All Episodes

November 18, 2025 34 mins

Episode Description:

Massachusetts has an opportunity to make history, and you can be a part of it. On November 25, 2025, Bill H.1927 goes before the Massachusetts Joint Committee on the Judiciary. This legislation will exonerate 8 individuals convicted of witchcraft in Boston and recognize everyone else who suffered accusations across Massachusetts. Between 1648 and 1693, more than 200 people were formally charged with witchcraft in Massachusetts. Only 31 from Salem have been cleared. The rest have been forgotten—until now.

Co-hosts Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack, who helped co-found the Connecticut Witch Trial Exoneration Project and successfully passed Connecticut's witch trial absolution bill in 2023, share how YOU can help Massachusetts finish the job.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

  • The 8 individuals convicted in Boston who have never been exonerated: Margaret Jones, Elizabeth Kendall, Alice Lake, Hugh Parsons, Eunice Cole, Ann Hibbins, Elizabeth Morse, and Goody Glover

  • Why this matters today: Witch hunts didn't end in the 1600s—they're still happening around the world

  • The history of Massachusetts exoneration efforts from 1703 to 2022

  • How Connecticut proved it's possible with overwhelming bipartisan support in 2023

  • Exactly what you can do to support H.1927, whether you live in Massachusetts or anywhere else in the world

Key Facts:

  • 200+ individuals were accused of witchcraft in Massachusetts between 1638 and 1693

  • 38 people were convicted (30 in Salem, 8 in Boston)

  • 25 people died: 19 hanged in Salem, 5 hanged in Boston, and Giles Corey pressed to death

  • Only Salem victims have been exonerated—the 8 Boston convictions remain unaddressed

The Boston Eight:Five Executed:

  • Margaret Jones (1648) - The first person executed for witchcraft in Massachusetts

  • Elizabeth Kendall (1647-1651) - Falsely accused by a nurse covering her own negligence

  • Alice Lake (c. 1650) - Mother of four, judged for her past

  • Ann Hibbins (1656) - A widow, called "quarrelsome" for speaking her mind

    • Goody Glover (1688) - Irish Catholic widow executed just 4 years before Salem

    Three Convicted But Not Executed:

    • Hugh Parsons (1651) - Conviction overturned, released 1652

    • Eunice Cole (likely 1656) - Convicted and imprisoned, though records are incomplete

    • Elizabeth Morse (1680) - Sentenced to death but eventually released

    CRITICAL DATE: November 25, 2025

    The Joint Committee on the Judiciary holds a hearing on H.1927 at 10:00 AM

    This bill MUST get through committee to move forward. If it doesn't receive a favorable report, it gets sent to "study" where it becomes invisible and inactive.

    How YOU Can Help RIGHT NOW:1. Sign the Petition (From Anywhere in the World)

    change.org/witchtrials Goal: 3,000+ signatures

    Keep it short: 2-6 sentences is enough! Include:

    • Why this bill matters to you

    • That these people were innocent

    • Why Massachusetts should complete its exoneration work

    • Connection to modern witch hunts (optional)

    2. Submit Written Testimony (From Anywhere in the World)Where to submit: Details at massachusettswitchtrials.org

  • 3. Contact Your Massachusetts Legislators (MA Residents)

    • Email your state representative and senator
    • Ask them to support H.1927
    • Ask them to co-sponsor the bill
    • Tell them: "Massachusetts exonerated the Salem victims but left the Boston victims behind. Please honor all witch trial victims."

