Middle School Class Helps Last Salem ‘Witch’ Receive Pardon 329 Years Later

The last Salem “witch” has been exonerated, thanks to a middle school civics class.

The Associated Press reports that Elizabeth Johnson Jr.’s conviction was overturned on Thursday, 329 years after she was charged with witchcraft and sentenced to death in 1693. The Salem Witch Trials began in 1692, and dozens of women were hanged and hundreds alleged to be “witches.” While Johnson wasn’t executed, she wasn’t pardoned in her lifetime. The witch trials concluded in 1702.

Her case came on Massachusetts lawmakers’ radar after an eighth-grade civics class at North Andover Middle School took it upon themselves to clear her name. Sen. Diana DiZoglio assisted in the kids’ endeavor and spoke on Johnson’s behalf. 

“Those who had been convicted but not executed started petitioning to have their convictions overturned and by the end of 1711 all of them had been exonerated, all except for one,” DiZoglio explained on the Senate floor.

Johnson was 22 at the time of her conviction. Her mother was also found guilty of witchcraft, though she was later cleared of the charges.

Teacher to the eighth-grade class, Carrie LaPierre applauded her students for diving into “the long-overlooked issue of justice for this wrongly convicted woman.”

She added, “Passing this legislation will be incredibly impactful on their understanding of how important it is to stand up for people who cannot advocate for themselves and how strong of a voice they actually have.”