In this issue
-- Tomorrow! Saturday, July 17: 19th Century Children's Circus
-- "New feet within my garden go"
-- Poetry in the Homestead Garden
-- Table for Ten: Museums10 Special Events -- Annual Fund Success: Thank You! -- Collections Spotlight: Gilbert Dickinson's Suit -- Emily Dickinson in Local Schools -- Museum Awarded Second Big Read Grant -- Emily Dickinson Museum Named One of Massachusetts 1,000 Great Places -- About the Museum -- Are you on Facebook®? Join us!
What I can do- I will-
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Tomorrow! Saturday, July 17: 19th Century Children's Circus
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"New feet within my garden go" 
Summer is the time of gardens. We invite you to support the maintenance and preservation of the Dickinson gardens at the Homestead and The Evergreens by making a gift via Paypal."I tend my flowers for thee --" Bring your trowel and gardening gloves to the Homestead on Thursday, July 22 or 29 at 9:00 a.m. for a brief talk about the gardens, some hands-on maintenance, and refreshing lemonade. E-mail jhwald@emilydickinsonmuseum.org for more information.
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Poetry in the Homestead Garden 
Sundays, July 18, 25, and August 12 p.m. on the Homestead lawn July 18 at 2 p.m "The things that never can come back: On cake and poetry and loss" Karen Sánchez Eppler Karen Sánchez-Eppler is Professor of English and American Studies at Amherst College. She has taught four undergraduate seminars on Emily Dickinson at the Museum and has written an essay on the Dickinson children's decorations of their nursery doors for The Visual and Textual Worlds of Childhood. July 25 at 2 p.m "The Music in the Words" Alice Parker As a composer, conductor, and teacher, Alice Parker's life-work has been in choral and vocal music, combining composing, conducting and teaching in a creative balance. Among her compositions are rich and illuminating choral settings of Dickinson poems. August 1 at 2 p.m. "Dickinson's Birdlife" Henk Rossouw Last year Henk Rossouw gave a poetry reading in Times Square as a winner of the Poetry Society of America's 2nd annual Bright Lights Big Verse competition. "Chez Times Square" was one of four winning poems chosen from 500 entries. All programs start at 2:00 p.m. and are free. Light refreshments and an opportunity for audience members to chat informally with the speaker round out each afternoon. In case of rain, the programs will be held at nearby indoor locations. Visit the Museum's website for more information.
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Table for Ten: Museums10 Special Events 
Table for Ten: The Art, Science, and History of Food infuses the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts with a flavorful menu of museum exhibitions, public programs, and special events in Summer/Fall 2010.
Saturday, September 25
For a complete list of upcoming "Table for Ten" events at the ten area museums, visit the link below. |
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Annual Fund Success: Thank You!
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Collections Spotlight: Gilbert Dickinson's Suit 
The best known photograph of young Gilbert Dickinson (1875-1883) shows him at age six in a velvet suit, ruffled lace collar, and long blond locks. This suit of clothes is on display in the nursery at The Evergreens.
The suit may have been purchased for a family wedding. In a letter written to Gilbert in 1881 by his sister Martha, she writes "Cousin Belle's wedding went off beautifully and we all wished you could have been there in your velvet suit."
The label on the inside of the jacket indicates that the suit was purchased from Brokaw Bros., New York, a prominent retailer of men's and boy's clothing. Known as a "Little Lord Fauntleroy suit," such clothing was purchased by well-to-do Victorian families even before the publication of Frances Hodgsen Burnett's novel in 1886. The suits became wildly popular--at least with mothers--after the book was published. The fashion died out shortly after World War I. Visit the Homestead and The Evergreens to see many more artifacts of 19th century life in the homes of the Dickinson family.
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Emily Dickinson in Local Schools 
For the second year in a row, the Emily Dickinson Museum partnered with the Amherst school system on "Emily Dickinson: Poetry, Poet, and Place," a curriculum development initiative funded by a Creative Schools grant from the Massachsuetts Cultural Council. The goal of this project was to design and implement a primary level and high school level poetry curriculum for which Dickinson's poetry functions as the exemplar.Teachers from local elementary schools met with landscape historian Marta McDowell and Helen Ann Sephton (from Amherst'sHitchcock Center for the Environment) to examine how Emily Dickinson found poetic inspiration in the natural world, to practice nature journaling, and to tour Emily Dickinson's grounds at the Homestead. Teachers then spent a day creating curricula that explore Dickinson's love of poetry and nature while developing student skills in analytical thinking, observation, and creative writing. At Amherst Regional High School, English teachers enjoyed seminars with Martha Ackmann, Dickinson scholar and journalist, and Christopher Benfey, Professor of English at Mount Holyoke College, to discuss Dickinson's life and poetry. The high school teachers in the program developed units on Dickinson's poetry that include visits to the Museum. The Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) is a state agency that promotes excellence, access, education and diversity in the arts, humanities, and interpretive sciences to improve the quality of life for all Massachusetts residents and contribute to the economic vitality of our communities. MCC receives an annual appropriation from the state Legislature and funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Wallace Foundation, and others.
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Museum Awarded Second Big Read Grant 
The Emily Dickinson Museum has received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to host The Big Read in Amherst. The Emily Dickinson Museum is one of 75 not-for-profits including arts and cultural organizations, libraries, and universities to receive a grant to host a Big Read project between September 2010 and June 2011. The Big Read gives communities the opportunity to come together to read, discuss, and celebrate one of 31 selections from U.S. and world literature. Not surprisingly, the Big Read in Amherst will focus on Emily Dickinson. Activities will take place in April and May 2011, and will involve several local partners, including the Jones Library and the Chamber of Commerce. The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest. Stay tuned for more information about the Emily Dickinson Big Read!
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Emily Dickinson Museum Named One of Massachusetts 1,000 Great Places The Emily Dickinson Museum is honored to be on this distinguished list of Massachusetts treasures! For a complete list of all 1,000 Great Places, visit the website of the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism
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About the Museum 
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 responsible for raising the Museum's operating and capital funds. The Museum is a member of Museums10, a collaboration of ten museums linked to the five colleges in the Pioneer Valley. The Tour Center may be reached at 413-542-2947, Wednesday through Sunday, during museum hours.
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Are you on Facebook®? Join us! 
The Museum has created a presence on Facebook to share information and tools with the Facebook commmunity. Become a fan today! Just Click on the Facebook Icon.
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Quick Links... |
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For general information, contact the Museum at
Recorded Information:
413-542-8161
Website:
http://www.EmilyDickinsonMuseum.org
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