During the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts (1691-93), twenty-four people were executed or died while incarcerated and many others were imprisoned. More than three hundred years later, the Salem witch trials still retain an enormous cultural power. In this presentation, poet Nicole Cooley will read from her recently published book of poems, The Afflicted Girls, which focuses on this event, and will discuss the background, research, and writing of the project.

Scott Casper will return to Antiquarian Hall to describe the process of researching and writing his latest book, Sarah Johnson's Mount Vernon (Macmillan, 2008) It is a process that began in the collections of the Society ten years ago. In this work Casper recovers the remarkable history of former slave Sarah Johnson, who spent more than fifty years at Mount Vernon, before and after emancipation. Through her life and the lives of her family and friends, Casper provides an intimate picture of Mount Vernon's operation during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

In 1814, Eunice Chapman's estranged husband stole away her three children and took them to live among the Shakers. At a time when wives and mothers had few rights to speak of, Eunice Chapman waged a colossal campaign for her children's return, lobbying the New York legislature year after year, courting politicians, penning thrilling narratives about Shaker captivity, and finally rallying a mob to bring her children home. In the process she drew the attention of such luminaries as Thomas Jefferson and Martin Van Buren and won unprecedented rights as a wife and mother.

In this public program, historian Gordon S. Wood discusses whether or not George Santayana was correct when he said that "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it".