Submitted by Carol Graham

If costs continue to increase like they have, (look at the cost  to be a member of the society), under the merger, understand that a primary purpose of the entire Thoreau entity is to provide reachable and teachable history to school teachers, Thoreau historians and the good of the public to learn and integrate the lessons of Thoreau, will decline instead of increase.

This would be a travesty and totally be defeating and coincidently corresponding exactly with the 250th Anniversary of America.

Submitted by Kristen Case

I am writing to voice my support for the merger. I understand that some are concerned—the Thoreau Society is an important part of many people’s lives, and change always entails risk.  Opponents to the merger have voiced some reasonable concerns. However, choosing not to change when we have an opportunity to do so in creative and exciting ways also entails risks. Given the (in my view, extraordinary) time, care, and attention Rebecca, John, and others have devoted to thinking through this process and creating opportunities for dialogue, I feel compelled to support taking this leap. I am excited by the prospect of more efficient administration, a physical space for the TS, and for new contributions to TS activities and conversations by our friends at Thoreau Farm. Conversations around this issue have sometimes taken on a tone of “us vs. them.” Regardless of the outcome of this vote, I hope that going forward we can maintain the sense of openness, mutual support, and delight in differences of perspective that has long characterized the Thoreau Society.

Submitted by Michael Berger

I see advantages in a merger, and I appreciate the sincere effort and hard work that the joint team has dedicated to exploring the possibility. It would be good to have a physical home base for the Thoreau Society in Concord. The Society could run more activities and programs, greeting and informing the public more frequently and steadily, at the Farm. Yet, I’m not sure a merger is needed to enable such increased coordinated activity and visibility. While board and committee members who have been developing the merger proposal assure us that the Thoreau Society, with its name and distinct identity, will continue, it is not clear to me how the officers and board members of the new Thoreau Alliance will manage that continuity in representing the three entities, in their varying functions, to the public, members, vendors, funders, etc. Some confusion and blurring is possible. More worrying, it seems likely that the umbrella name and identity will sooner or later subsume the Thoreau Society, a loss I would regret. If we, the members, approve the merger, it might be wise to employ Ron Hoag’s suggestion in this comment forum for a consolidated name that incorporates the two existing organizations up front, consistently and explicitly affirming each individual entity within the alliance. This could help to prevent such a loss, allowing both the Society and the Farm to continue their member-facing and public-facing activities with identities intact.

Submitted by Lucille Stott

As a past officer of the Thoreau Farm Trust and the author of Saving Thoreau’s Birthplace: Bringing Henry Out of the Woods, I support the merger in the hope that the mission of the TFT, which privileges Thoreau’s connection to his family and community, will be preserved along with the commitment to making the birth house a place for  everyone, all ages and backgrounds, interested in Thoreau’s life and legacy.

Submitted by Richard Piccarreto

As someone working for both entities, I think merger and alliance are essential to the long-term viability of both organizations, particularly the Thoreau Society.

The scope and growth of these non-profits is currently limited by their separateness. The merger is a no-brainer if our declining numbers and aging membership in the Thoreau Society intend it to still be around in 2040.

Our organizations run lean and limited, bound within a framework of restricted and unrestricted funds and break-even budgets. As separate entities, we lack the resources to adequately spend on widening our respective appeals and programming.

That we have 16,000 non-members tuning into Richard Smith’s work on Facebook, along with 4000 subscribers to our email list, confirms our need to adapt digitally and internationally.

There’s growing interest in the farm as a destination for those seeking seated conversations about Henry that can’t be sustained at any other place in Concord. The required payroll to open for more than just half a year on weekends could be expanded by the merger, even if it is only 5% of our operating budget.

Thoreau is a lot of things to a lot of people: the electronic music composer from Mexico working in the birth room this week and the Chinese professor who emailed yesterday, asking to host a panel at this year’s AG via Zoom.