    4. Spread the Word

  • Share this episode and use hashtags:

    • #H1927

    • #WitchTrialJustice

    • #MassachusettsHistory

    • #mawitchhuntjusticeproject

    • #EndWitchHunts

    5. Get a Support Pin

  • Purchase the Massachusetts Witch-Hunt Justice Project pin on Zazzle (under $5) Link in show notes and at massachusettswitchtrials.org

    Sign the Petition to Exonerate the Boston 8

    .css-j9qmi7{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;font-weight:700;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:2.8rem;width:100%;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:start;justify-content:start;padding-left:5rem;}@media only screen and (max-width: 599px){.css-j9qmi7{padding-left:0;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;}}.css-j9qmi7 svg{fill:#27292D;}.css-j9qmi7 .eagfbvw0{-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;color:#27292D;}

    Mark as Played
    Transcript

    Episode Transcript

    Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
    Sarah Jack (00:00):
    Massachusetts has an opportunity to make history, and

    (00:03):
    you can be a part of it. Josh Hutchinson: I'm Josh
    Hutchinson. Welcome to The Thing About Witch
    Hunts. Sarah Jack: And I'm Sarah Jack.
    Together with other community members, we co-founded the
    Connecticut Witch Trial Exoneration Project.
    We launched this podcast in 2022, specifically to support
    Connecticut's legislative efforts, and together with

    (00:26):
    advocates like you, we successfully passed
    Connecticut's witch trial absolution bill in 2023.

    Josh Hutchinson (00:34):
    We are just people who saw an overlooked
    injustice and decided to do something about it, and now
    Massachusetts needs that same energy.

    Sarah Jack (00:43):
    On November 25th, 2025, bill H 1927 goes before
    the Massachusetts General Court.If the Joint Committee on the
    Judiciary moves it forward, it would go to the House of
    Representatives for a vote. Otherwise, this bill dies Josh

    Hutchinson (01:01):
    This bill will exonerate the eight people
    convicted of witchcraft in Boston and recognize everyone
    else who suffered accusations across Massachusetts.
    Between 1648 and 1693, more than200 people were formally charged
    with witchcraft in Massachusetts.
    Only 31 from Salem have been cleared.

    (01:21):
    The rest forgotten. Until now.

    Sarah Jack (01:26):
    Here's ultimately why this matters.
    Witch hunts are still happening today.
    People around the world are still being accused, attacked,
    and killed over witchcraft accusations.
    When we stand up for these historical victims, we're also
    standing against witch hunts happening right now.

    Josh Hutchinson (01:46):
    We need your voice to make it happen, and we
    are going to tell you all the reasons this is important and
    how you can help. Sarah Jack: Here's why this
    matters to you. Witch hunts didn't end in the
    1600s, and we educate about thatevery week on this podcast.
    When we stand up for these historical victims,

    (02:06):
    we're standing against that samepattern today, and we need your
    voice to make it happen. You do have the power to act.
    H 1927, An Act Exonerating Certain Individuals Accused of
    Witchcraft in Colonial Massachusetts, needs your
    support. H 1927 again, will receive a

    (02:27):
    hearing by the Joint Committee on the Judiciary in the
    Massachusetts General Court at the State House on Tuesday,
    November 25th, 2025 at 10:00 AM,and you can submit written
    testimony for that, or you can come up and show your support in
    person. Sarah Jack: We have information
    on how to submit that testimony in the show notes for you.

    (02:50):
    So what is H 1927?
    This bill proposed by representative Steven Owens,
    whose district includes parts ofWatertown and Cambridge, would
    exonerate eight people convictedof witchcraft in Boston, not
    Salem, in Boston, between 1648 and 1688, and would provide for

    (03:12):
    a general clearing of everyone who was ever accused of
    witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts.
    That's over 200 people like we've mentioned.
    So you have the power to get this to happen, and we're really
    looking forward to working with you.

    Sarah Jack (03:31):
    There's some steps this bill has to go through to
    survive, to pass and exonerate these innocent people.
    First, it needs to go through this Joint Committee on the
    Judiciary, then to the House, then to the Senate.

    (03:52):
    Why do we need H 1927? Josh Hutchinson: Well, there's a
    long history of exoneration in Massachusetts, going back to the
    early 18th century. Through various bills passed by
    the Massachusetts General Court over the last several centuries,
    the Salem convicted have been cleared, as well as Giles Corey,

    (04:16):
    who was pressed to death with stones for not agreeing to stand
    trial. So they've all been cleared, but
    the Boston have not. Not one of them has had their
    name cleared yet. Sarah Jack: I did have a
    great-grandmother that stood trial in Boston.
    That was Mary Hale. She wasn't convicted.

