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

On this day in 1837, Ralph Waldo Emerson delivered his famed address, “"An Oration, Delivered before the Phi Beta Kappa Society at Cambridge," later retitled “The American Scholar.” Oliver Wendell Holmes called Emerson’s speech America’s “intellectual Declaration of Independence.”

On this day in 1847, Bronson Alcott and Henry David Thoreau began work on an elaborate summerhouse for their friend Ralph Waldo Emerson. The unusual design became a neighborhood curiosity.

On this day in 1854, Henry David Thoreau’s book Walden; or, Life in the Woods was published. Thoreau’s most famous work details his experiences living near Concord’s Walden Pond in a cabin built on a woodlot owned by his friend and mentor, Ralph Waldo Emerson.

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