This Conservative Community Did Not See Witchcraft as Fun and Games
Ann Stewart didn’t think much of the kids’ whispers that their English teacher was a spooky witch, and dismissed it as all in good fun. Unfortunately, Flowing Wells was a particularly conservative community. Many students, their parents, and faculty members at the high school did not get the joke. On November 27th, 1970, Stewart was suspended for: “teaching about witchcraft, having stated that you are a witch in a way that affects students psychologically“. She was also alleged to have been insubordinate, discussed subjects beyond the curriculum, been a bad influence on students, and aggravated other teachers.
The suspension of an American teacher in 1970 for witchcraft became international news. In conservative Flowing Wells, Stewart became a pariah, shunned by neighbors and former friends. She appealed to the school board, but it confirmed the decision to fire her. So she sued in court, and there won on grounds that the board had violated the legal procedures for dismissing a tenured teacher like Stewart. The court ordered her reinstatement, but as of February, 1972, she had not returned to her job, and it is unclear if she ever taught at Flowing Wells again.
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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading
American Folklore – Joseph Bonaparte and the Jersey Devil
Dodwell, Henry – The Founder of Modern Egypt: A Study of Muhammad Ali (1931)
Encyclopedia Britannica – Joseph Bonaparte
Historic Royal Palaces – Historic Hauntings at Hampton Court Palace
History Collection – 30 Ghosts of Historical Figures That May Still Walk Among the Living
McCartney, Clarence Edward, and Dorrance, Gordon – The Bonapartes in America (2008)
Mental Floss – The Last King of New Jersey: The Suburban Life of Napoleon’s Brother
Military Heritage – Count Dracula’s War on Islam: A True Story of Power, Cruelty, and Betrayal
Mount Vernon – Ghost Stories: Washington’s Ghost Haunts Mount Vernon
Mount Vernon – Great George’s Ghost: Josiah Quincy III and His Fright Night at Mount Vernon
Museum of Unnatural Mystery – The Real Dracula: Vlad the Impaler
New York Times, December 5th, 1971 – Teacher is Upheld in Witchcraft Trial
New York Times, October 24th, 2008 – Digging Up the Home of That Other Bonaparte, in New Jersey
Only in Your State – Most People Don’t Know a Witch Trial Took Place Right Here in Arizona
Rawi, Egypt’s Heritage Review – Coffee With the Pasha: The Story of Egypt’s Most Famous Massacre
Treptow, Kurt W. – Vlad III Dracula: The Life and Times of the Historical Dracula (2000)
Tuscaloosa News, March 31st, 1971 – ‘Teacher-Witch’ Loses Her Job
