June 10

The 17th century was a very trying time in the Western hemisphere, particularly for women. Ambitious women faced a myriad of obstacles to their achieving any sort of success in their chosen profession. While little has changed four centuries on, it is doubtful that women today face the obstacles that demure Bridget Bishop did. On the 10th in 1692 she was hanged at Gallows Hill in Salem, Massachusetts. She had been found quite guilty of “certaine Detestable Arts called Witchcraft and Sorceries.” Upon reflection immediately prior to her hanging, she purportedly called out ‘Who needs it? This job is such a royal pain in the neck.’ The Great and General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, exonerated Miss Bishop in 1956.