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Arthur Miller’s article “Journey to ‘The Crucible’” was published in The New York Times two and a half weeks after the play premiered on Broadway. His article narrates his trip to Salem in the spring of 1952 during which he visited the Salem courthouse to do archival research for the play.
Arthur Miller’s “Why I Wrote ‘The Crucible’” was published in The New Yorker right before the 1996 film adaptation of The Crucible premiered. Miller speaks openly about communism, postwar global politics, and McCarthyism. He also discusses his writing process between when he visited Salem and when he finished the play.
Stacy Schiff, a Pulitzer Prize–winning nonfiction writer, wrote “The Witches of Salem” for The New Yorker a month before her 2015 book The Witches: Salem, 1692 was published. Schiff’s meticulously researched article illustrates the culture of seventeenth-century Salem to explain how fear, faith, and folklore led to the witch hunt.
"A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials"
This article written by Jess Blumberg for Smithsonian.com explains how political tensions in the seventeenth century bred paranoia and anger that contributed to the witch hunt. The article details the trials’ aftermath and features archival material such as correspondence, letters, and maps, as well as prints, engravings, and paintings depicting the trials.
Launched in 2016, Witch Hunt is a podcast series by Brainy Byrd Media based in Salem, Massachusetts. The podcast discusses famous witch hunts throughout history, and season one focuses on different aspects of the Salem witch trials. The writers also provide notes for each episode, including a bibliography for further reading.
"The Rosenberg Execution, 50 Years Later"
This hour-long special from Democracy Now! is about Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, who were executed for Soviet espionage in 1953. On the fiftieth anniversary of their deaths, host Amy Goodman interviews the Rosenbergs’ family and co-defendant about their legacy as the only citizens executed for espionage in U.S. history.
This step-by-step article and podcast from HowStuffWorks breaks down the rise and fall of the Red Scare through its historical background, McCarthy’s biography, specific policies, and its aftermath. The article provides examples of current-day witch hunts and links to similar articles about communism, brainwashing, and the Cold War for further reading.
