out, coming over to
America, and her whole life story, and then it leads into
how she was accused of witchcraft, and tried and
eventually hanged, and then exonerated after the fact.
So it's like the whole story of Rebecca Nurse.
It is a fabulous book. I just finished it recently, and
I learned so much just that I didn't even know.
(14:21):
And I've been reading about the Salem Witch trials for so long,
and you learn something new, every book you read.
And so he is gonna be presentingvirtually and we also have a
signed copy of his book to give away.
So that is gonna be really fun. And then, Sarah, you are also
coming to present. I am, and so that's gonna be a
lot of fun, you talking about your organization, what you all
(14:43):
do, which I think is just great and hopefully we can get some
interest in this and in the cause.
So, yeah. Sarah Jack: Thank you so much
for including us and giving us space in the community to raise
awareness about witchcraft accusations today.
That's awesome. I'm really, I'm just so excited
about everything that you're putting together.
(15:05):
And I know you're gonna meet Danin a couple weeks when you go
out there. Jennifer Tozer: Hopefully, he
said he would give me a whole tour, or of the Rebecca Nurse
Homestead. He's on the board of directors
there. He's in the historical society.
Like, it's just gonna be so great to kinda see Salem but
also have an expert there like tell, 'cause before it was just
me and my husband's not that interested in it, right?
(15:26):
So I'm just kind of trying to figure things out and drag him
along. And so it'll be great to meet
someone that I've been working with virtually for months and
hopefully get to tour. I did not get to go to the
Rebecca Nurse Homestead the first time I was there, so
that'll be really exciting. Josh Hutchinson: Yeah, we've
been fortunate to have Dan as a guest on this podcast a couple
(15:48):
times. He came and spoke about Rebecca
Nurse and then George Jacobs Sr., who's also buried on that
property somewhere. Jennifer Tozer: Yeah.
And I initially thought he was adescendant of Rebecca nurse, but
I guess he isn't. He's just very interested in it.
But you, Sarah, are a descendantof Rebecca Nurse, is that right?
Sarah Jack (16:10):
I am. I am.
That's one of the things that propels my passion around this
topic. I too thought he was a
descendant. I remember I was, he was one of
our very first guests, like in the first dozen, and I was so
excited that we were gonna be interviewing him.
And I had just read his book, and I tweeted something out
calling him a descendant, and I got a sweet little private
(16:33):
message correcting me, and I'm like, oh, yeah.
So I think that happens to him alot.
But Rebecca is so meaningful to many people, and I have
discovered that even beyond Dan,there's other, there's just so
many non-descendants that gravitate towards her story and
wanna honor her. Jennifer Tozer: Yeah, it's a
(16:54):
really fascinating story. Like I said, I learned so much.
And honestly, I think you could write about each of the victims
a whole book, because there's just so much.
They were also different, and there was so much involved.
I thought, well, how are they gonna write a whole book about
one person in the witch trials? But, you know, each person's
story I feel like really needs to be told.
(17:15):
I hope more of these come out, because I thought it was great
and it was very educational, really well researched.
Obviously Dan knows what he's doing and he's a history buff.
History was not my forte. So the fact that I'm even doing
this, I've learned so much, and really it has kind of gotten me
interested in history. And so I'm hoping it does the
same for some of our students orfaculty, staff.
(17:36):
I've mentioned it to a few of the staff here, and I found out
things about them, oh my gosh, my wife is super into this.
She's gonna be so excited. She's gonna come to all your
presentations. And so things I really wouldn't
have known about people, just bytalking about this and getting
that interest up. So it's really kind of cool.
Josh Hutchinson (17:52):
As you've been learning about the Salem Witch
Trials, what are some things that have surprised you?
Jennifer Tozer (17:59):
Oh gosh. I think one of the biggest
things that's stuck with me is this story about Dorothy Good,
the little girl, Sarah Good's daughter.
And I think she's referred to asDorcas a lot mistakenly.
They thought her name was Dorcas, so she's usually called
Dorcas in a lot of historical documents, but I guess recently
they've discovered her name was Dorothy.
(18:19):
She was only four or five years old and accused of witchcraft
and left in this prison, even after her mother was hanged and
just affected her for her whole life.
There was a really good presentation on the Salem Witch
Museum because Rachel, who is the director of education of the
Salem Witch Museum, was one of the ones that kind of discovered
(18:39):
more about her and her whole story and that she just had
mental problems for the rest of her life and just how it really
affected her. I think that story, I guess
being a mother really affected me and I just, that was one of
the craziest things I learned that I had never even heard
about. And so that was definitely
really interesting. But there's been a few things
(19:01):
that I learned. I didn't know about spectral
evidence. That was fascinating, the fact
that it was even accepted and someone could just say they saw
your specter and you could be convicted on that.
Yeah. So many interesting things.
I tried to put them all into my exhibit, but I'm sure I probably
couldn't capture them all because there's just so many.
(19:21):
I'll probably have to do this now every year.
Sarah Jack (19:24):
That would be awesome.
I, if you could pull that off with your energy and time.
I know that people will be lining up to see the new
additions. I've really been impressed with
your resourcefulness. Like you said, you started from
scratch and when we first connected in April, I was so
thrilled that you were interested in doing this and I
(19:45):
was, you know, I hated knowing how difficult it was going to be
for you to build up some of your, the vision that you had
for this. And, but you have done that,
despite the barriers. And I really like what some of
your panels are focusing on, andyou don't need to give
(20:06):
everything away, but do you wanna highlight any of the
messages from your storyboards? Jennifer Tozer: Yeah.
I think my favorite one is actually the first one I
designed, which is the myths versus the facts.
Because as I was researching it,I realized there are still a lot
of myths and misunderstandings around the Salem Witch Trials.
(20:26):
And so I try to highlight the main, I think I've got about
maybe 12, maybe 13, on there that are pretty well-known myths
about the Salem Witch trials. And then I talk about the facts
that actually happened. One, as you know, is the ergot
theory, where there was the fungus and the wheat and
apparently that myth just will not die.
(20:46):
And so I'm gonna try to help with that.
But there are others. People thought witches were
burned in Salem, and they were not.
And so just, just all of the different myths.
