“...to promote and maintain the public interest in the literary works of Ralph Waldo Emerson...and to preserve his library and manuscripts and the home surroundings in which the literary work was done.”
Preserving the Legacy of an Extraordinary Life
Founded in 1930 by members of the Emerson family, the Ralph Waldo Emerson Memorial Association (RWEMA) is a nonprofit organization guided by its mission to promote interest in and access to Ralph Waldo Emerson’s literary works and to preserve the home surroundings in which they were written.
To this end, the RWEMA maintains and manages the historic Ralph Waldo Emerson House in Concord, Massachusetts, open to the public as a seasonal museum from April through October. The RWEMA also owns the contents of the Emerson Study at the Concord Museum, a replica of Emerson’s home study that contains his original working library. The majority of Emerson’s journals, correspondence, and manuscripts are held in collections at Harvard University’s Houghton Library and the Concord Free Public Library.
Whether you’re discovering Ralph Waldo Emerson for the first time or consider him an old friend, we invite you to explore his home, his works, and his world. Inspiration awaits.
The RWEMA always welcomes donations to help cover maintenance and repair costs of the Emerson House and grounds and we are very grateful for your support.
HIS HOME
The Concord, Massachusetts home where Ralph Waldo & Lidian Jackson Emerson raised their family and welcomed visitors from around the world remains a time capsule from the 19th century. Please come in.
HIS WORKS
A renowned essayist, poet, speaker, and philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson had a gift for words that continues to resonate. Learn about his prolific body of work and explore his timeless wisdom.
HIS WORLD
Emerson was a devoted family man and friend and an engaged Concord citizen. Meet some of the local people and places he loved and global thinkers he inspired as one of the most admired men of his time.
Make your pilgrimage to the historic Emerson House
The Ralph Waldo Emerson House in Concord, Massachusetts is open to the public for tours from April through October.
Ring the doorbell and one of our knowledgeable and dedicated guides will greet you at the same front door opened to Thoreau, Hawthorne, Whitman and many other esteemed guests.
Like them, you will enter a space still full of Emerson’s personal effects and alive with his welcoming spirit. Like them, may you leave enriched by the experience.
“But we shall crowd so many books & papers, &, if possible, wise friends, into it that it shall have as much wit as it can carry.”