For more than 300 years, Elizabeth Johnson Jr. was considered guilty of a crime she didn’t commit. In 1693, a jury in Salem, Massachusetts, convicted the 22-year-old of witchcraft and sentenced her to death.
Johnson didn’t die by hanging, as most of the other “witches” did, but her reputation seemed likely to remain forever scarred. While everyone else convicted during Salem’s infamous witch trials had been exonerated over the years, Johnson never was.
But a couple of years ago, some unlikely allies stepped in to help—a group of students at North Andover Middle School. After learning about Johnson in their civics class, the students took action. Over the next two years, the teens wrote a bill to clear Johnson’s name and worked with a Massachusetts state senator to lobby for its passage.
The students’ efforts paid off. This summer, Massachusetts exonerated Johnson of witchcraft, 329 years after her conviction.
“She went through something so unfair,” says Olivia Fritzinger, now a ninth-grader at North Andover High School. “We knew we had to fight for her.”
For more than 300 years, Elizabeth Johnson Jr. was considered guilty of a crime she didn’t commit. In 1693, a jury in Salem, Massachusetts, found the 22-year-old guilty of witchcraft. She was sentenced to death.
In the end, Johnson didn’t die by hanging like most of the other “witches.” But her reputation seemed likely to remain forever scarred. While everyone else found guilty during Salem’s infamous witch trials had been cleared over the years, Johnson never was.
But a couple of years ago, a group of students at North Andover Middle School stepped in to help. After learning about Johnson in their civics class, the unlikely allies took action. Over the next two years, the teens wrote a bill to clear Johnson’s name. They then worked with a Massachusetts state senator to lobby for its passage.
The students’ efforts paid off. This summer, Massachusetts cleared Johnson of witchcraft, 329 years after her sentencing.
“She went through something so unfair,” says Olivia Fritzinger, now
a ninth-grader at North Andover High School. “We knew we had to fight
for her.”