And, again, I learned so much about it that I thought, why not
share this with others? So that's probably one of my
favorites. I also have the one about modern
(21:07):
witchcraft and witches, which I really enjoyed making, as well.
I'm really fascinated by that and just all of the, like I
said, the misconceptions around that and some of that fear and
stigma around it, and just trying to break that up.
I thought that was another really fun one to design.
But yeah, I have several in there.
I just started trying to create one that talks about what I
(21:29):
learned from it and the most fascinating thing, so I do talk
a little bit about Dorothy Good on that one and some other
fascinating tidbits that I learned as I was researching
this. So I think it's gonna be a lot
of fun. And I'm trying to make it a
little more interactive. I'm gonna try to have some, I
don't know, thought questions onsome of the boards, where after
they learn about this, they can take something away, just a
(21:51):
question for them to ponder and think about.
And so I'm trying to incorporatethat, as well as, a lot of the
students when they come in, can do a, it's almost like a
scavenger hunt, we call it. But it's like a series of
questions, and we'll just give them the handout and basically
all of the answers can be found in the exhibit, but it gives
(22:11):
them, you know, and, and then ifthey turn it back in, they get
entered to win prize. And so it gives 'em a little
incentive to actually learn and go through the exhibit and read
all of the information, instead of just walking through and, oh,
this is cool, and looking at thepictures, but not really reading
and learning anything. And so we've found that that
helps engage students a little bit more, and they get a little
(22:33):
bit more out of the exhibit. I'm working on that kind of
simultaneously as I'm building it.
So yeah, it's a lot. Sarah Jack: It is a lot, but
it's, it is just, it's really going to ripple into the student
experience. That's one of the things about
Witch trial history you have mentioned today.
It's their individual stories, and we, you just learn so much,
(22:58):
understanding what happened to them in the courts and then
learning about their lives. And it, it's so applicable to
things we experience today with injustice.
And so I'm just really grateful that you dug your heels in and
created this for your community.Is this available to the public
(23:18):
to stop in and look at? Jennifer Tozer: Yes.
So the exhibit will be open to the community, but because we
are a library and we're on a campus, we are also a quiet
study space. So even though we've advertised
in one of the local papers, and we will invite the community in,
they will have to be respectful of their noise level.
But I'm also offering to set up some appointments after hours so
(23:41):
they can come through if maybe it's a larger group or they just
don't wanna worry about the noise level, maybe they have
younger children, or like I said, like a group of people who
wanna discuss it. I'm offering that and so I might
be staying late a few nights this October, so we'll see.
But yeah, I wanted to open it tothe community, but I also didn't
wanna impact the students and their need for having a quiet
(24:03):
study space on campus. And so it was trying to find
that balance. Sarah Jack: I was just thinking
how it might be interesting, andmaybe you're already thinking
about this, but won't it be interesting to see what
questions come in, maybe before they see the exhibit, after they
see the exhibit? Are you gonna find the same
question or comment coming up a lot?
(24:24):
Are you gonna have a big variety?
That's like, being on the insideof this, like you are, you're
really gonna get to enjoy that aspect, that initial impact of
the information on the the students.
Jennifer Tozer (24:36):
Yeah, initially I was worried too that we might
get some blowback from the community.
I mean, anytime you mention witches or witchcraft, again,
there's that stigma and that fear around it, which I'm trying
to get rid of, but you always get a little bit of pushback
from the community. So I was a little worried about
that, but I made sure that I talked this over with the
president of the college and that he was on board with it,
(24:57):
and we were okay to advertise tothe community and bring the
community in. And I think just having that
support from the administration here at the college is great.
And just knowing that some of the events that we're gonna put
on might, might cause things like that, like October, there's
also a Banned Books Week, and wedo get a lot of pushback usually
(25:18):
during that time about the banned books.
And so we're really trying to keep it very unbiased and
educational, and we're just saying these are the facts, even
around the banned books, like this is, this is what is
happening. This is what it means to be a
banned book, because people really don't understand what
that means. They're like, oh, but I can go
buy it on Amazon. And it's like, well, it's been
(25:39):
challenged, it's been pulled outof libraries.
That's what that means. And we have some of the most
challenged books. But I also feel like this
witchcraft and witch trial exhibit really fits in with
that, because even though it's not a banned book, it's just one
of those things where there's that kind of, I don't know,
almost like that misunderstanding and that fear,
(25:59):
and that really just not knowingenough about it.
And whenever we don't know aboutsomething, we're afraid of it.
And that just causes a lot of problems.
And so we're really trying to keep it very educational, very
open-minded. if people come in with questions, I'd be more than
happy to sit with them, talk to them about these things.
And so I think it's gonna be, I think it'll be well-received.
(26:21):
I was a little bit nervous, but I do think keeping it that
unbiased educational aspect, I think it'll be well-received in
the community. So I'm still excited, a little
nervous, but excited. Josh Hutchinson: Yeah.
No, it's so fantastic. I love what you're doing there,
and I love that you've designed it to be thought-provoking so
(26:42):
that people come through and they are looking for the answers
for the questions, and then at the end you're posing something
to them to get them thinking. What do you hope that visitors
take away from the experience? Jennifer Tozer: I guess just
sort of what I took away from it, building it, honestly, just
(27:04):
maybe they learned something newthat was fascinating, maybe they
get more interested in history, dive a little bit deeper.
You know, I just think maybe having less of that fear around
witches, witchcraft, some of thethings that they maybe didn't
understand before the exhibit. So, even if just one person
(27:25):
walks away with that, I will be happy.
Sarah Jack (27:28):
That's awesome. I was just thinking too, one of
the aspects of the Salem Witch Trials, which you and I haven't
discussed is, there was banning of publications during that
year. Jennifer Tozer: I learned that
in Dan's book. And it was really fascinating,
because it seemed very similar to things that are happening
(27:49):
today, where they were only banning publications of like one
side of it. So, if people were advocating
for the trials, they could publish, but if people were kind
of against the trials, they werenot allowed to publish it.
And I thought, oh my gosh, that's so fascinating.
You know, as we've learned, if you control the media, you can
control what people think and what people know.
(28:10):
And knowledge is really powerful.