    Josh Hutchinson (04:36):
    I had a great grandaunt, Elizabeth Morse, who
    was one of the eight convicted that we're gonna talk about.
    Like we're saying, you know, witch trials didn't just happen
    in Salem in 1692 and 1693. It happened all around
    Massachusetts from the western side of the state to the eastern
    seaboard. There were witch trials from

    (05:00):
    1648 to 1691. Sarah Jack: Massachusetts,
    Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maryland, Virginia,
    everywhere has hunted witches. Josh Hutchinson: Like we said,
    Connecticut did pass an absolution bill.
    They also in that bill apologized for the witch trials.

    (05:21):
    They're the only state that has done that to date for its
    witchcraft accusations. Sarah Jack: We have resources
    for you on all of this history that we're talking about, our
    websites, our podcast episodes, and the petition at
    change.org/witchtrials has lots of information for you, so go
    check that out today. Josh Hutchinson: Yeah, let's

    (05:43):
    talk for a minute about what a witch was in the 17th century.
    A witch was somebody who was in a diabolical covenant.
    They had signed a pact with the devil to serve him, usually for
    a period of some number of years, though he would trick
    them into staying for life basically.

    And Sarah Jack (06:03):
    Allegedly, all of this is alleged.

    Josh Hutchinson (06:06):
    Allegedly, nobody ever produced Satan's
    little book that he recorded thenames in, or you know, showed
    hoof prints in the snow or anything that Satan would've
    left behind, but a witch was tied to this diabolical
    covenant, and since we know thatpeople weren't covenanting with
    the devil, we know that everybody accused of witchcraft

    (06:29):
    back then was actually innocent of what they were accused of.
    It was just neighbors accusing neighbors of causing their
    misfortunes and failures. Sarah Jack: One misunderstanding
    is sometimes that it might have been their religious practices
    that they were getting punished for.
    In these cases, this was not a religious persecution in that

    (06:51):
    sense. Folk magic, English folk magic,
    which was of course a lot of themagic that would've been
    practiced, mostly secretly. They were not prosecuting for
    folk magic practices. It was for the devil.
    This is Christians prosecuting their
    fellow Christians. It's not outsiders.
    It's generally the Puritan Congregationalists accusing one

    (07:16):
    another, and not people outside of their group.

    Sarah Jack (07:21):
    So you said there is a history of legislation in
    Massachusetts? Josh Hutchinson: Yeah.
    This legislation to clear the Salem accused, it's taken over
    300 years to get everyone cleared up.
    Back in 1703, 3 women had their names cleared.
    But then in 1711, 20 some more men and women and children,

    (07:47):
    Abigail Hobbs, who was a 15-year-old girl, they got
    cleared. So that seemed at the time to
    cover everybody who needed it. Fast forward from 1711, we're
    now in the 20th century, clearlyin the middle of the 20th

    (08:08):
    century. In about 1945, a man, a
    descendant of Ann Pudeator brought some legislation before
    the Massachusetts General Court to clear her name and "certain
    other persons," who were convicted of witchcraft in Salem
    but were not named in the bill, which didn't pass until 1957.

    (08:32):
    So 12 years this descendant led this effort and kept, you know,
    going back to the General Court,will you pass this, will you
    pass this, will you pass this, and then they did.

    And that Sarah Jack (08:45):
    But it sounds like there is a pattern
    of them not taking these bills up.

    Josh Hutchinson (08:53):
    Not initially. It seems people have had to go
    back to the well on it. But you should have seen how
    much trouble it was in the 18th century to get the initial
    reversals of attainder passed. That took a lot of people's
    voices coming in to make it happen.
    And then in the 20th century, it's similar obstacles and even

    (09:17):
    in the 21st, but turning to the 21st century, those certain
    other persons got named. In 2001, five more women were
    named and cleared, exonerated. This effort was led by a college
    student at Salem State University.
    Then in 2022, the last person convicted in Salem was finally

    (09:41):
    cleared. That's Elizabeth Johnson, Jr.
    She was in the news a lot that year, so you may have heard
    about this. This effort was led by a teacher
    and her classes at North AndoverMiddle School.
    So here these last two ones, you've got a college student and
    then middle school students doing the effort.

