The letter in the end made no difference to the Proctors’ fate. Playwright Arthur Miller immortalized the Proctors for modern audiences in The Crucible, but these sepia-toned documents are, frankly, even more riveting. One letter in defense of the Proctors was signed by 32 of their neighbors-a bold gesture, considering that many people, including John Proctor, were accused after coming to another’s defense. Conditions in the colony had been dire in the preceding months, one learns: extreme cold, a fuel shortage, a recent outbreak of smallpox, political instability, and skirmishes with local Native American tribes had all begat a population particularly receptive to scapegoating.Īmong these documents are testimonials in defense of John and Elizabeth Proctor, a local landowner and his wife, who would both be convicted of witchcraft and sentenced to death (John would be executed, but Elizabeth, who was pregnant at the time, would be granted a stay and ultimately survive the trials). Courtesy of the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem.Įntering the exhibition, visitors are pitched headlong into the frenzy via a bevy of primary source documents relating to the trials and accusations (these documents, which belong to the Peabody Essex Library, can be explored online here ). Brass sundial, dated 1644, owned by John Proctor.
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