And I think, especially when people are trying to erase that
knowledge, it's really, really important to get it out there
even more and, you know, let people know the true facts and
the true history and, yeah, that's one of the reasons I kind
of love the whole story around the Salem Witch Trials.
(28:32):
It's like, my husband asked me, he's like, why do you like
Salem? That's where they hung witches.
Like, they're not, it's not a good place.
And I think for me, it, it's oneof those places and one of those
times in American history where we have actually as Americans
acknowledged that we messed up and they came back after the
fact. They made restitutions.
(28:52):
I mean, yeah, they're not gonna ever bring back the people that
were accused and hung, but it's a start and that they could
acknowledge their wrongs and putup a memorial and come back
after the fact and basically apologize and say we were wrong
and try to make it right, which I don't feel like as an American
(29:12):
society, we've done a lot in ourhistory.
We really never came out and talked about slavery, and a lot
of people still try to brush that under the rug, or the Trail
of Tears with the Native Americans.
And it's just, it's really sad. And I think that's one of the
things I love about Salem is even if it's a horrible story,
at least they came back after the fact and could acknowledge
(29:34):
their wrongdoing and like try tomake it right, because you can't
ever undo the past. But if you don't acknowledge it
and learn from it, like what arewe doing?
Right? So that's why I really love the
story of the trials and just thewhole, that's why I tried to
tell the whole story through, upto when they were exonerated,
which I just recently learned about.
(29:56):
I think the last one in the Salem Witch Trials was recently
exonerated and I had never heardof her, Elizabeth Johnson Jr.,
and that it was a small class that just put this petition
together to try to get her exonerated.
She was like the last one. and yeah, I thought that was just so
fascinating that. even a couple years ago, we're still trying to
(30:16):
make it right, but they are trying to make it right and I
think that's really important. Josh Hutchinson: Yeah, that was
just, three years ago that Elizabeth Johnson Jr. got
exonerated, the last person convicted of witchcraft at Salem
to be cleared. And then it was a year after
that that Connecticut absolved all the people who were accused
(30:40):
over there, and we're still seeing efforts in other states
and around the world to try, like you said, it's important
just to acknowledge the past. You have to acknowledge it
before you can move forward learning from it.
So I love that you're incorporating all that.
Jennifer Tozer (30:58):
I'm trying. Josh Hutchinson
Yeah. Sarah Jack: Yeah, it's, you've
just created this, it's such a complex story and there's all
these layers and you really, I just, I'm thinking of it like a
bouquet. You went out to this field of
wildflowers, and you got just the most beautiful samples of
that field and put the story together or this bouquet
(31:22):
together. So I'm grateful as a descendant.
Small part, but I am hoping it will at least
lead into maybe them doing theirown research, learning a little
bit more. I really hope people read the
books, because I do think that is gonna be great.
We're we, were gonna try to do like a little book club on
campus around that, but it was just too hard to get everything
(31:42):
together and but hopefully, at least some of the faculty or
staff and students can read the book beforehand and really have
those meaningful conversations with the authors, too, because I
thought the books were really just fantastic, and like I said,
I learned so much, and so I hopethat others can do that as well,
even if it's after the fact, 'cause we did order a few of the
(32:03):
books for our collection. So even if that just interests
them and then they check out thebook and read it, I think it'll
be really great. Sarah Jack: Awesome.
Josh Hutchinson (32:11):
Yeah, I really love Kathleen Kent's work, The
Heretic Daughter. And then there's a sequel to it,
The Wolves of Andover, and they're both so entertaining.
It's not an exact replica of thehistory, but it puts you in that
situation, so you feel what the characters would've experienced.
Jennifer Tozer (32:32):
Yeah. Yeah.
I thought it was, it was well done where you do feel immersed
in that time period. it's written in that.
I don't know what you would, like older dialect, and you do
feel like you're in the period, which is hard for some people to
read. I know if you go back and you
read, Jane Austen or Shakespeare, you really have to
start to get into it. But, as you do, it does put you
(32:53):
in that time period and you're alittle more immersed in it, so I
thought that was really neat. I've read some other, witch
books that are like that and they're written in that older
English and, yeah, I think it's super fascinating.
So fun. Sarah Jack: What have you named
the program, and what dates is it running?
So the exhibit is called Witch Trials:
(33:16):
Accusation to Exoneration. I feel like that title
encompasses what I'm doing a little bit better, and it will
be up the entire month of October.
And anytime that we're open, thelibrary is open Monday through
Thursday, eight to five, and then Friday eight to three.
Anyone is welcome to come in, and then like I said, I will
take, requests to do and after hours if needed.
(33:39):
I'm hoping most of those are on Friday after three, because I
really don't wanna stay here until 9:00 PM every night.
But, but I will because I do think it's important to get the
message out. And, yeah, so the whole month of
October and then the specific talks that I have going on, so
Sarah, you will be here on Thursday, October 9th, and then
(33:59):
Kathleen Kent will be here on Thursday, October 16th, and Dan
will be virtual on, it's a Wednesday, I think, October
22nd. I'm looking at my little
calendar here. And then I don't have any
presentations the week of Halloween, because I always do
what I like to call Halloweek, where we dress up all week,
because I love Halloween. I have so many costumes.
(34:20):
I could probably dress up all month, but I'm gonna limit it to
a week, because not everyone loves it as much as me, but I
think it'll be really fun. This year, we're doing it more
like a spirit week, so hopefullythe students will get involved
and we have a crazy hair day andthat kind of thing.
And then I do a costume contest,and so students can come in.
We're gonna do it on the 30th, 'cause there's not a lot of
(34:40):
classes here on Friday. So the 31st was out, but on the
30th, if they come in costume, they can enter the costume
contest. Last year we had a lot of fun
with that. And so again, it's just gonna be
a whole fun month and I'm just very excited to get the word out
about the Salem Witch Trials in general, but just I love all
things witches and so that's what it's gonna be about.
Josh Hutchinson (35:02):
If you have a program about witch trials
coming up, let us know so we canspread the word and offer any
support we're able to. Sarah Jack: Please reach out to
us if you would like to develop a program and just don't know
where to start. Josh Hutchinson: Thank you for
joining us. Have a great today and a
beautiful tomorrow.
Welcome to The Thing About Witch Hunts.