    Sarah Jack (10:01):
    Yeah, and that exoneration for Elizabeth
    Johnson, Jr. took a lot of work.It didn't make it out of the
    committee. So this committee that H 1927 is
    up to see, although it would, ofcourse, could have different
    legislators representing the committee this year.
    Elizabeth Johnson Jr. didn't make it past that committee.

    Josh Hutchinson (10:22):
    No, so the Joint Committee on the
    Judiciary, they need to file a favorable report on the bill, so
    it will go to the house and go up for debate and a vote.
    Otherwise, the bill gets sent tostudy, and when it's in study,
    it's more or less invisible. It's not being actively worked

    (10:45):
    on. So we really want this to get
    through committee. Sarah Jack: Yeah, and
    fortunately for Elizabeth Johnson, Jr., her advocates got
    her attached to a budget bill. Josh Hutchinson: Yes.
    And so she was ultimately cleared.
    She's been added into the 1957 resolution along with the women

    (11:06):
    cleared in 2001. They were added to that, which
    cleared them along with Ann Pudeator and just gave them
    their names that they need. And so this bill now also names
    the eight individuals that are accused.
    I do wanna mention that you can read the 1957 resolution and H

    (11:28):
    1927 at our website, massachusettswitchtrials.org,
    again, point you to that for a lot of resources about the
    Massachusetts Witch Trials. So, as I was saying, this bill
    adds eight individuals to the 1957 resolution by name.

    Sarah Jack (11:47):
    Margaret Jones, Josh Hutchinson
    Alice Lake, Josh Hutchinson

    Jack (11:54):
    Eunice Cole, Josh Hutchinson
    Elizabeth Morse, Josh Hutchinson

    Sarah Jack (12:01):
    Those eight, their names are not cleared.
    But we can do something about this.
    Yeah. Josh Hutchinson: And this bill
    also, because we recognize that out of these over 200 people
    accused of witchcraft, there's still 180 some people probably,
    other than these 31 who've had their names cleared at for

    (12:23):
    Salem, there's all these people accused of witchcraft who've not
    been acknowledged in legislationyet.
    So this provides for the clearing of those more than 200
    people, we don't necessarily know the exact number because
    the records aren't entirely intact from the 17th century,
    but this would clear anybody whowas accused in Massachusetts at

    (12:47):
    any point in time. Sarah Jack: But these eight by
    name. Josh Hutchinson: But eight by
    name, and these by general stroke of the brush.
    Yeah. So that general stroke would
    include Tituba. She served months and months in
    prison and received no acknowledgement for that

    (13:10):
    injustice. This would cover that.

    Josh Hutchinson (13:12):
    Yeah, these, because these people, they've
    served the time in prison. They suffered, they went through
    the terrible conditions in there.
    There's so much sickness and heat and cold, and you don't
    have proper bedding or sanitation or food or anything
    in the jails at the time. So it was a really rough deal to

    (13:36):
    get stuck in there. And another person who
    unfortunately got stuck in jail for about seven months and
    really had a hard time with it, because she was four years old,
    was Dorothy Good? She's just a little baby girl
    stuck in a dungeon in chains forseven months.

    Sarah Jack (13:58):
    Tiny little chains, they would've had chains on her.

    Josh Hutchinson (14:02):
    They made you know, special shackles for her
    wrists and ankles, so that they could chain her and hopefully
    keep her specter from roaming and doing harm to people.