A reminder: we honor, promote and celebrate the work and genius of perhaps the most woke man in American history. Against a backdrop of economic uncertainty, gutted grants and the criminalization of resistance to civil government, now comes not-so-good sailing.

I hope we can look beyond our CVs and bibliographies to recognize the necessities—and opportunities—of this merger in the long view.

Submitted by Clifford Thomas Prewenki 

Thank you so much for the 11/21/25 Zoom meeting on the proposed merger.

Dr. Kucich gave a fine overview of the history of the planned merger, and participants generated a lively discussion, both pro and con. I applaud and approve of the effort to bring these two fine organizations into a single entity.

Submitted by Bob Young 

Some comments supporting a NO vote on the merger have focused on the Thoreau Farm Funding Application to the Town of Concord for construction of a walking trail that links the Battle Road Trail to the Thoreau Farm. Let’s dismiss that line of thought.

Have we forgotten that our guy Henry was an accomplished master WALKER? Would he not enjoy this trail, which would serve as a link between the physical place represented by the Farm and the world beyond? Connecting to Battle Road Trail, it will provide visitors to the Farm with access to many historical sites of the Minute Man National Historical Park. When complete, the Farm becomes part of an extended regional trail system. Its value to the community would far surpass the estimated price tag, which seems to be the focus of those comments. Study the plan as submitted to the town. https://concordma.gov/1587/CPA-Funding-Applications-Past-Present

The management team of The Thoreau Farm Trust did not put this plan together without a lot of thought and care. I ask Thoreau Society members to put this aside as a singular reason to vote NO. Instead, think of it as a BIG plus! Add it to the many positive reasons stated by fellow Thoreau Society members and vote YES to the merger. I can’t wait to hike this one!

Submitted by Henrik Otterberg

ENDORSEMENT OF MERGER BETWEEN THE THOREAU SOCIETY & THOREAU FARM

To my mind, a merger between the Thoreau Society and Thoreau Farm would be very welcome. It would weld together the Thoreau Society’s longstanding stewardship of the immaterial Thoreau—his texts and ideas—with the Thoreau Farm’s custodianship of the material Thoreau; namely, his birthplace in Concord and the fertile fields that surround it. In a time of widespread social strife and fragmentation, compounded by environmental depredations and related challenges, joining together to strengthen bonds makes ample sense. The better then to be able to integrate Thoreau’s famous words, inspiring readers across the globe, with his native landscape, lovingly anchoring him in what he considered the most estimable place in all the world. A merger, to paraphrase the Concord Saunterer himself, would work toward catching two fish on one hook.

Submitted by Tammy Rose

I heartily believe in and support this proposed merger!

THOREAU’S PRESENCE IN CONCORD

Thoreau has a variety of locations in Concord (at least 4) where he is represented and frankly, it presents a confusing and UN-unified front to the average tourist and creates a bunch of redundancies for the devoted Thoreauvian. Plus, these organizations have overlapping missions and activities. Walden Woods (1) houses the Thoreau Society archives for the scholar, and the DCR Visitor Center onsite at Walden (2) itself, are places for visitors to interact with the physical location of The Pond and the Cabin replica. By uniting the Thoreau Farm (3) with the Thoreau Society (4) we will have a physical HOME, a presence for Thoreauvians to gather and meet for literary discussions and to connect.

PROGRESS AND GROWTH

When my parents found out they were pregnant with me, they went for a walk around Walden. I grew up nearby and have swum there every summer of my life. Yet, I have only been a member of the Thoreau Society since my 40s, when I discovered the Thoreau Annual Gathering—which I attribute to lack of publicity and a preservation of an exclusive “in-group,” cultivated consciously or unconsciously. However, in the time since, I have enjoyed my interactions with the Society and the Farm, but have heard similar issues coming up again and again (diversity, how to welcome new members, outreach). I believe part of this is due to holding on to “tradition” in the worst sense of the word—doing the same thing over and over because that is what has ALWAYS been done.  The merger talks have been PLENTIFUL, transparent, and have genuinely allowed each participant to contribute to the FUTURE of both groups. In my entire experience of Concord and the nonprofit world, never have I seen such care and thought and intention put into a shift in structure.

