More than 160 years after his death, Henry David Thoreau remains one of Concord’s most influential voices. His writings on nature, conscience, simplicity, and social responsibility continue to inspire readers around the world. Helping to preserve and share that
legacy is the Thoreau Alliance, an organization dedicated to
ensuring that Thoreau’s ideas remain accessible, relevant, and
alive for future generations.
The Alliance brings together two organizations with deep roots
in Thoreau’s story: Thoreau Farm, his birthplace in Concord, and
the Thoreau Society, the oldest and largest organization dedicated to the study of a single American author. Together, they serve as a hub
for scholarship, education, public programming, and community engagement centered on one of America’s most influential thinkers.
This year marks the 85th Annual Gathering of the Thoreau Society—the oldest and largest community devoted to an American author. Founded in 1941 by Walter Harding, the Society began with a simple invitation to a “Thoreau Birthday Mecca”: meet at Walden Pond, share lunch at Concord’s Colonial Inn, and talk about forming a group devoted to Henry David Thoreau.
The First Online Thoreau Conference, if briefly presented, could be described as a collaborative effort between students, scholars, and educators based in Brazil, who are dedicated to the study and outreach of Henry David Thoreau’s work. However, such a description wouldn’t do much justice to the interconnectedness of readers of Thoreau across the globe.
The Thoreau Society was founded in 1941 to stimulate interest in and foster education about Thoreau’s life, works, and legacy and his place in his world and ours; to encourage research on Thoreau’s life and writings; to act as a repository for Thoreauviana and material relevant to Thoreau; and to advocate for the preservation of Thoreau Country.