    Sarah Jack (14:15):
    I'd really like to see Dorothy receive this
    acknowledgement. Josh Hutchinson: Dorothy really
    needs it. Let's do this for her.
    Does this bill provide restitution or
    reparations? Josh Hutchinson: No.
    It does not provide for any payments to any parties, any

    (14:36):
    descendants. Sorry, but this is about the
    victims themselves. It's about acknowledging the
    injustice that was done and saying, Hey, this shouldn't have
    happened. This was wrong.
    We know that. Sarah Jack: And does this finish
    then the exonerations for Massachusetts?

    Josh Hutchinson (14:57):
    This covers everyone.
    So if new people are discovered that have been accused, they're
    already in this legislation, theway that it's worded is that has
    a general provision for anyone accused of witchcraft.

    Sarah Jack (15:18):
    One of the things that we learned early on in the
    experience of working on the Connecticut, which trial victims
    is people really struggle to understand why a posthumous
    exoneration is significant, and there are so many reasons.
    When I'm out giving presentations in the community

    (15:41):
    about historical witch trials and modern witch trials, I
    inevitably always get this question, well, why do they need
    exonerated? So I think we should talk about
    some of those reasons. Josh Hutchinson: Yeah.
    Let's talk first about generational and familial
    trauma. This. injustice didn't it just
    harm the people that were directly accused?

    (16:03):
    It harmed everybody in their orbit, because you're taking
    somebody out of that circle at least for a period of time while
    they're in jail, permanently if they're executed.
    You're removing a piece of a family, so of course, it's gonna
    be a big trauma and ordeal for anybody who cares about that

    (16:24):
    person and anybody who relies upon that person.
    That's a really great example, Josh, and I was
    thinking about we really see that in the modern witch hunts
    today too, because entire families become outcasts or a
    breadwinner or a protector is gone.
    So when people are hunted as witches, it just really destroys

    (16:49):
    the family. Josh Hutchinson: Yeah, some
    families were actually broken upin the witch trials, because the
    parents were jailed or executed,and the children had to be sent
    off to other homes to be raised.Sarah Jack: Did that happen to
    Reverend Burroughs' children? Josh Hutchinson: It happened to,
    Reverend Burroughs and to SamuelWardwell's children in the Salem

    (17:12):
    Witch Trials. Sarah Jack: Witch accusations
    are real colonial heritage. Sometimes I think we get the
    idea that because Salem was justso wild, and it's this huge
    story, you know, fact is stranger than fiction story kind
    of thing. I think we don't necessarily

    (17:35):
    recognize that people were actually accusing each other of
    witchcraft all along. At the beginning of this
    episode, you mentioned that across the 17th century, that
    these witch accusations were happening, and this is an
    injustice, and this is a behavior and a phenomenon that
    was literally present as our colonial history was unfolding.

    (17:56):
    So we really need to recognize and acknowledge this isn't a
    behavior that communities shouldhave.

    Josh Hutchinson (18:04):
    This was unjust.
    This was a miscarriage of justice.
    It was the definition. Now, we actually, if you look in
    a dictionary at injustice, theremight actually be a reference to
    the Salem Witch Trials because it's become synonymous with

    (18:25):
    injustice and scapegoating, othering, oppressing people and
    dehumanizing them. This is it.

    Sarah Jack (18:33):
    And the Boston convicted really experienced
    this othering, this dehumanization, this
    scapegoating. If you look at what we know
    about the women who were hanged,Governor Winthrop wrote very
    dehumanizing things about Margaret Jones.
    We know Anne Hibbens, the widow who was hanged, they were

    (18:57):
    oppressing her. It was really hard to look at
    that history, because those women were so vulnerable, and
    that's why they were victimized by witch trials.

    Josh Hutchinson (19:06):
    Yes, but those women themselves told us they
    were innocent and that they wanted justice.

    Sarah Jack (19:14):
    So Margaret Jones did not confess, but our voices
    today are still the ones saying Margaret Jones is innocent.
    Let's clear her name. Josh Hutchinson: Witchcraft was
    a supernatural crime. It's not a crime that's provable
    in court. So how could you be sure that
    somebody you were accusing of witchcraft actually did it?

