Beginning a series on the strong women in Ralph Waldo Emerson’s life with a profile of his Aunt Mary Moody Emerson, who helped raise him after his father died and had a profound influence on his life and works. Credited as being his “earliest and best teacher,” Mary laid the foundation of Transcendentalism for her nephew and was an inspired writer in her own right. She was also active in the antislavery and women’s rights movements.

Well-versed in classic poetry and philosophy—a literature rich with heroic, mythic, and sacred figures—Emerson also admired Renaissance art, particularly works by Michelangelo and Raphael inspired by the vast iconography of the ancient world. Among the images of heroes, angels, and gods at the Emerson House are prints of five famous portraits of sibyls by Italian painters. 

This inaugural blog post shares a biographical profile of Ralph Waldo Emerson on the occasion of his 217th birthday.