In short, I’m really looking forward to a combined Thoreau Society and Thoreau Farm, especially seeing how much care has been put into the merger process. It has given me faith that future issues will be handled in a similar capable manner and that members will have opportunities to have their voices heard in a way that had never happened before!

 

Submitted by Ronald Hoag

For reasons addressed in the materials we’ve received, the proposed merger requires the Thoreau Society to be absorbed into Thoreau Farm Trust, which then becomes the Thoreau Alliance. Although legally discontinued, the Society lives on as an equal partner in the merged organization. To provide a persistent acknowledgment and reminder of the allies as well as their alliance, I suggest expanding the umbrella title to something like “A Thoreau Alliance: Thoreau Society and Thoreau Farm Trust.”  Further, retaining the logos of both TS and TFT as the combined logo of the Alliance would serve the same purpose and allow for their separate use on material related to either merging partner. As a longtime TS board member, I staunchly encouraged the Society to support the endangered Thoreau Birth House and helped bring Joe Wheeler, a key advocate, onto our board.  (See his articles on the Birth House and Thoreau Farm in The Concord Saunterer.)  As a recent president of the Thoreau Society and an honorary advisor to Thoreau Farm Trust, I continued to promote a symbiotic linkage of the Society and the Farm, whether merged or independently forged. I still do.

 

Submitted by Jayne Gordon

I have voted for the merger of the two organizations for these reasons:

* Complementary resources of TS and TFT

* Compatible organizational cultures

* Combined strengths, not coming from weakness

* Better grounding in Concord, along with international outreach

* Long experience working on and with both boards

* Respect for thoughtful, deliberate, transparent process being undertaken

I wholeheartedly endorse the approach, vision, and reasoning so carefully, thoroughly, and openly laid out to us all.

 

Submitted by Brent Ranalli

I write as a volunteer with the Thoreau Society (editor of TSB) and a former member of the Society’s Committee on Nominations and Elections. I see the merger as a natural step in the evolution of the two organizations, which have complementary missions and have been growing together for many years.

The general outline of the merger seems sensible to me: both organizations keep their separate public-facing identities and continue all of their programs, while being joined at a legal and administrative level.

From a review of the nitty-gritty of the proposed by-laws, my reaction is: (1) much of language was carried forward directly from the Society’s current by-laws. The responsibilities and privileges of members, including election of Officers and Directors, are basically unchanged. So the change will have a minimal impact on members and their relationship to the merged organization. The biggest leap being made here is Thoreau Farm governance: The Thoreau Farm board is essentially handing over stewardship of the Birth House to a board elected by Thoreau Society members. That shows a lot of trust and faith in us, something we should be proud of and not take lightly. (We will be absorbing the current Thoreau Farm board and their expertise, so the transition should be smooth enough.) (2) Are there things in the new by-laws I’d change if I could? Yes, but that was true of the old Thoreau Society by-laws as well. They will be fine, and they could potentially be perfected later by amendment.

Submitted by Barbara Mossberg

Thoreau’s muskrat appears as I reflect about the proposed merger between the Thoreau Farmhouse Trust and Thoreau Society. This brave idea comes up out of the ice to behold us and be beheld. Perhaps the possibilities the merger makes possible are the muskrat, and the proposed merger infrastructure is the riparian system that can ensure muskrat resilience and thriving.

I appreciate the comments of respect the merger idea has produced. I have already been experiencing the two organizations functioning as an integration ever since joining and bonding with this beloved community. I contributed to the Thoreau Society fundraising on-line auction to spend a week as a writer at the Farmhouse. I produced my podcast The Poetry Slow Down interviewing national “influencers”—authors, publishers, teachers—on Henry’s international cultural leadership, at Henry’s replica desk in the birth room of the Farmhouse—right down the hall from the Thoreau Society and Farmhouse Trust headquarters. The generative ethos led to being asked to create and lead a memoir workshop based on Thoreau’s writings for the Farmhouse, which has allowed me to get to know the overlapping Farmhouse and Thoreau Society communities. Thus as a scholar, teacher, poet, and memoir workshop leader I have experienced the two organizations as a functional coherence. The merger codifies and leverages the logic of organizations mutually dedicated to making Thoreau known in greater ripple effects, across generations, geography, cultures, media–one head and two sets of paddling legs, eyes, lungs, ears, and nostrils as a thriving Concord entity.