    (19:36):
    There were no eyewitnesses to any acts of witchcraft.
    There were eyewitnesses to specters and specters are just,
    it could be anything, just SarahJack: were ghosts, ghost
    stories. Josh Hutchinson: of spots on the
    wall or a shadow in the corner. That could be anything.
    And these are the, this was the evidence that was used in a lot

    (19:59):
    of these witch trials before andduring Salem.
    In 2025, I would be shocked, and I am shocked all
    the time, but I would be shockedif someone tried to blame it on
    the devil today. But that was an excuse, and
    saying excuse might be a little harsh, but as a descendant, I

    (20:19):
    look at that, I'm like, what an excuse.
    But they were trying to reconcile what they had done,
    and they were chasing the devil.Then they just believed, oh, we
    were also deluded by the devil, and that became part of their
    apology. And this apology, it doesn't
    need that. It shouldn't have that.

    (20:39):
    I want their names cleared without blaming the devil.

    Josh Hutchinson (20:44):
    Yeah, we don't need to blame the devil.
    This was human action that caused these witch trials to
    happen, humans that made every decision every step of the way
    and decided that they wanted to scapegoat their neighbors and
    eliminate them. There was no good evidence used

    (21:04):
    in the courts for these witch trials.
    There was hearsay from neighbors.
    There was a lot of conjecturing.There was the "hey, 18 years ago
    I had an argument with this woman, and then three weeks
    later, one of my cows got sick" kind of evidence.
    And the spectral that we talked about already, just seeing

    (21:26):
    shapes and forms and saying thatthey were attacking you, is very
    weak evidence. There was no physical proof
    except for witches' marks and poppets, and witches' marks
    could have been any kind of a blemish on anywhere on your
    body, and a poppet is just a little doll that anybody could

    (21:50):
    have had for any purpose. Sarah Jack: In the Boston cases,
    Margaret Jones was inspected andfound to have this mark of the
    witch, witch mark. It's a really vague description
    by the governor in his journals about her witch mark, and that

    (22:10):
    just makes me so mad. And then, you know, Goody
    Glover, they found this doll in her home.
    She had it in court. She was cleaning it off.
    It meant something to her. Now she was Catholic and
    sometimes I, when I'm thinking about her story, you know, it
    could have represented somethingholy to her.

    (22:30):
    It was not a devil doll for Goody Glover.
    Yeah, so let's set an example for others and
    for future generations. Let's avoid othering each other
    and scapegoating. Sarah Jack: The accounts and the

    (22:52):
    records that we do have often show these coercive
    conversations that the magistrates were having with
    these cornered and accused women, and those who did confess
    were coerced. And do we still have to worry
    about confessions being coerced from innocent people today?

    (23:13):
    We do. This is a way to stand against
    that. Josh Hutchinson: Yeah.
    And this is a way to stand against accusing vulnerable
    people of crimes that they didn't commit, or in the case of
    witchcraft, crimes that they couldn't have committed.

    Sarah Jack (23:30):
    Fear drives witch hunts.
    Fear drove these witch hunts. We need to remind people to not
    act dangerously in fear towards the vulnerable and to seek out
    true reasons for misfortune and success.

    Josh Hutchinson (23:47):
    So who supports H 1927 to clear the names of the
    Massachusetts accused? Sarah Jack: Advocates, state
    legislators, often it's descendants, but it's a whole
    community. Josh Hutchinson: This bill, it's
    sponsored by Steven Owens of Cambridge and Watertown, and

    (24:07):
    it's co-signed by Sally P. Kerans, William C.
    Galvin and Natalie M. Higgins, also representatives in
    the General Court. Sarah Jack: Descendants, there
    are, what do we wanna say? Millions of descendants of witch
    trial victims in this country and around the world.