(00:02):
I'm Josh Hutchinson. Sarah Jack: And I'm Sarah Jack.
Today we're talking with Jennifer Tozer, a librarian at
Pueblo Community College in Colorado, who has created
something truly special for her students and community this
fall. Josh Hutchinson: Jennifer has
designed a comprehensive educational program called Witch
Trials (00:22):
Accusation to Exoneration that runs throughout
October. What started as her personal
fascination with Witch trial history has grown into an
impressive month-long series featuring poster exhibits,
author presentations, virtual tours with the Salem Witch
Museum, and discussions about modern witchcraft accusations.
Sarah Jack (00:42):
We love how Jennifer has tackled the challenge of
bringing this history to life when traditional museum exhibits
weren't available. She's built everything from
scratch, creating visual displays that walk visitors
through the Salem Witch Trials while connecting them to ongoing
issues of injustice today. Josh Hutchinson: Let's hear how
a librarian's passion project ishelping bridge educational gaps
(01:05):
and reduce stigma around both historical and contemporary
witch hunts. Sarah Jack: Welcome to The Thing
About Witch Hunts podcast, Jennifer Tozer.
Jennifer Tozer (01:16):
Thank you. I'm excited to be here.
Josh Hutchinson (01:18):
Yeah. Thank you so much for joining
us. Could you please tell us about
your work and expertise and whatyou've been working on?
Jennifer Tozer (01:27):
Yeah, so I am a librarian.
Currently, I work at the Pueblo Community College Library.
I did work at the public libraryfor five years, so I have been
in the library space for quite awhile.
I'm new to the PCC library, though.
At the college, we don't do as much programming as we did at
(01:47):
the public library, but I get todo some of that.
I also work with the students one-on-one, help them with
research. I go into the classrooms and do
orientations on the library, what the library offers, that
kind of thing. And I do get to still do some
programming. And so that's where this comes
in. Sarah Jack: Yeah, what should we
(02:07):
know about Pueblo? Jennifer Tozer: So Pueblo is a
really kind of melting pot of people.
It's a very unique community. Even though it's a pretty good
size city, I guess you would call it, it has a very small
town feel. So there's a lot of people
who've been here their whole lives.
It's very, I don't know, it's just very eclectic.
(02:28):
There's a lot going on. It's very Hispanic oriented.
The college is a Hispanic serving institution, as well.
We have a huge Hispanic population here.
So yeah, just kind of a little bit of everything.
It's in the southern part of thestate, so yes, it does get very
hot. Sarah Jack: Yeah, my parents
were Pueblo residents for 15 years or so.
(02:48):
I hope I'm getting that number right.
My mom was a educator over at Colorado State Pueblo, and so I
got to visit and spend time in Pueblo and yeah, it's amazing.
So I was really pleased when youreached out to tell us about
what you're doing, which is whatwe're gonna get to now, because
(03:09):
there's such a special place in my heart for Pueblo and its
history. Jennifer Tozer: Oh yeah, it's
exciting. Josh Hutchinson: What inspired
you to create your fall programming that we're gonna
discuss here? Jennifer Tozer: Really, it was
just a lot of, it was my own personal interest.
Because I'm new to this role andI bring different experience
(03:31):
from the public library, I really wanted to start creating
different things for the students that weren't just
purely about their classes or megoing into the classroom and
talking about what the library can do.
I wanted some kind of, just morelike relief for the students.
So more fun things, different things.
I did some like stress relief yoga last semester, like around
(03:55):
finals time and just like different offerings that you
wouldn't really think about at the library, but because I have
a very eclectic background, so Iam a certified yoga instructor,
as well. I thought, well, why not bring
my interests into the school? And I'm sure some students and
some faculty and staff would also be interested in it.
And so I had asked my supervisorif she would be okay if I just
(04:18):
did some different things this fall, and she was like, go for
it. You know, I mean, might as well
try it, right? I have always been fascinated
with witches, the witch trials, witch history, all of that.
And so that was just my first thought.
I also love October and Halloween and all things
Halloween, and so I knew I wanted to do something around
Halloween, but I wanted to keep it very educational and
(04:40):
historical and relevant, and so that's why I went down this
road. Yeah.
Sarah Jack (04:45):
And so one of the first steps you took was
researching to see where you could go and, with your
planning, what has that been like?
Jennifer Tozer (04:54):
So it was interesting because I thought,
because it was such a, you know,Salem Witch Trials are such a
huge, topic, right? And they've been talked about, I
mean, I remember learning about it in high school.
We read The Crucible, that kind of thing.
So I reached out to a couple different museums, the Salem
Witch Museum, the Peabody Essex Museum.
I can never say that the way Massachusetts people say it.
(05:16):
I try. My husband's from Massachusetts,
and he always corrects my pronunciation, so they don't say
Peabody, they say Peabody. Anyways, I'm working on it.
But, and some other museums thathad had exhibits in the past,
but they, they didn't really have anything that was like a
traveling exhibit, which is pretty common nowadays, and I
figured they would have at leastsomething that I could borrow
for a limited time. Being an educational facility, I
(05:39):
also figured they'd probably be more open to loaning things.
But there really wasn't anythingout there.
Obviously, there's not a lot of artifacts that survived, from
the witch trials. But there's really not even any
like replicas. There's not a lot of information
other than some of the court documents, which are very hard
to read. I'm sure you both are familiar
with that. But I think it's funny because
(06:01):
they always say, oh, they don't teach kids cursive nowadays.
They're not gonna be able to read historical documents.
And I'm like, I can read cursiveand I can't read historical
documents. They're very hard to decipher.
So I thought that's not really what I was going for.
I wanted more of a kind of a visual and something that would
keep the students interested andentertained and they could go
through and learn, but also havethese visual references, and
(06:23):
there just really wasn't anything.
So I just decided to build it from scratch.
Josh Hutchinson (06:29):
And I'd really love to hear more about what
you've built, what is in the program that, what are the
elements you've put together? Jennifer Tozer: So because I
wanted that visual aspect, I decided to go with more of, more
like a poster exhibit that you would walk through.
We've done a couple of these when I was at the public library
about Pueblo history, or specifically, there was one on
(06:50):
the steel mill. And so that was where I got my
inspiration. They had these like informative,
they were really big, but they were big posters and they would
have some photos, but some information.
