Margo Burns

Margo Burns is a historian (A.B., Mount Holyoke College, 1980, M.A., University of New Hampshire, 1991) specializing in the Salem witch trials and related events, especially those in North Andover.[1] She is an Associate Editor and Project Manager of the book Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt (Bernard Rosenthal, Editor, Cambridge University Press, 2009). She resides in New Hampshire.

Although not directly related to any of those accused in North Andover, Burns is the great-x10-granddaughter of Rebecca Nurse,[2] one of the foremost protagonists of the trials in Salem;[1] it was Burns's initial interest in that controversy that led her to explore its North Andover analog. She puts the total accused in the 1692 event at 153.[1]

Burns appears in several history documentaries about the Salem witchcraft trials: "Salem Witch Hunt: Examine the Evidence" (2011)[3] for the Essex National Heritage Commission and the National Park Service,[4][5] and "Salem: Unmasking the Devil" (2011) with author Katherine Howe, discussing the case of Rebecca Nurse, for the National Geographic Channel.[6] It aired on the BBC under the alternate title "Salem Witch Trials Conspiracy".[7] In 2016, she appeared, along with historian Mary Beth Norton, in Season 7, Episode 2, of the TLC cable television series, "Who Do You Think You Are?" discussing actor Scott Foley's ancestor, Samuel Wardwell of Andover, MA, who was one of the 19 people hanged for witchcraft during the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692. She appeared a second time on this show, with Emerson Baker, in 2018 in Season 9, Episode 7, speaking with actress Jean Smart about her ancestor, Dorcas Hoar of Beverly, MA, who was also convicted at Salem but never executed. On June 10, 2017, Burns appeared with Emerson Baker, Marilynne K. Roach, and others at a symposium at Salem State University, in Salem, Massachusetts, commemorating the 325th anniversary of the events: "Salem’s Trials, Lessons and Legacy of 1692,"[8] which was recorded by C-SPAN 3 and aired on July 16, 2017.[9]