Good Neighbor Podcast: North Shore

EP #85 - Inside The Salem Witch Museum: Education, Myths, And A Modern Refresh

• Charlie McDermott • Episode 85

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Step into the Salem Witch Museum with Rachel Chris-Doane, its director of education, and explore an immersive audiovisual journey through the 1692 witch trials, complemented by a docent-led exhibit on European witch hunts and the evolving image of the witch. Rachel dispels the myth that the museum is stuck in 1972, highlighting its 2020 exhibit renovation, growing artifact collection, and a planned 2027 theater upgrade, all designed to separate fact from fiction and underscore the trials’ modern relevance to truth, fear, and justice.

Rachel shares her unexpected path to museum education after a denied Fulbright application, revealing how career pivots can fuel purpose in the humanities. The museum expands access through free virtual programs, in-house lectures, and recorded global historian talks, making credible history engaging and accessible, whether you visit Salem or explore from home.

SPEAKER_00:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Yuan Godfrey.

SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Today we have the distinct pleasure to introduce to our listeners Rachel Chris Done. She is the director of education with the Salem Witch Museum. Rachel, how are you this morning? I'm well. How are you? Good, good, good, good. I'm well. Thank you for asking. So, Rachel, can you please tell our listeners about the Salem Witch Museum?

SPEAKER_02:

Absolutely. The Salem Witch Museum was founded in 1972. We are kind of a non-traditional format. We offer two uh exhibits. The first is an audio visual presentation that focuses on the Salem witch trials. The second is a docent-led tour of an exhibit space with some artifacts relating to the European witch trials, the evolving image of the witch, uh, and the importance of studying these um historical events. Beautiful. How did you get into this profession? I was actually an undergraduate student, just interested in working in a museum. I applied to a bunch of museums across Massachusetts and kind of by chance I ended up at the Salem Witch Museum and just never left. It's been about 10 years now, and I've really enjoyed my time here.

SPEAKER_01:

Beautiful. So what are some myths or misconception about the Salem Witch Museum that you can share with our listeners?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, we oftentimes hear in popular public culture today that we haven't updated, which actually isn't true. We we were founded in 1972 and we've been going through a series of museum-wide updates actually over the past 15 years or so. Um so our secondary exhibit space was fully renovated in 2020, which was very exciting. Um we've been adding in an artifact collection slowly over the years, which has been a very big undertaking for us. And we're just about to finish um the renovation of our main exhibit space, our main theater, which hopefully should be done in early 2027.

SPEAKER_01:

That sounds exciting, especially for the tourists. So outside of work, Rachel, what do you do for fun?

SPEAKER_02:

Uh, as is probably fairly predictable, I do a lot of reading. Um, reading, knitting, you know, that kind of stuff. Um I really love learning about history, not just the sandwich trials, but kind of all periods of history. I think that's um what I'm usually drawn to in literature.

SPEAKER_01:

Beautiful. Thank you for sharing. So, change in gears, Rachel, can you describe one hardship or one of life's challenge that you rose above and can now say because of it, you're better, you're stronger. What comes to your mind?

SPEAKER_02:

Actually, ironically, uh when I first graduated call undergraduate, um, caught my undergraduate uh experience, I wasn't planning on staying at the Salem Witch Museum. I was then employed as just a general floor staff uh tour guide, and I had applied to do a Fulbright scholarship um in Greece, and I was hoping to become a teacher. Um, and I uh was denied the opportunity and was incredibly devastated at the time. But um right around that same time, the person who was doing the job of the education director at the Salem Witch Museum stepped down and this kind of incredible job opportunity opened right before me. So even though at the time it felt devastating and it felt like my career wasn't going in the right direction, uh, I ended up in museum education, which is incredibly interesting and rewarding. And I don't think I would have gone in that direction if that uh if I hadn't been denied that job at that time. So it all worked out very well.

SPEAKER_01:

Always works out in the end. Beautiful, beautiful. Rachel, please tell our listeners one thing they should remember about the Salem Witch Museum.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, we are kind of always evolving, as I said, um, and we really do a lot to stretch beyond our building because we are housed in an incredible uh 19th century building, but with that um beautiful structure come spatial limitations. We're kind of bursting out the scenes. So we offer free virtual programming throughout the year, which I think especially local audiences may not be aware of. We do our best to make as much free and accessible to our audience as possible. Um, so these are in-house written lectures on a wide variety of subjects, as well as uh we will host historians and authors, uh, both uh nationally based and internationally located. Um, and those are all recorded and available on our website for future viewing as well.

SPEAKER_01:

Nice, thank you. So, do you have a website? How can our listeners learn more?

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, we our website is uh Salemwichmuseum.com, and I also encourage everyone to follow us on social media at Salem Witch Museum on Facebook, Instagram, uh, TikTok, and blue guy.

SPEAKER_01:

Beautiful. Rachel, we really appreciate you being on the show with us today. We wish you and the Salem Witch Museum all the very best moving forward. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpnorthore.com. That's gmpnorthore.com. Or call 857 703 9406.