And so you could walk through and go through the timeline,
learn about different things, and come on the other end.
So it was almost like going through a museum, but really
it's just a poster presentation,but I do still want to have like
(07:11):
artifacts and some visual things.
We have some display cases. I also wanted to incorporate
that. And so as they're going through,
there, there are different posters that I've designed on
different aspects about the witch trials.
I do focus on the Salem Witch Trials, mostly, but then I do
talk about also the relevance today, and what your
organization is doing, things that are still happening in the
(07:34):
world today, because I, we thinkSalem and we think it's, oh, it
was forever ago and what does that have to do with me?
And if you think about it, it really wasn't that long ago, and
these things still happen today,and I just don't think a lot of
people know that. So I really wanted to start with
something that people would be interested in and might draw 'em
in but then also talk about why it's still relevant, why it's
(07:55):
important to talk about these things and learn about these
things and what's happening today.
And then I also wanted to just distinguish between what people
who identify as witches today and what that means versus what
we're talking about when we're talking about Salem and how they
thought witches had literally signed a contract with the devil
and it was evil and it was all of these things versus people
(08:17):
who practice witchcraft today and the differences there and
the stigma still around that, and try to reduce some of that,
that stigma and that like fear around it, I guess Sarah Jack:
And you've been to Salem. Did that inspire you that you
could share that message and reduce the stigma?
Jennifer Tozer (08:37):
Yes. So I have always wanted to visit
Salem, but growing up we didn't do a lot of vacations.
We definitely did not go north alot.
My mom hates the cold, so we would always go south when we
went on vacations. And so my husband is from
Massachusetts, like I mentioned,and I did finally get to go back
there, and it took me 40-some years, and so I thought, why not
(08:58):
try to bring this to people who,like me, maybe couldn't get
there or haven't been able to make it there and just try to
bring part of that experience toPueblo, and to people who maybe
can't get out. I know there's a lot, especially
here at Pueblo Community College, we have some
lower-income students and families, and they can't always
go to all of these places. And so one of my goals when I
(09:21):
was at the public library, a lotof it was bridging that
technology gap, which we do hereas well.
But I also wanted to just bridgethat, that gap that not everyone
can have all of these experiences, but it's the next
best thing, right? So you're bringing it to the
students. And so that, that was my hope
with that. Oh, and I get to go back to
Salem this fall. I'm actually going right before
(09:43):
this program. I am going at the end of
September, beginning of October,I'm gonna go back to Salem only
for a couple days, 'cause the trip was supposed to be to
Vermont for like some leaf peeping.
I've always wanted to go to Vermont in the fall and it's my
anniversary and so we were gonnago to Vermont, and I asked my
husband, well begged basically, can we please go to Salem for a
(10:03):
couple days? So he just knows that's a thing
now. Whenever we go to the East
coast, we have to go to Salem. But it's very exciting, 'cause
I'll get to meet some of the people I've been working with
and tour some of the places thatI didn't get to go the first
time I went. And so I'm very excited.
Josh Hutchinson (10:18):
And, I understand that part of what
you're bringing to the students also involves a virtual tour
with the Salem Witch Museum? Jennifer Tozer: Yeah.
So the Salem Witch Museum does what they call, I think it's
like a virtual field trip kind of a thing.
And they had different aspects that they focus on, and so the
(10:41):
one that we chose, we, I worked with a professor here who
teaches criminal justice, and sowe thought that would be really
fascinating to bring to his students.
And the criminal justice professor and I decided to do
one of the virtual tours that they had.
It's the Salem Witch Trials, specifically 17th century law
and how that played into it. As you both know, there was a
(11:05):
lot of things that we don't accept now.
They were guilty until proven innocent, and they accepted some
evidence that we would never consider today.
And so I think that'll be reallyinteresting for the criminal
justice students to learn about specifically.
And we were hoping to do more, but they are kind of expensive
to purchase, and our budget for this was very limited, which is
again, why I'm building it myself.
(11:27):
And so we are doing a couple of those classes through the Salem
Witch Museum, and I've worked with the education director
there, and she sounds great, andI've watched a few that they
have on their website. So, unfortunately, we're not
able to record these or share them, but we are gonna share
them with the specific criminal justice classes, which I think
will be really meaningful for them.
(11:47):
And so that was why we decided to go that route.
But they have so many great options, like women's history
around the witch trials and justthe witch trials in general.
They have things on there for a younger audience, older
audience, like it's great. Sarah Jack: Fantastic.
And can you tell us about the other presentations that you are
bringing in for the programming?Jennifer Tozer: Yeah.
(12:08):
Well, because I'm a librarian, Ithought, I really wanted to work
with some authors who have talked about this topic, and so
one of the authors I'm working with is Kathleen Kent, and she
wrote the book The Heretic's Daughter.
It is not completely factual, but it is like a historical
fiction novel, and it is all about Martha Carrier, who is
(12:31):
actually Kathleen Kent's ancestor.
So she wrote this book around Martha Carrier, who is one of
the convicted in the witch trials.
And she was hanged. And so she wrote about that and
just the story she had grown up hearing about, but then tried to
really, write it in a realistic way.
I don't read a lot of historicalfiction.
It's not really the genre I tendto gravitate to, but I really
(12:54):
enjoyed the book. And I lucked out because I was
following her on social media and when I reached out, she was
like, I would love to come in person.
And I was like, oh, I thought she lived in Texas or wherever
it said on her website, but she,I guess, had recently moved to
Colorado, so she's gonna be herein person, which is great.
So I'm very excited about that, because it will be in person.
(13:14):
I'm hoping that we get great attendance for that.
It's also gonna be offered hybrid, so like people can join
virtually, as well. And we're gonna give a signed
book away, so if they do come inperson, they'll get a chance to
win her book. And she'll be here.
We'll do like an author reception after her
presentation, and she'll sign some books.
We don't have books for sale, 'cause we don't do that at the
(13:36):
library, but if you they bring their own book, they can get it
signed. And so that's gonna be super
exciting. And then I also have another
author, Daniel Gagnon. He is actually a Massachusetts
resident. So his presentation is gonna be
completely virtual, but his book, A Salem Witch, it's all
about Rebecca Nurse. So it's basically like her
(13:58):
biography, everything from whereshe started out, coming over to
America, and her whole life story, and then it leads into
how she was accused of witchcraft, and tried and
eventually hanged, and then exonerated after the fact.
