Salem: Place, Myth and Memory - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1555536093 ISBN 13: 9781555536091

Publisher: Northeastern University Press, 2004

Synopsis

How is a sense of place created, imagined, and reinterpreted over time? That is the intriguing question addressed in this comprehensive look at the 400-year, multi-layered history of Salem, Massachusetts, and the experiences of fourteen generations of people who lived in a place forever enshrined, indeed mythologized, in the public imagination by the horrific witch trials and executions of 1692 and 1693. By exploring the rich textures of Salem as a local, national, and global entity from its settling in 1626 to the present, this highly original, cohesive, and teachable collection Illuminates how people influence a place and how a place influences its people. The contributors combine the perspectives of history, literary studies, the arts, and popular culture with compelling photographs to examine Salem's many-sided urban identities over four centuries: frontier outpost of European civilization, cosmopolitan seaport, gateway to the Far East, mecca of exceptional architecture, refuge for religious diversity, center for education, and "Witch City" tourist attraction. This passage through Salem's long history - its people, legacies, and myths - challenges readers to reconsider the multiple meanings of any place. For courses in American studies, this unique work will deepen one's understanding of how a place's present resonates with its past; and, for the general reader, it will enrich the experience of visitors touring Salem's historic sites and vibrant cultural institutions.

About this title

About the Author

Dane Anthony Morrison is a professor and former chair of the History Department at Salem State College. He is the author of A Praying People: Massachusett Acculturation and the Failure of the Puritan Mission, 1600-1690. Nancy Lusignan Schultz is Professor and Coordinator of Graduate Studies in English and American Studies at Salem State College. She is the author of Fire and Roses: The Burning of the Charlestown Convent, 1834, also published by Northeastern University Press

Edition details

• Publisher: Northeastern University Press
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1555536093
• ISBN 13: 9781555536091
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288
• Editor: Morrison Dane Anthony, Schultz Nancy Lusignan