Submitted by Geoff Wisner

Six Reasons to Vote No

1. Dissolution of the Thoreau Society. In most nonprofit mergers, one corporation is dissolved and leaves its assets and liabilities to the other. According to the Proposed Bylaws Overview, “the Thoreau Farm Trust will be the continuing legal organization.” The Thoreau Society’s independent legal existence will end.
2. Solution without a problem. The two organizations are each financially sound. We share a physical space, cosponsor events, and have a close and productive working relationship. Would the benefits of a merger outweigh the Thoreau Society’s demise as an independent organization?
3. Branding and marketing. We have not yet seen branding guidelines, a marketing plan, or a logo. The FAQs say a logo has not been shared because it might serve as a distraction or “become the driving factor of the decision” — reasons I find unconvincing.
4. Complexity and confusion. The creation of a Thoreau Alliance under which Thoreau Farm and the Thoreau Society continue (at least in name) will sow confusion that may reduce grants and donations.
5. Modest savings, big promises. The merger is expected to produce only about $25,000 in annual savings for the merged organization.
6. Farmhouse and trail expenses. The FAQs mention “two funds designated for the preservation of the birth house” but without dollar amounts. The National Park Service has said that Thoreau Farm plans to raise “costs associated with the planning, construction, and maintenance endowment” for the Thoreau Farm Trail. Those costs have been estimated at nearly $4 million.

Submitted by Corinne Smith

No. Just, no. I have been a member of The Thoreau Society for more than 25 years. I served on the Society board. I have worked for both the Society and for Thoreau Farm. And I have been adamantly opposed to this merger proposal since the beginning. I have released public videos opposing it. Here are two issues, to start. (1) I do not believe that the two organizations have similar missions. One is a place, and the other is a group of people. I think each one should be administered on its own, and that each one DESERVES to be administered on its own, in the ways in which they both have been successful. (2) It has been said that public confusion exists because a variety of groups have Thoreau- or Walden-oriented missions and similar-sounding names. Yes, it is true that The Thoreau Society and Thoreau Farm Trust are just two of these organizations. Alas! The proposal for the merger introduces yet ANOTHER title, “The Thoreau Alliance.” How does introducing yet ANOTHER name and yet ANOTHER entity resolve any public confusion? Isn’t it obvious that such a move will create even MORE frustration? Too much time and money have been spent on dabbling with this merger proposal. Please stop this madness, and please allow us to continue with OUR membership and with OUR Society, as we want it to be. I just submitted my NO vote in the election. I highly recommend that others do the same.

Submitted by Kara Snyder

I am very excited about the possibility of this merger. I am most interested in preserving Thoreau’s “philosophy of life” through an integration with the arts in general. While there is a natural focus on nature and nature writing or poetry and creative writing, I would like to see more of Thoreau’s philosophy expressed through other arts such as abstract painting, landscape painting, photography and other collaborative efforts. Further, I feel strongly about reaching out to children and young adults by way of a combination of literature and art together. One idea that Thoreau explored in Walden that I keep thinking about since this merger idea began is Henry’s notion of “The Uncommon School of Concord.” I love Henry’s description of what an “uncommon school“ would look like with people choosing Concord as a destination to come to read the Classics, experience the local nature, have rigorous academic explorations and more! this was his dream . . .  And how fitting it would be to establish such a reality at the place of his birth!

