Preserving the Legacy of an Extraordinary Life

Join our celebration of Edward Waldo Emerson’s second career as an artist with this first-of-its-kind special exhibition of a selection of his works, most of which have been held in private collections for generations.

On display at the Concord Free Public Library from July 30-September 10, 2026, the exhibition is free and open to the public during the Main Library’s regular hours.

“Celebrating the Art of Edward Waldo Emerson” is presented by the Ralph Waldo Emerson Memorial Association (RWEMA), in collaboration with the William Munroe Special Collections of the Concord Free Public Library Corporation. This project is supported by the Concord Cultural Council and the Concord Center Cultural District, with funding from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Join Concord historian Richard Smith for an exploration of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s woodlots at Walden Pond—land made famous by Henry David Thoreau’s time there. Walden was a frequent destination in Emerson’s daily nature walks, shared with loved ones and enjoyed in solitary contemplation.

Meet at the Walden Pond Visitors Center in Concord for this free event, co-sponsored by the Ralph Waldo Emerson Memorial Association (RWEMA) and The Walden Woods Project, in cooperation with Walden Pond State Reservation.

Why is Thoreau a hero of environmental politics—but not Emerson? Join scholar Russell C. Powell for a public research talk revisiting Emerson’s universalism alongside Thoreau’s attention to place, asking how environmental politics can address climate injustice while remaining grounded in particular communities and forms of life.

This event is part of a year of special programming on Transcendentalism at the Center for the Study of World Religions (CSWR) at Harvard Divinity School. The talk will be held at CSWR in Cambridge, MA and livestreamed on Zoom. Registration is required for both in person and online attendance.

Join author Bruce Nichols in conversation with local historian and Thoreau expert Richard Smith about Nichols’s acclaimed new book, The Emerson Circle—an engaging look back at the Transcendentalists of 1840s Concord, MA and their enduring influence on the way we think about what it means to be an American original.

This event will be held in the Sanctuary of First Parish in Concord and livestreamed on Zoom, with a suggested donation of $10 per ticket for both in person and online attendance.

Presented by The Thoreau Alliance, the Transcendentalism Council of First Parish in Concord, and the Ralph Waldo Emerson Memorial Association (RWEMA).

In “The Poet,” Emerson said that imagination is “a very high sort of seeing.” Join scholar Ryan Shea for a talk exploring the imagination as an organ of direct intuitive perception that might become the foundation for a new phenomenological science of ecology.

This event is part of a year of special programming on Transcendentalism at the Center for the Study of World Religions (CSWR) at Harvard Divinity School. The talk will be held at CSWR in Cambridge, MA and livestreamed on Zoom. Registration is required for both in person and online attendance.