So it's like the whole story of Rebecca Nurse.
It is a fabulous book. I just finished it recently, and
I learned so much just that I didn't even know.
(14:21):
And I've been reading about the Salem Witch trials for so long,
and you learn something new, every book you read.
And so he is gonna be presentingvirtually and we also have a
signed copy of his book to give away.
So that is gonna be really fun. And then, Sarah, you are also
coming to present. I am, and so that's gonna be a
lot of fun, you talking about your organization, what you all
(14:43):
do, which I think is just great and hopefully we can get some
interest in this and in the cause.
So, yeah. Sarah Jack: Thank you so much
for including us and giving us space in the community to raise
awareness about witchcraft accusations today.
That's awesome. I'm really, I'm just so excited
about everything that you're putting together.
(15:05):
And I know you're gonna meet Danin a couple weeks when you go
out there. Jennifer Tozer: Hopefully, he
said he would give me a whole tour, or of the Rebecca Nurse
Homestead. He's on the board of directors
there. He's in the historical society.
Like, it's just gonna be so great to kinda see Salem but
also have an expert there like tell, 'cause before it was just
me and my husband's not that interested in it, right?
(15:26):
So I'm just kind of trying to figure things out and drag him
along. And so it'll be great to meet
someone that I've been working with virtually for months and
hopefully get to tour. I did not get to go to the
Rebecca Nurse Homestead the first time I was there, so
that'll be really exciting. Josh Hutchinson: Yeah, we've
been fortunate to have Dan as a guest on this podcast a couple
(15:48):
times. He came and spoke about Rebecca
Nurse and then George Jacobs Sr., who's also buried on that
property somewhere. Jennifer Tozer: Yeah.
And I initially thought he was adescendant of Rebecca nurse, but
I guess he isn't. He's just very interested in it.
But you, Sarah, are a descendantof Rebecca Nurse, is that right?
Sarah Jack (16:10):
I am. I am.
That's one of the things that propels my passion around this
topic. I too thought he was a
descendant. I remember I was, he was one of
our very first guests, like in the first dozen, and I was so
excited that we were gonna be interviewing him.
And I had just read his book, and I tweeted something out
calling him a descendant, and I got a sweet little private
(16:33):
message correcting me, and I'm like, oh, yeah.
So I think that happens to him alot.
But Rebecca is so meaningful to many people, and I have
discovered that even beyond Dan,there's other, there's just so
many non-descendants that gravitate towards her story and
wanna honor her. Jennifer Tozer: Yeah, it's a
(16:54):
really fascinating story. Like I said, I learned so much.
And honestly, I think you could write about each of the victims
a whole book, because there's just so much.
They were also different, and there was so much involved.
I thought, well, how are they gonna write a whole book about
one person in the witch trials? But, you know, each person's
story I feel like really needs to be told.
(17:15):
I hope more of these come out, because I thought it was great
and it was very educational, really well researched.
Obviously Dan knows what he's doing and he's a history buff.
History was not my forte. So the fact that I'm even doing
this, I've learned so much, and really it has kind of gotten me
interested in history. And so I'm hoping it does the
same for some of our students orfaculty, staff.
(17:36):
I've mentioned it to a few of the staff here, and I found out
things about them, oh my gosh, my wife is super into this.
She's gonna be so excited. She's gonna come to all your
presentations. And so things I really wouldn't
have known about people, just bytalking about this and getting
that interest up. So it's really kind of cool.
Josh Hutchinson (17:52):
As you've been learning about the Salem Witch
Trials, what are some things that have surprised you?
Jennifer Tozer (17:59):
Oh gosh. I think one of the biggest
things that's stuck with me is this story about Dorothy Good,
the little girl, Sarah Good's daughter.
And I think she's referred to asDorcas a lot mistakenly.
They thought her name was Dorcas, so she's usually called
Dorcas in a lot of historical documents, but I guess recently
they've discovered her name was Dorothy.
(18:19):
She was only four or five years old and accused of witchcraft
and left in this prison, even after her mother was hanged and
just affected her for her whole life.
There was a really good presentation on the Salem Witch
Museum because Rachel, who is the director of education of the
Salem Witch Museum, was one of the ones that kind of discovered
(18:39):
more about her and her whole story and that she just had
mental problems for the rest of her life and just how it really
affected her. I think that story, I guess
being a mother really affected me and I just, that was one of
the craziest things I learned that I had never even heard
about. And so that was definitely
really interesting. But there's been a few things
(19:01):
that I learned. I didn't know about spectral
evidence. That was fascinating, the fact
that it was even accepted and someone could just say they saw
your specter and you could be convicted on that.
Yeah. So many interesting things.
I tried to put them all into my exhibit, but I'm sure I probably
couldn't capture them all because there's just so many.
(19:21):
I'll probably have to do this now every year.
Sarah Jack (19:24):
That would be awesome.
I, if you could pull that off with your energy and time.
I know that people will be lining up to see the new
additions. I've really been impressed with
your resourcefulness. Like you said, you started from
scratch and when we first connected in April, I was so
thrilled that you were interested in doing this and I
(19:45):
was, you know, I hated knowing how difficult it was going to be
for you to build up some of your, the vision that you had
for this. And, but you have done that,
despite the barriers. And I really like what some of
your panels are focusing on, andyou don't need to give
(20:06):
everything away, but do you wanna highlight any of the
messages from your storyboards? Jennifer Tozer: Yeah.
I think my favorite one is actually the first one I
designed, which is the myths versus the facts.
Because as I was researching it,I realized there are still a lot
of myths and misunderstandings around the Salem Witch Trials.
(20:26):
And so I try to highlight the main, I think I've got about
maybe 12, maybe 13, on there that are pretty well-known myths
about the Salem Witch trials. And then I talk about the facts
that actually happened. One, as you know, is the ergot
theory, where there was the fungus and the wheat and
apparently that myth just will not die.
(20:46):
And so I'm gonna try to help with that.
But there are others. People thought witches were
burned in Salem, and they were not.