Submitted by Richard Scheider

I am voting yes on the merger of The Thoreau Society with the Thoreau Farm Trust. I was on the Board when for many years The Thoreau Society had no permanent physical home. Then Joe Wheeler and many Concord residents campaigned to restore the Thoreau birth house on Virginia Road. The birth house now has the support of a trust, and The Thoreau Society now appropriately has office space in the birth house. Because the two organizations already share physical space, it seems obvious that they should share a formal organizational structure. The merger will allow greater efficiency in finances and staffing and will offer a unified image to the public. The by-laws also preserve the identities of the two organizations, the Farm Trust focusing on local education and The Thoreau Society focusing on scholarship and outreach to the larger public. The merger is a logical, common sense proposal, and I urge members of both organizations to also vote yes.

Submitted by Barry Hayes

I first joined the TS in 1971 upon taking a course on the “Maine Woods & HDT “with Mary Sherwood, the outspoken and long-time secretary of the TS.  That course had an impact on my life which remains true today.  At that time the TS was a “community of scholars” focused upon HDT, who fondly spoke of “Henry.”  There was a “fun side” to the organization encompassed in the annual “gathering.”  Though never an affluent organization, it seemed solid financially and academically.  Today’s organization is faced with voting on a merger with TF; which if like most alliances should strengthen both organizations.  For the last nine months I have examined the information from all sources and I have pondered the following topics. Will both organizations preserve their identities?  Will both emerge as financially stronger?  Will the message of HDT reach a wider more racially diverse audience?  Will the organization reach younger people and engage them in a broader array of topics?  These are a few of the topics which I have personally explored and I am satisfied that all will benefit from the merger.  I am still a student at heart and not a scholar, however I am writing this “opinion” piece with the sincere hope that the membership will examine the “proposal” and decide for themselves if my questions and those of the membership at large have been answered and that we can start the new year in a stronger, more diverse organization.  Thoreau came late in life to the theory of evolution but he quickly recognized that the world around us is subject to evolution, organizations as much as species and ideas.  I invite you to explore the possibilities.

Submitted by Robert Thorson

Thoreau was a stay-at-home sort of guy who garnered international fame.  As a child, he was shuffled from one house to another before his family found stability in the Yellow House at 255 Main Street.  As an adult, he deliberately chose to live there with the support of his family, the economy it afforded, and views of Concord village to the east and the Sudbury River to the west.  He became grounded.  Similarly, the Thoreau Society shuffled from one venue to another as it grew from a circle of scholars and aficionados in the Colonial Inn into an international organization leasing office space on Virginia Road in Concord.  Now, the Thoreau Society has a chance to become grounded. The proposed merger gives us a chance to put down roots where it all began on July 12, 1817.  A chance to live in a country home adjacent to two symbolically important places: the regenerative agriculture of Gaining Ground as with Walden’s Bean Field, and the planned trail to the Battle Road, where liberty and mutual aid helped launch the American experiment.

I strongly support creating the Thoreau Alliance as a marriage of equals.  The nuptial yin of an international scholarly organization seeking a home and the yang of a local home seeking an opportunity to share its mission with the larger world.  Our membership vote through December 15 is an opportunity not to be missed.  United, we will stand and strengthen.  Divided, we will limp along.

Submitted by Preston Bryant

Greetings. Thank you for inviting Members to comment on the merger proposal. I have read the entire 26-page package of information, particularly the proposed bylaws. I have served on numerous nonprofit governing boards, and these are among the best by-laws I’ve seen.

I have followed The Thoreau Society board’s due diligence process. I attended one virtual meeting to learn more.

I commend the Society’s board for its diligence—and especially its communications to the membership. Its solicitation for participation and comment was commendable.

I support the merger.

