Ann Hutchinson's Trial

This is Don Holland Beck inside the Newton Meeting House across the Charles River from Boston, town. On a split seventh day of November 1637, Mr. Anne Hutchinson, called by some the Scarlet Jezebel of America, has still not arrived to face the General Court in this tiny Puritan House of Worship.

Mr. Hutchinson, according to her accusers, is the most evil, the most immoral, the most disruptive influence in the Bay Colony. She is still resting in her home across the river in Boston, conserving her strength for the ordeal she is about to face. This woman of 46 who has born 13 children and is expecting

her 14th child will be charged with conduct, unbecoming a woman and a Puritan Christian. The meeting house here in Newton is packed. The seats are long, hand-hewn benches, and I can attest they are the most uncomfortable things I've ever sat on.

November 7th, 1637. There an unpern, and Hutchinson goes on trial in Puritan New England. You are there. Anne Hutchinson, the first American feminist, defies the right of a few to rule the minds of many.

CBS takes you back 311 years to an obscure but moving episode in the fight for freedom of speech and conscience. All things are as they were then, except for one thing. When CBS is there, you are there.

You are there. Produced and directed by Robert Louis Cheon is based on authentic historical fact and quotation. And now, the Newton Meeting House in Puritan, New England, and Don Hollenbank. About half as many more have crowded and cited.

Of course, there are no women here. Among the Puritans, it's considered unseemly, really unthinkable for a female to be present at an official gathering of men. Here today are prominent brethren who represent practically every settlement of the colony.