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Thoreau's Legacy
Politcs & Reform
160th Anniversary of
Henry D. Thoreau's
RESISTANCE TO
CIVIL GOVERNMENT
1849-2009
"There will never be a really free and enlightened State until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly."
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150th Anniversary of
Henry D. Thoreau's
A PLEA FOR CAPTAIN
JOHN BROWN
1859-2009
"I foresee the time when the painter will paint that scene, no longer going to Rome for a subject; the poet will sing it; the historian record it; and, with the Landing of the Pilgrims and the Declaration of Independence, it will be the ornament of some future national gallery, when at least the present form of Slavery shall be no more here. We shall then be at liberty to weep for Captain Brown."
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Conservation
"The West of which I speak is but another name for the Wild; and what I have been preparing to say is, that
in Wildness is the preservation of the world. Every tree sends its fibres forth in search of the Wild. The cities import it at any price. Men plow and sail for it. From the forest and wilderness come the tonics and barks which brace mankind."
Henry D. Thoreau
WALKING, 1850
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Ecology
“Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there and I am prepared to expect wonders.”
Henry D. Thoreau
FAITH IN A SEED
Published Posthumously
1993
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Lifestyle
"Simplify, simplify."
Henry D. Thoreau
WALDEN, 1854
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Sense of Wonder
I fear not spirits, ghosts, of which I am one, — that my body might, — but I fear bodies, I tremble to meet them. What is this Titan that has possession of me? Talk of mysteries! — Think of our life in nature, — daily to be shown matter, to come in contact with it, — rocks, trees, wind on our cheeks! The solid earth! the actual world! the common sense! Contact! Contact! Who are we? where are we?
Henry D. Thoreau
"Ktaadn"
THE MAINE WOODS, 1864
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Aesthetic Beauty of Language
"Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in. I drink at it; but while I drink I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. Its thin current slides away, but eternity remains. I would drink deeper; fish in the sky, whose bottom is pebbly with stars."
Henry D. Thoreau
"Where I Lived,
and What I Lived for,"
WALDEN, 1854
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Annual
Gathering 2009
Social
Awareness: Thoreau and the Reform Movement
July
9 – 12, 2009 Concord, Massachusetts
Sign the Annual Gathering Guest List on Face Book
Thursday, July 9, 2009 
8-9:30 am Walking Tours at Walden Pond
- Walter Brain, Exploring Walden Woods
- Brianne Keith & Jeff Cramer, Pine Hill Walk/Henley Library Tour
9:30-3:30 Registration
9:30-10:30 Refreshments
10:30-12:00 Workshop I at the Masonic Temple, 58 Monument Square, Concord, MA
- Panel Presentations
(Main Floor)
- John Chateauneuf, Moderator
- Patrick Chura, The Concord Surveyor and the Kansas Surveyor
- Albena Bakratcheva, Wisdom Applied to Life: ‘Thoreau’s Life Without Principle’
- Jym St. Pierre, A Modern Saunter Through Thoreau’s Maine Woods (Downstairs)
Noon Lunch on your own
1:30-3:00 Workshop II at the Masonic Temple, 58 Monument Square, Concord, MA
- Panel Presentations
(Main Floor)
- Brianne Keith, Moderator (Introduce & Keep Time)
- Audrey Raden, Seeds without Fruit: Henry David Thoreau and the Limitations of John Brown
- Therese Nelson, Reflections on Walden
- Neil Yetwin, Thoreau & Carl Jung (downstairs)
3:30-5:00 Workshop III at the Masonic Temple, 58 Monument Square, Concord, MA
- Panel Discussions: Thoreau and Indian Reform
(Main Floor)
- Jessie Bray, Panel Moderator & Presenter
- Joshua David Bellin
- Brad King
- Edmund Schofield, Where's Walden? Limning the Bounds of Elysium (Walden Pond/Woods/Ecosystem) (Downstairs)
5:30-7 pm Thoreau Farm Trust Picnic: Bring your own picnic. Drinks provided. (341 Virginia Road in Concord)
7:30-9 pm John Stauffer, Election of Abraham Lincoln: Transcendentalism and the 1860 Presidential Election. This t the Masonic Temple, 58 Monument Square, Concord
John Stauffer (Harvard University) is one of the world’s leading scholars of antislavery, protest movements, and interracial relations. Read more...
Friday, July 10, 2009
Walking Tours of Concord & Pencil Factory Dam
6:45-9:30 am Peter Alden, Birds and plants on a 2-mile (dry) loop walk at Great Meadows N.W.R. Meet at the CS lot at 6:30 for ride sharing.
8:30-10 am Janet Beck & Jayne Gordon, Walking Tour: John Brown’s Concord. Meet at the Masonic Temple, 58 Monument Square, Concord, MA
Randall Conrad & Richard Lenat, Exploring the Pencil Factory Dam Site in Acton. Please gather promptly in Masonic Temple parking lot for car pool.
