Events

Linda Coombs (Aquinnah Wampanoag), author and historian from the Wampanoag Tribe of Aquinnah, will join John Kucich, president of the Thoreau Society, in a conversation about Thoreau and Native Americans and John’s new book Unsettling Thoreau: Native Americans, Settler Colonialism, and the Power of Place (University of Massachusetts Press, 2024). Drawing on Indigenous studies and critiques of…

A radical proposal for healing the relationship between humans and forests through responsible, sustainable use of local and regional wood in home building. American homes are typically made of lumber and plywood delivered by a global system of ruthless extraction, or of concrete and steel, which are even worse for the planet. Wood is often…

Only those who love trees should cut them, writes forester Ethan Tapper. In How to Love a Forest, he asks: what does it mean to live in a time in which ecosystems are in retreat and extinctions rattle the bones of the earth? How do we respond to the harmful legacies of the past? How do…

Henry Thoreau did not “flee” to nature to escape the human world, but rather used his observations of patterns and phenomena in the landscapes around him to reflect upon the human condition. The presentation also addresses the political and cultural history of Henry Thoreau’s New England, with a focus on Concord’s early Black inhabitants. Zoë Pollak received…

Henry Thoreau did not “flee” to nature to escape the human world, but rather used his observations of patterns and phenomena in the landscapes around him to reflect upon the human condition. The presentation also addresses the political and cultural history of Henry Thoreau’s New England, with a focus on Concord’s early Black inhabitants. Zoë Pollak received…

Annabel Abbs-Streets shares her new book, Windswept: Walking the Paths of Trailblazing Women, a beautifully written meditation on connecting with the outdoors through the simple act of walking. In captivating and elegant prose, Annabel follows in the footsteps of women who boldly reclaimed wild landscapes for themselves, including Georgia O’Keeffe in the empty plains of Texas and…

A thought-provoking exploration of Thoreau’s participation in the Underground Railroad, his abolitionist views, night in jail and how his writings have historically inspired civil rights movements around the world. Richard Smith has lectured on and written about antebellum United States history and 19th-Century American literature since 1995. He has worked in Concord as a public…

A thought-provoking exploration of Thoreau’s participation in the Underground Railroad, his abolitionist views, night in jail and how his writings have historically inspired civil rights movements around the world. Richard Smith has lectured on and written about antebellum United States history and 19th-Century American literature since 1995. He has worked in Concord as a public…