Submitted by Elise Lemire

When I served on the Board of Directors of the Thoreau Society from 2010 to 2016, I was pleased to help organize the fellowship program that continues to financially support scholars from across the wide array of fields for which Thoreau’s work has repeatedly proven foundational.  One such field is Black history, to which Thoreau’s observations have proven invaluable, as I aimed to show in Black Walden: Slavery and Its Aftermath in Concord, Massachusetts (2009).  I see the merger of The Thoreau Society and Thoreau Farm as The Thoreau Society’s best chance to continue to financially and otherwise support scholars working on a variety of critically important areas pertaining to the collective future of humanity and our planet.  Merging the two organizations under the umbrella of the Thoreau Alliance, while keeping their identities separate, will increase efficiency and reduce costs, thereby better ensuring that one of Thoreau’s legacies is a better tomorrow.

Submitted by Richard Smith

I think the merger is a great idea!

The mission statements between the two organizations aren’t too radically different; The Society aims to “stimulate interest in and foster education about Henry David Thoreau’s life, works, and legacy by encouraging research, preserving his writings and challenging people to live a deliberate, considered life” while Thoreau Farm and Birthplace wants to “promote Thoreau’s insights on life, nature, and social responsibility through educational programs and by presenting the farm as a source of inspiration for living deliberately, practicing simplicity, and exploring new ideas for positive change.”

In my mind it’s a natural fit for the two organizations to unite. As an educator I cannot help but think that this will bring a greater visibility to both organizations, and as a result bring Thoreau’s life, writings and legacy to a wider audience. The Society already presents many programs and events with Thoreau Farm, and the two organizations work very well together. So why not make it official and unite in our common cause?

And it’ll be cool to have a real house for Thoreauvians to gather, an actual place (besides Walden Pond), much like Orchard House or Emerson House. The merger will give the Society a sense of place. A home.

So, yeah. I love the idea of the merger! It’s time for both organizations to move into the 21st Century.

Submitted by Marc Jolley

This is me having heard a different drum.

In July 1995, I was at the airport waiting to catch a flight to Atlanta to be interviewed for a job at Mercer University Press in Macon. I hesitated and got nervous. I was a little afraid of the future. I called a friend who told me “not to be afraid to be happy.” I boarded that plane and now, 30 years and three months later I am still with Mercer all because I was not afraid to be happy.

Now, we—the Thoreau Society—are looking at a situation of a merger with Thoreau Farm. My only question at the beginning was if both would retain their identities.

The merger proposal states very clearly that THEY WILL RETAIN THEIR IDENTITIES.

I am voting for the merger because I am not afraid of being happy. I want to see both groups flourish, and I believe they can if the merger happens. We are two strong groups, and we have a chance to form a more perfect union, to be a strong house that can stand stronger together than we would ever stand apart.

No matter the outcome of this vote, however, I am committed to the mission of each of these two groups.

I hope we advance confidently in the direction of our dreams whatever we decide.

Regardless, let’s flourish together.

Submitted by Sandy Petrulionis

I have been an active Thoreau Society member for 30+ years and have served on its board and as its executive secretary. I oppose the merger proposal. While we have often debated and disagreed, we have never considered the dissolution of our legal identity and absolute authority over Society matters. The proposal is meticulously explained. What it doesn’t present, however, is a compelling reason for this union. The financial savings are modest, and the expectations that a larger organization makes us more grant-worthy and more attractive to new members are, in my experience, unfounded. The Society’s success in recruiting young members is largely due to our academic mission giving students and junior faculty an outlet for their professional work as well as fellowship with the like-minded; that identity will be blurred through a merger. Further, if each branch retains its programming and mission, then their current staff workload changes very little—i.e., one larger organization handling the same things as two smaller ones doesn’t automatically mean reducing staffing expenses. Additionally important, the missions and outreach of the Society and the Farm Trust are quite different, with Society membership comprising an engaged group of people worldwide. Ownership of the Thoreau farm will fundamentally impact the intentionally broad perspective and embrace of the Thoreau Society. With our Shop at Walden Pond and our administrative office at the Birth Home, we already have a solid home in Concord. We cannot be all things to all Thoreauvians, nor should we aspire to be. Surely, the currently thriving partnership of the Society and Farm Trust can continue to prosper without surrendering our cherished independence.