“...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.”
— RWEMA Mission Statement

About Us

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.

Board of Directors

  • Ellen Emerson - President

  • Bracken Hendricks - Treasurer

  • Charlie Emerson Riggs - Secretary

  • Britt Inga Emerson

  • Daniel C. Emerson

  • William Fowler

  • David Gregg

  • Leslie A. Morris

  • Lowell S. (Sandy) Smith

  • Susan Tucker

  • Anke Voss

  • David Wood 

Trustees

  • Ellen Emerson - Chair

  • Bracken Hendricks - Partner, J.M. Forbes & Co. LLP

  • Leslie A. Morris - Gore Vidal Curator of Modern Books and Manuscripts, Houghton Library, Harvard University

  • Anke Voss - Curator, William Monroe Special Collections, Concord Free Public Library

  • David Wood - Curator, Concord Museum

Director of Visitor Services, Emerson House

  • Marie Gordinier