This fall, the Fairfield Museum and History Center has a full lineup of exhibits, programs and events planned which highlight the town’s early history, including two new exhibitions on witch craft and the Pequot War, a major fundraiser in celebration of Fairfield 375th Birthday, and family-friendly activities including the popular Legends and Hauntings walking tour and Holiday Train Show.
A new exhibition, Accused: Fairfield’s Witchcraft Trials, opening September 25, takes a look at how 17th-century New Englanders responded to fears of witchcraft. The Salem witch trials of 1692 are well known, but few people know that witchcraft trials also took place in Fairfield during the same period. In graphic novel form, artist Jakob Crane retells the dramatic story of the witchcraft cases that took place in the Fairfield area in the 1650s and 1690s, offering a creative account of these troubling events in the community’s early history. On view September 25, 2014 – January 5, 2015.
On October 9, CT state historian Walter Woodward will present a lecture, titled “New England’s Other Witch Hunt,” that begins with the Protestant Reformation and traces its history all the way through the Hartford Witch hunt of the 1660's.Also focusing on the early history of Fairfield, the Museum has collaborated with the Mashantucket Pequot Museum to present the story of the Pequot War in 1637, which led to Fairfield becoming established as an English settlement. Learn about the final battle in Southport and explore the current archaeology that is uncovering new facts about this epic conflict. The Pequot War and The Founding of Fairfield, 1637-1639 is on view October 15, 2014 - January 18, 2015.