9:30-3 pm Registration
9:30-10:30 Refreshments
10:30-Noon Workshop IV at the Masonic Temple, 58 Monument Square, Concord, MA
- Panel Presentations
(Main Floor)
- Keya Banerjee, Moderator
- Stephen Spratt, Eating Ethically in Thoreau's ‘Wild Fruits’
- Tom O’Malley, Walking the Road to Reform: "the hundred hills of Concord"
- D. B. Johnson, Keeping it Simple: Writing Thoreau for Kids (Downstairs)
Noon Box Lunch
1-2:30 Workshop V Masonic Temple
- Kevin Van Anglen, Discussion of AG Theme
(Main Floor)
- Brian Donahue, Harvard Forest Wildlands & Woodlands: A Vision for the Future of the Massachusetts Forest (Downstairs)
3-4:30 Workshop VI at the Masonic Temple, 58 Monument Square, Concord, MA
- Tom Potter, 150th Anniversary of Origin of the Species (Main Floor)
- Len Gougeon, Thoreau's Civil War (Downstairs)
- Leslie Wilson and Robert Hall, Concord Free Public Library Presentation, Editing the TSB at CFPL
5:30-7 Dinner
7:30-9:00 Emerson Society Panel: Emerson’s Politics
Intro by Todd H. Richardson;
A discussion led by Daniel S. Malachuk. Takes place at the Masonic Temple, 58 Monument Square, Concord, MA
9-10 Social Hour
Saturday, July 11, 2009
7 am Corinne H. Smith, Walter Harding Memorial Walk at Walden Pond
8-9 Refreshments
9-10:30 Annual Business Meeting
Morning business meeting, keynote address, and A PLEA take place at the Trinitarian Congregational Church, 54 Walden Street, Concord, MA
10:45-Noon Dana S. Brigham Memorial Keynote Address
by John T. Matteson
"Most Careful Bravery": Thoreau and the Problem of
Prudence in Antebellum Reform
John T. Matteson
has an A.B. in History from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in
English from Columbia University. He also holds a law degree from
Harvard University and has practiced as a litigation attorney
in California and North Carolina. He has written articles for
The Harvard Theological Review, Architectural Record, CrossCurrents,
New England Quarterly, Streams of William James, and other publications.
He received the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for his book Eden's Outcasts:
The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father, published by W.W.
Norton and Co. in 2007. He is currently working on a book tentatively
titled The Lives of Margaret Fuller. He has taught literature
and legal writing at John Jay College since 1997.
Noon Box Lunch
12:15-1:15 Church Lawn (ringing of the bell) Richard Smith, Henry Thoreau reads: "A Plea for Captain John Brown." Takes place at the Trinitarian Congregational Church, 54 Walden Street, Concord, MA
1:30-2:00 Registration
2:00-3:30 Workshop VII at the Masonic Temple, 58 Monument Square, Concord, MA
- Susan Gallagher, Brianne Keith, and Michael Frederick,
The Wooden Gun of Government: Using Digital Technologies to Document Thoreau’s Political Vision
(Main Floor)
- Richard Higgins, Thoreau and the Language of Trees (Downstairs)
- Jayne Gordon, Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Walk (Masonic Front Steps)
4-5 pm Reception for Keynote Speaker
5-6:30 pm Dinner
7-8:30 pm Dave Mallett: The Fable True
Tickets are $10 for registered annual gathering participants.
Takes place at the Trinitarian Congregational Church,
54 Walden Street, Concord, MA
 After eleven albums of original tunes, Mallett, 57, has taken a different approach with his latest effort, "The Fable True".
Based on a book by naturalist/author Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), "The Maine Woods", the album features
Thoreau's words set to new melodies composed by Mallett. "I picked out twenty-two stories", said Mallett, "and
surrounded each with a separate piece of music. It's a nice little package, actually."
Inspiration for the album was sparked by the celebration of the 150th anniversary of Thoreau's trip to Maine in 1857."Thoreau spoke of Maine so well," said Mallett. "the people deserved to hear about how he felt about their state." Mallett
relied heavily on Thoreau's words to guide his compositions. "I took his descriptions," he explained, "read them over and
over and came up with melodies that would enhance the moment. It was a lot of fun but one of the most challenging
things I've ever done."
Dave Mallett Bio - Craig Harris, 2007 - PURCHASE TICKETS or Call 978-369-5310
8:30-10 Book Signing & Refreshments LIST OF AUTHORS: Takes place at the Trinitarian Congregational Church, 54 Walden Street, Concord, MA
Sunday, July 12, 2009
6:45-9:30 am Peter Alden, Easy walk to Great Blue Heron colony on hemlock wooded peninsula near White Pond. Park around Monument Square and meet at Masonic Temple for car pooling. This is a great show with 50 nests and over 100 noisy babies, lots of other life in a beaver swamp in a wild setting.
10-11:30 Workshop VIII at the Masonic Temple, 58 Monument Square, Concord, MA
- Nikita Pokrovsky, Thoreau and Reform (Personal and Public) (Main Floor)
- John Wawrzonek, Reform in an age of crises: The possibility of a new enlightenment (Downstairs)
Noon-2 pm Open House: Thoreau Farm Trust
Birthday cake and tours with Larry Sorli, architect of the Thoreau birth house restoration. Directions to the Thoreau Farm Trust. (341 Virginia Road in Concord)
2:30-5 pm Special Event
The Thoreau Society & Orchard House at the School of Philosophy
John T. Matteson, John Stauffer, Daniel S. Malachuk, Lawrence Buell
Margaret on the Stairs, Waldo on the Common: The Origins of the Transcendental Self
Orchard House is located at 399 Lexington Road
Directions to the Orchard House
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Please send your questions to:
mike.frederick@thoreausociety.org
or
The Thoreau Society
C/O Annual Gathering Committee
55 Old Bedford Road
Concord, MA 01742
Lodging
Information
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Traditionally
held on the weekend closest to Henry David Thoreau's birthday,
our
Annual Gatherings are four days' worth of events
celebrating
Thoreau's life, works, and philosophy.
Click here
to review the activities at past Annual Gatherings.
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Interested
in volunteering for the Annual Gathering?
We are always
in need of extra hands during the week of the Annual Gathering.
Volunteers might be asked to run errands, pick up food at donor
stores, set up chairs, serve food, wipe off tables, or even shuttle
special guests around the area. Please contact Michael Frederick
at mike.frederick@thoreausociety.org for more information. Type "AG
2008" in the subject line.
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