And so just, just all of the different myths.
And, again, I learned so much about it that I thought, why not
share this with others? So that's probably one of my
favorites. I also have the one about modern
(21:07):
witchcraft and witches, which I really enjoyed making, as well.
I'm really fascinated by that and just all of the, like I
said, the misconceptions around that and some of that fear and
stigma around it, and just trying to break that up.
I thought that was another really fun one to design.
But yeah, I have several in there.
I just started trying to create one that talks about what I
(21:29):
learned from it and the most fascinating thing, so I do talk
a little bit about Dorothy Good on that one and some other
fascinating tidbits that I learned as I was researching
this. So I think it's gonna be a lot
of fun. And I'm trying to make it a
little more interactive. I'm gonna try to have some, I
don't know, thought questions onsome of the boards, where after
they learn about this, they can take something away, just a
(21:51):
question for them to ponder and think about.
And so I'm trying to incorporatethat, as well as, a lot of the
students when they come in, can do a, it's almost like a
scavenger hunt, we call it. But it's like a series of
questions, and we'll just give them the handout and basically
all of the answers can be found in the exhibit, but it gives
(22:11):
them, you know, and, and then ifthey turn it back in, they get
entered to win prize. And so it gives 'em a little
incentive to actually learn and go through the exhibit and read
all of the information, instead of just walking through and, oh,
this is cool, and looking at thepictures, but not really reading
and learning anything. And so we've found that that
helps engage students a little bit more, and they get a little
(22:33):
bit more out of the exhibit. I'm working on that kind of
simultaneously as I'm building it.
So yeah, it's a lot. Sarah Jack: It is a lot, but
it's, it is just, it's really going to ripple into the student
experience. That's one of the things about
Witch trial history you have mentioned today.
It's their individual stories, and we, you just learn so much,
(22:58):
understanding what happened to them in the courts and then
learning about their lives. And it, it's so applicable to
things we experience today with injustice.
And so I'm just really grateful that you dug your heels in and
created this for your community.Is this available to the public
(23:18):
to stop in and look at? Jennifer Tozer: Yes.
So the exhibit will be open to the community, but because we
are a library and we're on a campus, we are also a quiet
study space. So even though we've advertised
in one of the local papers, and we will invite the community in,
they will have to be respectful of their noise level.
But I'm also offering to set up some appointments after hours so
(23:41):
they can come through if maybe it's a larger group or they just
don't wanna worry about the noise level, maybe they have
younger children, or like I said, like a group of people who
wanna discuss it. I'm offering that and so I might
be staying late a few nights this October, so we'll see.
But yeah, I wanted to open it tothe community, but I also didn't
wanna impact the students and their need for having a quiet
(24:03):
study space on campus. And so it was trying to find
that balance. Sarah Jack: I was just thinking
how it might be interesting, andmaybe you're already thinking
about this, but won't it be interesting to see what
questions come in, maybe before they see the exhibit, after they
see the exhibit? Are you gonna find the same
question or comment coming up a lot?
(24:24):
Are you gonna have a big variety?
That's like, being on the insideof this, like you are, you're
really gonna get to enjoy that aspect, that initial impact of
the information on the the students.
Jennifer Tozer (24:36):
Yeah, initially I was worried too that we might
get some blowback from the community.
I mean, anytime you mention witches or witchcraft, again,
there's that stigma and that fear around it, which I'm trying
to get rid of, but you always get a little bit of pushback
from the community. So I was a little worried about
that, but I made sure that I talked this over with the
president of the college and that he was on board with it,
(24:57):
and we were okay to advertise tothe community and bring the
community in. And I think just having that
support from the administration here at the college is great.
And just knowing that some of the events that we're gonna put
on might, might cause things like that, like October, there's
also a Banned Books Week, and wedo get a lot of pushback usually
(25:18):
during that time about the banned books.
And so we're really trying to keep it very unbiased and
educational, and we're just saying these are the facts, even
around the banned books, like this is, this is what is
happening. This is what it means to be a
banned book, because people really don't understand what
that means. They're like, oh, but I can go
buy it on Amazon. And it's like, well, it's been
(25:39):
challenged, it's been pulled outof libraries.
That's what that means. And we have some of the most
challenged books. But I also feel like this
witchcraft and witch trial exhibit really fits in with
that, because even though it's not a banned book, it's just one
of those things where there's that kind of, I don't know,
almost like that misunderstanding and that fear,
(25:59):
and that really just not knowingenough about it.
And whenever we don't know aboutsomething, we're afraid of it.
And that just causes a lot of problems.
And so we're really trying to keep it very educational, very
open-minded. if people come in with questions, I'd be more than
happy to sit with them, talk to them about these things.
And so I think it's gonna be, I think it'll be well-received.
(26:21):
I was a little bit nervous, but I do think keeping it that
unbiased educational aspect, I think it'll be well-received in
the community. So I'm still excited, a little
nervous, but excited. Josh Hutchinson: Yeah.
No, it's so fantastic. I love what you're doing there,
and I love that you've designed it to be thought-provoking so
(26:42):
that people come through and they are looking for the answers
for the questions, and then at the end you're posing something
to them to get them thinking. What do you hope that visitors
take away from the experience? Jennifer Tozer: I guess just
sort of what I took away from it, building it, honestly, just
(27:04):
maybe they learned something newthat was fascinating, maybe they
get more interested in history, dive a little bit deeper.
You know, I just think maybe having less of that fear around
witches, witchcraft, some of thethings that they maybe didn't
understand before the exhibit. So, even if just one person
(27:25):
walks away with that, I will be happy.
Sarah Jack (27:28):
That's awesome. I was just thinking too, one of
the aspects of the Salem Witch Trials, which you and I haven't
discussed is, there was banning of publications during that
year. Jennifer Tozer: I learned that
in Dan's book. And it was really fascinating,
because it seemed very similar to things that are happening
(27:49):
today, where they were only banning publications of like one
side of it. So, if people were advocating
for the trials, they could publish, but if people were kind
of against the trials, they werenot allowed to publish it.
And I thought, oh my gosh, that's so fascinating.
You know, as we've learned, if you control the media, you can
control what people think and what people know.
(28:10):
And knowledge is really powerful.
