The persecution of women for witchcraft sounds like the kind of backwards stuff that belongs in Colonial Salem or 1600s Europe, not something that could happen in modern America. Yet in the 1970s, rumors swirled that a high school teacher in a conservative suburb of Tucson, Arizona, was a witch. Although tenured, tenure did not keep her from getting fired for witchcraft. Below are thirty things about that and other fascinating witchcraft facts from history.
30. A Presentation About Witchcraft With Far-Reaching Consequences
In the fall of 1969, a high school social studies teacher invited a University of Arizona expert on witchcraft and folklore to give a speech to upperclassmen. The speaker, Dr. Byrd Granger, addressed students of Flowing Wells High School in Tucson, AZ, and gave a presentation about the common traits of witches.
According to Dr. Granger, witches like to wear devil’s green, have green or blue eyes, blond hair, a pointed left ear with a node, and a widow’s peak – a V-shaped point in the hairline in the center of a forehead. It did not take long before heads swiveled towards Ann Stewart, a Flowing Wells English teacher who had all of those attributes. Few could have predicted the brouhaha that would ensue from that speech.
