Salem Witch Trials Memorial

Designed by the architect/artist team of James Cutler and Maggie Smith, the Salem Witch Trials Memorial was made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and has won national critical acclaim. It was dedicated on August 5, 1992, by Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel.

The Memorial is designed to be a place of respect and reflection.

When you visit Salem, we invite you to visit the Memorial, where you will:

LEARN – About the 20 individuals who were put to death in 1692 because they were accused of witchcraft.
DISCOVER – The effects of ignorance, intolerance and a faulty justice system that led to 20 deaths and the imprisonment of many more.
EXPERIENCE – The Memorial as a quiet place of reflection and contemplation.
CONSIDER – How do the lessons of 1692 pertain to present-day events?

The Salem Witch Trials Memorial (SWTM) honors those who unjustly lost their lives in 1692. As such, the Memorial is a place of reverence and should be treated with respect and dignity. The Salem Award Foundation raised funds to have the Memorial renovated in 2012. In an effort to maintain these renovations, we are reaching out to everyone who visits the Memorial to help us keep it in the condition it deserves.

The community organization Voices Against Injustice, in conjunction with the City of Salem and the Peabody Essex Museum, maintains the Memorial for today’s visitors and future generations.

Guidelines for visiting

  • Appropriate Use

    Please observe the following guidelines at the Salem

    Witch Trials Memorial:

     Stay on the path;

     Maintain a respectful quiet for the space;

     Avoid walking on the grass;

     Take a moment to consider the contemporary

    lessons of the witch trials. Feel free to sit quietly

    and contemplate on one of the granite benches;

     Feel free to leave flowers on the stones as a

    remembrance to those honored here.

  • The following behavior is discouraged:

     Running, jumping, climbing, and standing on the

    benches and walls;

     Cellphone use in the Memorial;

     Playing amplified music in the Memorial;

     Eating in the Memorial;

     Smoking in the Memorial;

     Stepping over the white fence onto the grass;

     Leaving tokens that are not biodegradable,

    including plastic floral wrapping.

    Tour Guides should not stand on the Memorial benches

    or walls, and should be mindful of their groups blocking

    the paths, limiting access to the Memorial by others.

    Candles and open flames are not permitted in the

    Memorial.

Victims of the Salem Witchcraft Trials

  • Bridget Bishop

    Salem Town

    Hanged June 10, 1692

  • Sarah Good

    Salem Village

    Hanged July 19, 1692

  • Elizabeth Howe

    Topsfield

    Hanged July 19, 1692

  • Susannah Martin

    Amesbury

    Hanged July 19, 1692

  • Rebecca Nurse

    Salem Village

    Hanged July 19, 1692

  • Sarah Wildes

    Topsfield

    Hanged July 19, 1692

  • George Burroughs

    Wells, Maine

    Hanged August 19, 1692

  • George Jacobs

    Topsfield

    Hanged August 19, 1692

  • Martha Carrier

    Andover

    Hanged August 19, 1692

  • John Proctor

    Salem Village

    Hanged August 19, 1692

  • John Willard

    Salem Village

    Hanged August 19, 1692

  • Giles Corey

    Salem Farms

    Pressed to death September 19, 1692

  • Martha Corey

    Salem Farms

    Hanged September 22, 1692

  • Mary Easty

    Salem Village

    Hanged September 22, 1692

  • Alice Parker

    Salem Town

    Hanged September 22, 1692

  • Mary Parker

    Andover

    Hanged September 22, 1692

  • Ann Pudeator

    Salem Village

    Hanged September 22, 1692

  • Wilmot Redd

    Marblehead

    Hanged September 22, 1692

  • Margaret Scott

    Rowly

    Hanged September 22, 1692

  • Samuel Wardwell

    Andover

    Hanged September 22, 1692

  • Lydia Dustin

    Reading

    Died in jail March 10, 1693

  • Ann Foster

    Andover

    Died in Jail December 9, 1692

  • Sarah Osborne

    Salem Village

    Died in Jail May 10, 1692

  • Roger Toothaker

    Billerica

    Died in Jail June 16, 1692

  • Infant Daughter of Sarah Good

    Died in Jail before July 19, 1692

 

“Oh Lord, help me! It is false. I am clear. For my life now lies in your hands...”

— Rebecca Nurse

 

“I do plead not guilty. I am wholly innocent of such wickedness ”

— Mary Bradbury

“I can deny it to my dying day”

-William Hobbs

 

“If it was the last moment I was to live, God knows I am innocent...”

— Elizabeth Howe

“...They told me if I would not confess I should be put down into the dungeon and would be hanged, but if I would confess I should save my life.”

— Margaret Jacobs

 

“…I am wronged. It is a shameful thing that you should mind these folks that are out their wits”

— Martha Carrier

“I am no witch. I am innocent. I know nothing of it.”

— Bridget Bishop