Dr. Tara Rider is a senior lecturer at Stony Brook University in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences with a multidisciplinary background in history, marine studies, and sustainability. Her research focuses on how nature, gender, and race are entwined with questions of power, culture, and identity.
The
most famous American witch-hunt began in 1692 Salem, Massachusetts. Yet, more
than three decades before that notorious event, Long Island had its very own
witchcraft trial – the trial of Goody Garlick! Accusations of flying on poles
and cavorting with the Devil ran rampant in the colonies during the 17th
century and led to hundreds of accusations of witchcraft. To understand
what happened during these trials, we must first understand the stresses of
ordinary 17th-century life in New York and why the fear of witches existed. The
trial of Goody Garlick will act as a lens to understand the hysteria associated
with these accusations.