On July 15, 1838, Emerson delivered what became known as the “Divinity School Address” to the graduating class of Harvard Divinity School. Arguing that every person could have a relationship with the divine without the mediation of the church or clergy, Emerson’s speech sparked great controversy and he was not invited back to his alma mater for another 30 years.

On this Father’s Day, a look back at the father figures in Ralph Waldo Emerson’s life and his own role as a devoted father to the four children he shared with Lidian: Waldo, Ellen, Edith, and Edward.

A virtual peek at early-summer blooms in the garden of the Emerson House in Concord, Massachusetts.

On this day in 1836, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s groundbreaking essay “Nature” was published, establishing the foundation of Transcendentalism.