Grating The Nutmeg

Witchcraft accusations began in Connecticut in May, 1647, with the trial and execution of Alice Young of Windsor, 45 years before the better-known witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts.  Connecticut had witchcraft accusation outbreaks in the early 1660s in Hartford and again in Fairfield in 1692, with criminal trials ending in 1697.  In colonial Connecticut, dozens of women, and some men associated with them, were accused of witchcraft. The colony hanged eleven people.   In May, 2023, Connecticut’s General Assembly moved to clear the names of all those accused of witchcraft in the state and issue an apology. State lawmakers, descendants of the accused, and local historians organized to present testimony and pass a resolution declaring the accused innocent. House Joint Resolution 34, "Resolution Concerning Certain Witchcraft Convictions In Colonial Connecticut," passed 376 years after the state put Alice Young to death.   Today, Dr. Kathy Hermes talks with Beth Caruso about the history of witchcraft and the ex