In this issue
-- First, Do No Harm: Preserving Your Family Papers
-- The Annual Emily Dickinson Birthday Lecture
-- Birthday Celebration Dinner!
-- Open House in Honor of Emily Dickinson's Birthday -- Replenishing the Shelves -- "my Verse is alive"
Greetings from the Emily Dickinson Museum! 2007 Hours:
Plan to celebrate Emily Dickinson's birthday with
us at three special events in December! Read on for
news of events and programs at
the
Emily Dickinson Museum in the weeks
ahead. |
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First, Do No Harm: Preserving Your Family Papers 
First, Do No Harm: Preserving Your Family Papers Saturday, November 10 at 2 p.m. Amherst Woman's Club, 35 Triangle Street (corner of Triangle and Main, east of the Homestead)
Archivist Daria D'Arienzo will talk about the
diaries,
letters, photographs, newspaper clippings and
other
documents that chronicle the story of your
family. In
addition to describing the essential
preservation
steps to ensure that no harm is done,
D'Arienzo will
show the results of the "evils" commonly found
among carelessly stored family
records-including
cardboard boxes, manila envelopes and metal
paper
clips. Daria D'Arienzo is the Head of Archives and Special Collections at Amherst College.
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The Annual Emily Dickinson Birthday Lecture of Emily Dickinson's Poems Thursday, December 6 at 4 p.m. Amherst College Alumni House (Spring and Churchill Streets) Free and open to the public. Don't miss this talk by independent scholar and Dickinson biographer Polly Longsworth who will examine the early posthumous publication history of Emily Dickinson's poetry through the lens of her brother's thriteen-year relationship with Mabel Loomis Todd, one of the the first editors of Dickinson's poems. Longsworth is the author of Austin and Mabel: The Amherst Affair & Love Letters of Austin Dickinson and Mabel Loomis Todd (1984), The World of Emily Dickinson (1990), and several other books. She is currently at work on a comprehensive biography of the poet. Longsworth is a member of the Museum's board of Governors and served as its first chair. A reception and booksigning follow the event. Co-sponsored by the Amherst College Archives and Special Collections.
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Birthday Celebration Dinner! 
Thursday, December 6 at 6 p.m., following the
Annual
Emily Dickinson Birthday LectureLewis Sebring Dining Room, Valentine Hall at Amherst College Celebrate Emily Dickinson's 177th birthday by exploring Victorian dining customs and courses. Learn about kickshaws, entrees, and removes. Hear some lesser-known exchanges from the letters of Austin and Mabel. Then enjoy a dramatic encounter with David and Mabel Loomis Todd, portrayed by actors Walter Carroll and Ann Maggs. Reception, dinner, and entertainment $50 per person. All proceeds support the Emily Dickinson Museum. For more information or reservations, please contact Donna Abelli at 413-542-5084 or dmabelli@emilydickinsonmuseum.org.
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Open House in Honor of Emily Dickinson's Birthday 
Saturday, December 8 from 1 to 4 p.m.The Homestead and The Evergreens Free and open to the public. The 12th annual "At Home" celebration of Emily Dickinson's birthday once again will feature self- guided tours of the two family homes, Dickinsonian refreshments, poetry readings, and musical entertainment. The afternoon festivities include a booksigning at 2 p.m. by Cindy McKenzie and Barbara Dana for their new book "Wider than the Sky": Essays and Meditations on the Healing Power of Emily Dickinson. In keeping with tradition and in honor of Dickinson's 177th birthday, the first 177 visitors will receive a rose, courtesy of an anonymous donor.
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Replenishing the Shelves 
Replenishing the Shelves is a special project
to recreate
the libraries of the Homestead and The
Evergreens as accurately as possible. The
effort is dedicated to and led by Polly
Longsworth, a longtime Dickinson scholar and
the first chair of the Emily Dickinson
Museum's Board of Governors.
The Emily Dickinson Museum is looking for clean books in good condition and in the exact editions known to have been in the Dickinson family libraries. Once acquired, the books will be displayed as they were when the Dickinson family occupied their homes. Full information about the project, guidelines for acquisition, and an up-to-date initial book list is available at the Museum's website at the link below. |
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"my Verse is alive" 
"my Verse is alive,"
a provocative exhibit exploring the intriguing
posthumous
publication of Dickinson's poetry, continues at the
Dickinson
Homestead through the end of the 2007 season. The exhibit takes its title from Emily Dickinson's 1862 query to author and activist Thomas Wentworth Higginson: "Are you too deeply occupied to say if my Verse is alive?" With documents and family artifacts, the exhibit traces the creation of her literary reputation through the competing efforts and loyalties of family members and intimates in the first fifty years after the poet's death.
Part of Museums10's fall
collaborative BookMarks, the exhibit is open through
December
8 during regular Museum hours. Admission to the
exhibit is free. |
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The Emily Dickinson Museum: The Homestead and
The Evergreens is dedicated to educating diverse
audiences about the poet's life, family, creative
work, times, and enduring relevance, and to
preserving and interpreting the Homestead and The
Evergreens as historical resources for the benefit of
scholars and the general public. The Emily Dickinson
Museum is owned by the Trustees of Amherst
College and has its own Board of Governors,
which is charged with the responsibility of raising the
Museum's operating and capital funds. The Museum
is a member of Museums10,
a collaboration of 10 museums in the Pioneer Valley.
To find out
how you can support the Emily Dickinson Museum,
click here.
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Contact Information
phone:
413/542-8161
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