Foreword
WhichHistory: An Introduction
Hey, hi, howdy, hello!
Welcome to WhichHistory, a history….newletter? Journal? Potential podcast at some point? Whatever you want to call it, WhichHistory is a place for me to write about the weird, the macabre, and all the history American Public School just refuses to teach it’s students.
But before I can start writing for any historic period, first, I need to introduce myself. My name is Stephanie Corrigan and I am a historian, concentrating in the colonial era, namely with women’s history. I have my B.A. in history, with a minor in museum science and in English, concentrating in editing and folklore as well as my M.A. in Public History (Museum Science, essentially.) On top of that, I am returning to school to finish my second master’s degree in Library Science, concentrating in Archival Preservation. After that, I’m going back for some kind of doctorate, but in what, I have not decided. (I’m most likely going for historical archeology or anthropology, but I’m not sure what I want to do yet.)
Throughout my time in school and beyond, I have focused on the colonial woman’s experience. I have found that the wives of famed men are recorded throughout history, like Abigail Adams and Dolly Madison, but what of the every day person? What of the experiences of those who were not in the public eye, of those who are not afforded the same luxury of remembrance? What of the experience of children, of the enslaved and the indentured servant? These are not as easily accessible, but it is my hope that in these articles, I will be able to shed some light on their lives and experiences.
My years of study are between 1490 and 1801, which is the very beginning of colonialism and it’s transition period afterward, as the colonial era ended in 1783. I know this is a lot of years. Yes, it makes me anxious to think about how broad a time that is. No, I am not looking to change, no matter how many academic advisors have begged me to. I am not limited to writing just of mainland America, because even with as much history as there is here, there is so much more in other parts of the world. So yes, I will be researching niche American History, but also look at the islands that were colonized like Haiti and the Dominican Republic, once known as Hispaniola. This is not to say that these are hard stopping points. Occasionally, I would like to write articles of the Victorian and Edwardian era, of the Antebellum slave era and into the 20th century, but the colonial era is where I focus.
Now, to narrow in a little more, my main area of study is the Salem WitchCraft Crisis. I started my love for the topic when I was nine years old, when I found The Devil in Massachusetts: A Modern Enquiry Into the Salem Witch Trials by Marion L. Starkey at my local library. Ever since then, I was hooked. I have spent nearly a decade of my life researching the cause of the trials, who the main players were and what the impact would be as Salem Village became Danvers MA. (I also went to Essex Agricultural High School during the infamous vocal tick years, so this was something else that created a parallel for the trials for me.) As a result, my first article series will be Salem Witchcraft centered, so bare with me as I info-dump on everyone in the coming weeks.
In my spare time, when I have it, I spend my days in Salem Ma, exploring locations of note of the Salem Witchcraft Crisis. I am also the sole creator for my up and coming art business, Hallowedfolk, where these articles and (maybe) podcasts will be linked and shared on the website as they arrive. The aim of these posts are to have scholarly research presented in such a way that is not intimidating, like many articles and papers are. I would like to create an article a week, but with how busy life can get, that may not be achievable, but who knows! I might surprise myself.