Margo Burns

Burns is the great-x10-grandchild of Rebecca Nurse one of the foremost protagonists of the trials in Salem and the grandchild of Armstrong Sperry.{{Cite web|url=http://17thc.us/docs/lineage.shtml|title=My Lineage to Rebecca Nurse|website=17thc.us|access-date=2018-03-15}}{{cite web | title=Welcome to ogram.org! | website=OGRAM | url=http://www.ogram.org/ | access-date=2024-12-09}} They received an A.B. from Mount Holyoke College in 1980 and an M.A. from University of New Hampshire in 1991. Burns studied animation for two years in the Rhode Island School of Design's continuing education program.{{cite web | title=Celebrating 50 Years | website=New Hampshire Humanities | date=1976-04-02 | url=https://www.nhhumanities.org/programs/teacher/13/margo-burns | access-date=2024-12-09}} Burns lives in New Hampshire.

Burns's initial interest in the Salem Witch Trials led them to explore its North Andover analog. Bernard Rosenthal invited them to be the project manager and associate editor of the book Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt.{{cite web | title=Records of the Salem Witch Trials | website=National Endowment for the Humanities | date=2014-11-12 | url=https://www.neh.gov/article/records-salem-witch-trials | access-date=2024-12-09}}{{cite web | title=Read the Document That Condemned a Woman to Death in the Salem Witch Trials | website=HISTORY | date=2017-06-15 | url=https://www.history.com/news/read-the-document-that-condemned-a-woman-to-death-in-the-salem-witch-trials | access-date=2024-12-09}}{{cite web|title=The Salem witch trials LSD theory and the fascinating evolution of mummification in ancient Egypt|website=American Chemical Society|date=2023-10-18|url=https://www.acs.org/pressroom/tiny-matters/the-salem-witch-trials-lsd-theory-and-the-fascinating-evolution-of-mummification-in-ancient-egypt.html|access-date=2024-12-09}} The book expanded on previous scholarship, including new court documents and corrected earlier scholarship errors.{{cite journal|last=Karlsen|first=Carol F.|title=Salem Revisited|journal=The William and Mary Quarterly|publisher=Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture|volume=65|issue=3|year=2008|issn=0043-5597|jstor=25096810|pages=489–494|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/25096810|access-date=2024-12-09}} Burns' attention to paleography helped sort out the errors and idiosyncrasies from the original recorders of the handwritten manuscripts which had last been transcribed in 1938.{{cite news |title=Scholars Correcting Transcripts of Salem witch trials |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/concord-monitor-margo-burns-work-on-book/160617697/ |access-date=9 December 2024 |work=Concord Monitor |date=June 7, 2003 |page=11}}

Burns appears in several history documentaries about the Salem witchcraft trials: "Salem Witch Hunt: Examine the Evidence" (2011){{Citation needed|date=June 2024}} for the Essex National Heritage Commission and the National Park Service,{{cite news|last1=Macdonald|first1=G. Jeffrey|title=Salem Witch Trials Get A Second Look|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/08/salem-witch-hunt-documentary_n_1082889.html|work=The Huffington Post|date=8 November 2011}}"Salem Witch Hunt:Examine the Evidence Premieres Oct. 4", Salem Gazette, September 30, 2011 [http://www.essexheritage.org/press/09_30_2011%20Salem%20Gazette%20Salem%20Witch%20Hunt%20Examine%20the%20Evidence%20Premieres%20October%204.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120822212229/http://www.essexheritage.org/press/09_30_2011%20Salem%20Gazette%20Salem%20Witch%20Hunt%20Examine%20the%20Evidence%20Premieres%20October%204.pdf |date=2012-08-22 }} and "Salem: Unmasking the Devil" (2011) with author Katherine Howe, discussing the case of Rebecca Nurse, for the National Geographic Channel.{{Cite web |url=http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/episodes/salem-unmasking-the-devil/ |title=Salem: Unmasking the Devil - National Geographic Channel |access-date=2012-12-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130123005417/http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/episodes/salem-unmasking-the-devil/ |archive-date=2013-01-23 |url-status=dead }} It aired on the BBC under the alternate title "Salem Witch Trials Conspiracy".{{cite web|url=http://natgeotv.com/uk/salem-witch-trial-conspiracy/about|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711102341/http://natgeotv.com/uk/salem-witch-trial-conspiracy/about|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 11, 2011|title=Homepage|date=8 November 2017|publisher=}}

In 2016, they appeared 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 during the Salem witchcraft trials. They later appeared on this show with Emerson Baker, in 2018 in Season 9, Episode 7, speaking with actress Jean Smart about their ancestor, Dorcas Hoar.

In addition to their work with the Salem and Andover events, Burns is a researcher into historical animated cartoons and gives lectures for the New Hampshire Humanities Council about cartoon history in the US. They also created a font, Dana Library Hand, which was "inspired by a recommended penmanship style for librarians to use when writing out card catalogue cards."{{cite web|title=Dana Library Hand|website=margoburns.com|date=2017-09-04|url=http://margoburns.com/fonts/DanaLibraryHand/|access-date=2024-12-09}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://margoburns.com/ Personal website]
• [http://www.17thc.us/ 17th Century Colonial New England] - Burns' guide to the primary sources of the Salem Witch Trial

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Category:Living people

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:21st-century American historians

Category:Mount Holyoke College alumni

Category:Salem witch trials

Category:University of New Hampshire alumni

Category:American women historians

Category:21st-century American women writers