Annual Gathering 2004

"Walden:  Of Its Time, For Our Time; A Sesquicentennial Celebration "

July 8-11, 2004
Concord, Massachusetts

The 2004 Annual Gathering celebrated the 150th anniversary of the publication of Walden.

The Dana S. Brigham Memorial Keynote Address:

"The Meanings of Walden:  2004" by Leo Marx

Workshops included:

• "Imaging Katahdin, Imagining the Wild" by Huey, Ron Hoag and Bradley P. Dean
• "Influence of Thoreau's Walden on Personal Values and Lifestyles" by Larry Anderson, Edmund Schofield, Leslie Wilson, and P. Bosserman
• "The Simple Life in a Complex time: 'Economy' in the 21st Century" by Robert Hudspeth
• "Transcendental Walden: A Search for Thoreau in Text and Metaphors" by Tom Potter
• "The View from Walden: The Influence of Thoreau's Vision on American Landscape Painting and Photography" by George DeWolfe
• "Thoreau's Winter Visitors: Bronson Alcott and Ellery Channing" by Richard Smith
• "Walden as Spiritual Classic" by Alan Hodder, Sarah Wider, David Robinson, and Barry Andrews
• "Thoreau's Walden in the Global Community" by numerous speakers
• "Wilderness Therapy and Walden Pond" by Michael Sperber
• "Walking with Emerson at Walden" by W. Barksdale Maynard
• "Thoreau's Legacy: Crossing the Conservation / Preservation Divide" chaired by Brian Donahue
• "The Natures of 'Spring' and 'Higher Laws' in Walden" by Bradley P. Dean
• "Walden: A Student Perspective" chaired by Jennie Wollenweber
• "Concord 1854:  The Social and Political Contexts of Walden" chaired by Sandy Petrulionis
• "The Genesis of Walden" by Bob Sattelmeyer
• "To Be a Philosopher in Thoreau's Time and Ours": by Philip Cafaro
• "Teaching Walden" chaired by Barbara Wojtusik

Activities included:

• A public reading of Walden at Walden Pond, from beginning to end
• Walking tour of Concord
• Nature walk at Walden Pond
• Roland Robbins and the Excavation of Thoreau's House, by Don Linebaugh
• "Wilderness and Spirit, a Mountain Called Katahdin," a film by Huey
• Hard Hat tour of the Concord Free Public Library's renovation project
• Pilgrim stories at the replica site, by Joy Ackerman
• Nature walk at Great Meadows
• Memorial walk at Walden Pond
• Canoeing on the Concord River
• Estabrook Woods Walk

Reading Walden at Walden:

• The Reading of Walden—Brochure Excerpt
  • Photos from the Reading
• Reading Event Brochure
• Event Photo Album

Annual Gathering Schedule—Brochure Excerpt

Complete Brochure (pdf)