Thoreau Society Short-Term Research Fellowships

The Thoreau Society is pleased to announce the first annual Thoreau Society Short-Term Research Fellowships. Recipients will receive $400 towards travel and research expenses at archives in the Greater-Boston area on Thoreau related projects, as well as free attendance at the Thoreau Society 2012 Annual Gathering held in Concord, MA, in early July. Preference will be given to those candidates who will use the Thoreau Society Collections housed at the Thoreau Institute (described here: http://www.walden.org/Library/The_Library_Collections ) for at least part of the fellowship period. Candidates are also encouraged to present their work at the Annual Gathering during or the year after the fellowship period. To apply, candidates should send an email to the Executive Director ( Mike.Frederick@thoreausociety.org ) with the following attachments:

• A current curriculum vitae
• A project proposal approximately 1,000 words in length, including: a description of the project; a statement explaining the scholarly significance of the project; and an indication of the specific archives and collections the applicant wishes to consult
• (Graduate students only) A letter of recommendation from a faculty member familiar with the student's work and with the project being proposed. (This can be emailed to the Executive Director separately.)

Applications are due January 16, 2012. Awardees will be notified March 1, 2012.

Please contact the Executive Director for more information.

www.masshumanities.org

The Thoreau Society, the Walden Woods Project, and the University of Massachusetts Lowell are launching “Mapping Thoreau Country,” a web-based initiative that will use historical maps to document Thoreau’s travels throughout the U.S. The project recently received a grant from the Massachusetts Endowment for the Humanities to fund archival research and planning in the Thoreau Society’s Collections at the Thoreau Institute at Walden Woods.

A separate grant from UMass Lowell was received to support the technical aspects of the project. The generosity provided by these institutions will enable us to create a permanent digital resource that will open a new chapter in our efforts to promote public awareness of Thoreau’s contributions to American political and social thought. We are grateful to everyone who has assisted us in what promises to be an extremely exciting initiative and look forward to updating all members on our progress.

Online Fundraising Event

Throughout the month of February, The Thoreau Society will once again hold its online auction.  Since 2004, the auction has been a wonderful way for us to raise needed proceeds for the organization as well as to highlight the talents and interests of our diverse membership.  The auction gives everyone in the Society the opportunity to participate regardless of where they live. 

This year is very special as we partner up with the Thoreau Farm Trust for an auction that will benefit both organizations.  Please consider donating an item to our auction by visiting www.thoreausociety.org and following the link to the auction page. 

You can help out by donating an item or service to the auction.  For example, you could offer a special service or product around your area of expertise, as a way to profile your work, organization, college, university, or company.  You might offer a signed copy of your book, audio, or video project. You could offer a walk, talk, or lecture.  Perhaps you would like to profile your organization with a personal tour of your facilities.  In addition to these suggestions, people have donated the following in previous Thoreau Society auctions:  antiques, artwork, dinners, gift certificates (to florists, restaurants, and shops), getaways, hikes, jewelry, lunches, sporting memorabilia, and event tickets.  You may also consider sponsoring the auction, so you can have your logo and a link to your site posted on our auction pages.  Sponsorships help to underwrite the costs of having the auction.

You can donate an item now through February, even after the auction has begun.  If every Thoreau Society member participates by either donating an item or by bidding on an item, then we can easily have our most successful auction ever. 

2011 Annual Gathering

Plans are underway for The Thoreau Society Annual Gathering which will be held July 7-10, 2011.  All are welcome to register and attend community-wide events in Concord and at the Walden Pond State Reservation.  Following up on last year’s Gathering theme, Henry David Thoreau & New England Transcendentalism: Then and Now, this year will feature another “Then and Now” theme, Henry D. Thoreau's Environmental Ethos: Then and Now.  This year also marks the 70th Anniversary of the Society, as it first became an organization in 1941 and has been meeting consistently in Concord, with a few exceptions, ever since then.

Our keynote speaker is Laura Dassow Walls, who, in additional to editing the Society’s Concord Saunterer, has actively been writing about Emerson, Thoreau, and science for many years.  Her latest book, The Passage to Cosmos: Alexander von Humboldt and the Shaping of America, has received wide praise.  Robert Richardson, author of Henry Thoreau: A Life of the Mind, writes: 

"The publication of this superbly written book is one of those rare events that changes an entire field of study. Not only does Laura Dassow Walls show that Alexander von Humboldt is inescapably central to an understanding of nineteenth-century American literature, she also shows how, despite C.P. Snow's contention and our own current assumptions, science and literature were for a time the most powerful of allies in America. For anyone interested in American thought and literature The Passage to Cosmos is a beautiful and necessary book."

We hope you will be able to join us once again this wonderful and fulfilling event.   For more information Thoreau Society events, please visit us at www.thoreausociety.org, or email: info@thoreausociety.org.  If you have an idea for a program, or would like to speak with us, please call 978-369-5310. Call for Papers Due December 7, 2010.