Subj : Gallows Hill Project To : All From : Rachel L. Akers Date : Tue Mar 13 2001 11:57 pm From the Daily Goddess: (subscribe dailygoddess-subscribe@yahoogroups.com) GODDESS NEWS: Out-of-town witches want marker on Gallows Hill Salem evening News Online http://www.neopagan.com/village/kalioppescastle/salem.html By DAVE GERSHMAN News staff SALEM -- A group of out-of-town witches has raised more than $3,000 to do what nobody here has done: They want to put up a small monument on Gallows Hill in memory of those who lost their lives in the witchcraft trials of 1692. "We're not trying to change the city," said Dorothy Morrison, who lives near Washington, D.C., and is a member of a group calling itself Salem Gallows Hill 2000. "And we're not trying to change the world. All we want is a tasteful, granite marker." There are just a few problems. The 19 men and women who lost their lives were not, of course, witches. In addition, though the top of the hill earned its name through local lore, some scholars now believe the killings actually took place much closer to the bottom of the hill -- near the new Walgreens drug store on Boston Street, and not near the park at all. Of course, the city already has a Witch Trials Memorial on Liberty Street, created after a national design competition in observance of the 300th anniversary of the witch trials in 1992. And so far, neither the city nor the neighbors seem particularly interested in another memorial. Yet, Morrison is not one to be dissuaded. She can argue passionately that just such a monument is needed at the top of Gallows Hill. "We know that they weren't witches, we understand that," Morrison says. "The problem is, though, that their lives were lost. And there's nothing on the hill to mark it." Indeed, the most monumental object atop Gallows Hill is a water tank adorned with a logo of a witch on a broomstick. Tourist trap? Tours still climb the hill to perpetuate what might be a popular myth, she says, so visitors should be prompted to remember those who were at the center of the unfortunate events. "The city of Salem keeps purporting that it is (where the killings took place) and keeps letting tour buses up there," Morrison says. "If they're going to do that, I think something needs to be up there. I think it's a travesty that there's nothing to mark it." A small obelisk would be put up, Morrison said, with a 14-by-14-inch plaque, bearing an inscription designed to provoke thought, not controversy: "In memory of those who lost their lives during the Salem witch trials of 1692. May their spirits find the release, rest and peace for which they searched. May the injustice that happened here never be forgotten ... nor repeated." Though the group has been working on the monument project for several years, few people in Salem know much about it. While Gallows Hill may be significant to the Wiccan community, for neighbors, it is a place to walk or play baseball. "We will not be happy with that in the neighborhood," said Jim Moskovis of the Ward 4/Gallows Hill Community Group. If a popular misconception makes the park attractive to tourists, the monument could spell more visits to the park. And that would not be good news for neighbors. Moskovis said he was "skeptical" of the group's intentions and wants neighbors to get a chance to see any plans. Meanwhile, the city is sensitive to any perception that it neglects its history. It already has a memorial, and mayoral aide Joe Walsh said yesterday the city plans to set up a foundation to improve maintenance there. From Waltham to the world So far, the group's work has not yielded much in the way of a result. A few years ago, some members sent letters describing the plans to the Park and Recreation Commission, which has jurisdiction over the park. The request was turned down, because the size of the monument and where it would go was up in the air at the time, said Park and Recreation Superintendent Larry McIntire. Today may be different. Morrison is a relative late-comer to the group, but she has reorganized the effort. The group now has plans for the monument, and more importantly, money to build it. "They had started this several years ago, but things fell through," she says. Morrison has never been to Salem, but learned of Gallows Hill through a friend, Nancy Lankford, who lives in Waltham and visited the city several years ago. The two met through a newsletter on needlepoint. They soon discovered they had other interests in common. "We became friends, instant friends," Lankford says. Lankford visited the city's monument downtown, but was less than impressed by what she saw. At the time, she said, it was full of trash and a shopping cart had been abandoned there. Then she went to Gallows Hill. Again, she was not impressed. "It was so rundown," Lankford says, "so I took pictures up there." She wondered what could be done to improve the area. Eventually, she came up with the idea of a monument. "I would say they were healers, midwives, that were unjustly named witches -- although they weren't," Lankford says. "The tortures that they faced ... just that in itself is something that we as pagans could face. It's just something that should be brought out, so it won't happen again." But Lankford ran into some trouble raising money. She mentioned the idea to Morrison and mailed her some pictures. "They're awful," Morrison says in response. Raising money Morrison sprang into action, injecting new energy into the effort and tapping into a web of connections she developed while writing several books on the Wicca religion. Soon, a project team was put together -- including a store owner in New Jersey, a filmmaker in New York, and a woman who once handled publicity for Morrison. Then in August, Morrison hosted an Internet auction after soliciting items from pagan publishers and authors. It was a success, she says, netting $2,600. One donation came from as far away as Ireland. Later, still another windfall of $600 came from the Kansas-based Heartland Spiritual Alliance. Morrison says the group wants to make the park better for the community. It could pay for a few park benches, flowers and perhaps regular maintenance. "If you're going to rely on money from tourism and this, then why not clean it up?" Morrison asks. "What we'd really like to do is to improve the appearance of the park. If we put up a monument up there, that would give some people the incentive." --- Msged/2 4.00 * Origin: Elfwhere - The POINTy eared POINT (3:640/531.2379) .