Founded in 1941, The Thoreau SocietyTM is the oldest and largest organization devoted to an American author.

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"I wish to speak a word for Nature, for absolute freedom and wildness, as contrasted with a freedom and culture merely civil—to regard man as an inhabitant, or a part and parcel of Nature, rather than a member of society." "Walking," Thoreau

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Read "The Thoreau Society Bulletin," Summer Issue

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Annual Online Auction Runs March 1-26

Consider donating to our auction today! The bidding begins March 1. All proceeds support The Thoreau Society & The Thoreau Farm Trust

Henry D. Thoreau

The struggle for social and environmental justice

Henry David Thoreau saw the exploitation of people and of nature as two sides of the same coin of injustice and oppression. In his own day, he decried an economic and political system that countenanced human bondage even as it despoiled nature. As he asks in “Slavery in Massachusetts,” “[W]hat signifies the beauty of nature when men are base?”

The Thoreau Society continues our namesake’s struggle to open all eyes to social and environmental injustice, and to end blindness to the consequences of unchecked racism, climate change, and other threats to individual freedom, democratic equality, and social justice in the United States and around the world. As a community devoted to Thoreau’s legacy, we are a work-in-progress, committed to the perpetual challenge of improving the Thoreau Society as an embodiment—and a promoter—of these ideals.

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Auction Thank You
Thoreau

The Thoreau Society and Thoreau Farm would like to thank you for your support of our online "fun"-raising auction. With the help of our donors and bidders, we raised $20,434 for our respective missions and programs. 93% of the auction items received bids with 1,183 total bids placed. The auction is both a program and a fundraising event. Thoreau fans living around the world participate. One thing we love about the auction is that the Thoreauviana will go to people who will cherish them.

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Forest History Society’s virtual lecture series: Laura Dassow Walls
Laura Dassow Walls

Laura Dassow Walls, the award-winning biographer of Henry David Thoreau, will deliver a virtual talk “‘A Vast and Indefinite Loss’: Thoreau’s Reflections on Nature and Slavery” as part of the Forest History Society’s virtual lecture series Unprecedented Seasons. Walls will explore the intimate connections between Thoreau, Walden Pond, and the inhumanity of slavery. This presentation is part of the Forest History Society’s Unprecedented Seasons virtual lecture series. The talk will be at 2 PM EST on March 31, 2021, and will be streamed live on Zoom. The event is free but registration is required.

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