And I think, especially when people are trying to erase that
knowledge, it's really, really important to get it out there
even more and, you know, let people know the true facts and
the true history and, yeah, that's one of the reasons I kind
of love the whole story around the Salem Witch Trials.
(28:32):
It's like, my husband asked me, he's like, why do you like
Salem? That's where they hung witches.
Like, they're not, it's not a good place.
And I think for me, it, it's oneof those places and one of those
times in American history where we have actually as Americans
acknowledged that we messed up and they came back after the
fact. They made restitutions.
(28:52):
I mean, yeah, they're not gonna ever bring back the people that
were accused and hung, but it's a start and that they could
acknowledge their wrongs and putup a memorial and come back
after the fact and basically apologize and say we were wrong
and try to make it right, which I don't feel like as an American
(29:12):
society, we've done a lot in ourhistory.
We really never came out and talked about slavery, and a lot
of people still try to brush that under the rug, or the Trail
of Tears with the Native Americans.
And it's just, it's really sad. And I think that's one of the
things I love about Salem is even if it's a horrible story,
at least they came back after the fact and could acknowledge
(29:34):
their wrongdoing and like try tomake it right, because you can't
ever undo the past. But if you don't acknowledge it
and learn from it, like what arewe doing?
Right? So that's why I really love the
story of the trials and just thewhole, that's why I tried to
tell the whole story through, upto when they were exonerated,
which I just recently learned about.
(29:56):
I think the last one in the Salem Witch Trials was recently
exonerated and I had never heardof her, Elizabeth Johnson Jr.,
and that it was a small class that just put this petition
together to try to get her exonerated.
She was like the last one. and yeah, I thought that was just so
fascinating that. even a couple years ago, we're still trying to
(30:16):
make it right, but they are trying to make it right and I
think that's really important. Josh Hutchinson: Yeah, that was
just, three years ago that Elizabeth Johnson Jr. got
exonerated, the last person convicted of witchcraft at Salem
to be cleared. And then it was a year after
that that Connecticut absolved all the people who were accused
(30:40):
over there, and we're still seeing efforts in other states
and around the world to try, like you said, it's important
just to acknowledge the past. You have to acknowledge it
before you can move forward learning from it.
So I love that you're incorporating all that.
Jennifer Tozer (30:58):
I'm trying. Josh Hutchinson
Yeah. Sarah Jack: Yeah, it's, you've
just created this, it's such a complex story and there's all
these layers and you really, I just, I'm thinking of it like a
bouquet. You went out to this field of
wildflowers, and you got just the most beautiful samples of
that field and put the story together or this bouquet
(31:22):
together. So I'm grateful as a descendant.
Small part, but I am hoping it will at least
lead into maybe them doing theirown research, learning a little
bit more. I really hope people read the
books, because I do think that is gonna be great.
We're we, were gonna try to do like a little book club on
campus around that, but it was just too hard to get everything
(31:42):
together and but hopefully, at least some of the faculty or
staff and students can read the book beforehand and really have
those meaningful conversations with the authors, too, because I
thought the books were really just fantastic, and like I said,
I learned so much, and so I hopethat others can do that as well,
even if it's after the fact, 'cause we did order a few of the
(32:03):
books for our collection. So even if that just interests
them and then they check out thebook and read it, I think it'll
be really great. Sarah Jack: Awesome.
Josh Hutchinson (32:11):
Yeah, I really love Kathleen Kent's work, The
Heretic Daughter. And then there's a sequel to it,
The Wolves of Andover, and they're both so entertaining.
It's not an exact replica of thehistory, but it puts you in that
situation, so you feel what the characters would've experienced.
Jennifer Tozer (32:32):
Yeah. Yeah.
I thought it was, it was well done where you do feel immersed
in that time period. it's written in that.
I don't know what you would, like older dialect, and you do
feel like you're in the period, which is hard for some people to
read. I know if you go back and you
read, Jane Austen or Shakespeare, you really have to
start to get into it. But, as you do, it does put you
(32:53):
in that time period and you're alittle more immersed in it, so I
thought that was really neat. I've read some other, witch
books that are like that and they're written in that older
English and, yeah, I think it's super fascinating.
So fun. Sarah Jack: What have you named
the program, and what dates is it running?
So the exhibit is called Witch Trials:
(33:16):
Accusation to Exoneration. I feel like that title
encompasses what I'm doing a little bit better, and it will
be up the entire month of October.
And anytime that we're open, thelibrary is open Monday through
Thursday, eight to five, and then Friday eight to three.
Anyone is welcome to come in, and then like I said, I will
take, requests to do and after hours if needed.
(33:39):
I'm hoping most of those are on Friday after three, because I
really don't wanna stay here until 9:00 PM every night.
But, but I will because I do think it's important to get the
message out. And, yeah, so the whole month of
October and then the specific talks that I have going on, so
Sarah, you will be here on Thursday, October 9th, and then
(33:59):
Kathleen Kent will be here on Thursday, October 16th, and Dan
will be virtual on, it's a Wednesday, I think, October
22nd. I'm looking at my little
calendar here. And then I don't have any
presentations the week of Halloween, because I always do
what I like to call Halloweek, where we dress up all week,
because I love Halloween. I have so many costumes.
(34:20):
I could probably dress up all month, but I'm gonna limit it to
a week, because not everyone loves it as much as me, but I
think it'll be really fun. This year, we're doing it more
like a spirit week, so hopefullythe students will get involved
and we have a crazy hair day andthat kind of thing.
And then I do a costume contest,and so students can come in.
We're gonna do it on the 30th, 'cause there's not a lot of
(34:40):
classes here on Friday. So the 31st was out, but on the
30th, if they come in costume, they can enter the costume
contest. Last year we had a lot of fun
with that. And so again, it's just gonna be
a whole fun month and I'm just very excited to get the word out
about the Salem Witch Trials in general, but just I love all
things witches and so that's what it's gonna be about.
Josh Hutchinson (35:02):
If you have a program about witch trials
coming up, let us know so we canspread the word and offer any
support we're able to. Sarah Jack: Please reach out to
us if you would like to develop a program and just don't know
where to start. Josh Hutchinson: Thank you for
joining us. Have a great today and a
beautiful tomorrow.
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