    (24:29):
    We don't necessarily know all the descendants, especially of
    those who are convicted in Boston.
    We know of some, but we know that there are ones that we
    can't find, because of incomplete records, or there
    aren't records in indicating clearly if there was a
    descendant. So it also takes the rest of us,

    (24:51):
    the rest of us in the community to say, this really was a
    blemish and we need to say, sorry.
    You may notice the pins that Josh and I are wearing here.
    This is our project pin. You can buy those for a couple
    dollars. It's under $5 on zazzle.com.
    And this is the Massachusetts Witch-Hunt Justice Project

    (25:13):
    support pin. The link to that's in the show
    notes and on our website. Josh Hutchinson: So, why should
    you support H 1927? Sarah Jack: You can honor the
    innocent victims. They were real people.
    They have real stories. You can get to know them through
    their real stories. Josh Hutchinson: We can

    (25:34):
    recognize the injustice of the witch trials and move forward
    from there through education anddiscussion of what lessons can
    we learn from these witch trialsand how do we avoid having them
    again? Sarah Jack: Mary Esty, one of
    the women hanged during the Salem Witch Trials, wrote a
    petition that is well known, I would dare to say famous.

    (25:57):
    She wrote it to the magistrates.She recognized that she was
    condemned and going to die. She was a little too polite.
    I can say this because I'm her descendant.
    She was a little too polite, butI don't blame her because she
    had no agency. But she told them, even though
    you think you're right, if you continue in this way, more

    (26:18):
    innocent people are going to die.
    And that is what is still happening today.
    There are refugees in camps in the country of Ghana, and if you
    go to Amnesty International Ghana, you can catch some
    YouTube videos of the survivors of witchcraft accusations, and
    one of them really caught my earwhen I was listening to her.

    (26:40):
    She was talking about how it's too late for her, but change
    needs to happen because of thosewho come before her.
    Over 300 years between Mary Estyand that survivor in Ghana, and
    they were essentially saying thesame thing Josh Hutchinson: Same
    thing. And as Sarah is mentioning here,
    this is so relevant in today's world because there are modern

    (27:02):
    victims of witch trials. There are modern victims of all
    kinds of injustice all around the world.
    We see this, every day in somewhere around the world.
    Somebody is on the receiving endof injustice.
    They're being scapegoated, they're being othered, they're

    (27:23):
    being prosecuted with little evidence.
    All these things we need to stopdoing.

    Sarah Jack (27:30):
    Yeah, this effort is to take a stand against that
    injustice too. Josh Hutchinson: There's also an
    opportunity here to take a standagainst misogyny.
    It was clearly a problem in the witch trials of the past.
    All five of the five people executed for witchcraft in
    Boston were women, and 75, of the people accused in the Salem

    (27:56):
    Witch Trials were women. Overall, something like 80 plus
    percent of Massachusetts victimswere women.
    So women, women, women, and girls.
    It's also important to follow suit.
    Connecticut has absolved their known accused witches.

    (28:20):
    They named 32 in their resolution.
    They did a complete sweep for who was known to have gone
    through this in the colony of Connecticut with that one bill.
    So Margaret Jones, Goody Glover,Anne Hibbs, Alice Lake,
    Elizabeth Morse, Hugh Parsons, Eunice Cole.
    They're the last ones. That group of convictions has

    (28:43):
    not been addressed, and they're waiting for their turn.

    Josh Hutchinson (28:47):
    They are. We've seen this movement
    internationally, as well, to clear names and pardon and
    receive apologies for the witch trials, because it was such a
    great, huge piece of our past, and it hasn't been really

    (29:08):
    addressed. We've kind of just run from it
    more than we have confronted. And so we have seen recently,
    though, apologies in Scotland byboth the First Minister, Nicola
    Sturgeon and the Kirk of Scotland, the church, they both
    gave apologies. And then down in Spain, in

    (29:30):
    Catalonia, they pardoned hundreds and hundreds of people
    who were accused and prosecuted for witchcraft in the early
    modern period. Sarah Jack: Descendants who have
    ancestors who were in the witch trials, they want it.
    They want to see the names cleared of their ancestors.

    (29:52):
    We mentioned earlier, I'll mention again,
    this is an opportunity to educate people about the witch
    trials, not just for the sake oflearning the historical facts,
    but to learn how we can better our society today by not going
    through these cycles of moral panic and scapegoating.

    Sarah Jack (30:15):
    There's some great ways for you to participate.
    First, sign the petition. We're at almost 3,000 names
    right now, and I would love to see it hit 3,000 and just keep
    ticking past that. 'cause I believe there's more
    than 3,000 people in this world who want to see Margaret Jones,
    the first woman in Massachusettshanged for witchcraft, get an

    (30:41):
    apology. You can do thathat at
    change.org/witchtrials. Josh Hutchinson: So, from
    anywhere in the world, you can sign that petition, and from
    anywhere in the world you can submit written testimony.
    We've already, we know of peoplein other countries who have
    submitted testimony to the General Court for this bill, and

    (31:03):
    you can put that in. It could be very simple.
    Keep it pretty short, maybe two or three paragraphs, talk about
    what this bill means to you and why it's important to you,
    specifically. You don't have to use any of our
    reasons. You can use any reason that
    occurs to you that makes it important.

    (31:24):
    And if you can say that in two sentences or six
    sentences, that's enough. Your support of the bill and
    your signature is gonna make a difference.
    And we are gonna have the information for how you submit
    written testimony in our show notes.
    It's also at the petition website, and it's at the
    Massachusetts Witch Trials website.

    Josh Hutchinson (31:46):
    So three places for you to go to find that
    information. Another thing that you can do
    right now is write or call your own legislator, if you're in
    Massachusetts, to ask them to support the bill and ask them to
    co-sponsor it. Sarah Jack: Yeah, there's room
    for more co-sponsors. When we worked on the
    exoneration in Connecticut, it was like over 25 co-sponsors on

    (32:09):
    that bill by the time the bill was through, and it was
    bipartisan. People came across all political
    stances to support the Connecticut bill.
    I'd like to see that in Massachusetts, too.
    So Massachusetts residents, email your representative.
    Email your senator. I know it's easy.

    (32:32):
    Jump on their website, send thema comment, ask them to sponsor
    this bill. Josh Hutchinson: You can visit
    our website for more informationand for some history on the
    witch trials. At massachusettswitchtrials.org,
    you can find the information about the legislation.
    You can find a resources list ofbooks, videos, and podcasts that

    (32:55):
    talk about the Massachusetts Witch Trials, whether they were
    in Boston or Salem, or anywhere else.

    Sarah Jack (33:01):
    And go to our Zazzle shop and order a button.
    Order five and pass 'em out. So, here's what we're asking.
    Show up for these victims the way advocates showed up for
    Connecticut's victims. Sign the petition at
    change.org/witchtrials. Josh Hutchinson: If you are in
    Massachusetts, contact your representative and senator.

    (33:22):
    Tell them you support H 1927 andthat they should co-sponsor the
    bill. Sarah Jack: We proved in
    Connecticut that regular people,descendants, history buffs,
    advocates, who just care about justice, can make change for
    good. We launched this podcast in 2022
    to support that effort, and it worked.

    Josh Hutchinson (33:43):
    You don't need a PhD or a political title.
    You just need to care and be willing to speak up.

    Sarah Jack (33:50):
    These eight people convicted in Boston are counting
    on us. They've waited centuries for
    Massachusetts to say, "this was wrong."
    Let's be the ones who finally say it together.

    Josh Hutchinson (34:02):
    Together, we can bring justice to
    Massachusetts Witch Trial victims.

    Sarah Jack (34:07):
    Visit massachsuettswitchtrials.org to
    learn more and get involved. Josh Hutchinson: Because history
    isn't just something we study, it's something we can respond
    to. Have a great today and a
    beautiful tomorrow, and thank you for all of your support for
    H 1927. Sarah Jack: We love working with
    you. Thank you.
    Advertise With Us

    Popular Podcasts

    Stuff You Should Know
    Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang

    Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang

    Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.

    Crime Junkie

    Crime Junkie

    Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.

    Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

    Connect

    © 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.