In this issue
-- Garrison Keillor & Emily Dickinson: Face to Face
-- Identity of Anonymous Rose Donor Revealed
-- Join Us in Reaching our Annual Fund Goal
-- 2011 Opening Day and Big Read Programs -- Program Notes -- Vote for the Emily Dickinson Museum -- Poetry Discussion Group Meets on February 11 -- NEH Teachers Workshop Applications Due March 1 -- Start the New Year with a New Membership -- About the Museum -- Are you on FacebookŪ? Join us!
There's a certain Slant of light,
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Garrison Keillor & Emily Dickinson: Face to Face 
An audience of more than 500 attended Garrison Keillor's benefit performance for the Emily Dickinson Museum on December 9. The memorable evening was filled with poetry, laughter, and song. Keillor read numerous Dickinson poems and shared the twelve-year-old Dickinson's humorous rambling letters about everyday life, including the changing fortunes of the family's chickens.
Keillor also read letters from Dickinson's teenage years in which she says she is "almost persuaded to be a Christian." He added a personal story from his own youth about a revival meeting at which an evangelist mistook his allergy-induced watery eyes for weeping and lifted the boy up so close that he could smell whiskey on the man's breath. The evening concluded with Keillor leading the audience in a lively rendition of the 1960s hit "My Girl," edited to honor Emily Dickinson, and a heartfelt rendition of "Happy Birthday." The Museum will produce a CD of the performance, so stay tuned for details. In the meantime, we would like to hear your thoughts about our special evening. Please write info@emilydickinsonmuseum.org to share your story.
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Identity of Anonymous Rose Donor Revealed 
For thirteen years, James C. Fraser has quietly infused the Homestead's and, now, the Emily Dickinson Museum's observance of the poet's birthday anniversary with a special accent. Each year he has donated enough roses to equal Dickinson's birth anniversary--this year, 180--all to be distributed to visitors who attend the Open House.
Fraser is a physicist and senior research scientist with the Utah State University Foundation. He has an abiding admiration for and interest in the poetry of Emily Dickinson and has expressed his interest as an officer of the Emily Dickinson International Society, as a current member of the Emily Dickinson Museum Board of Governors, and as a long-term benefactor of roses. 2010 marks the last year that the complimentary roses will be given to open house visitors. As the Museum reviews its roster of annual events, it is looking ahead to other special programs surrounding the birthday observance. The Museum is delighted to be able to acknowledge Mr. Fraser's role in making the birthday open house a memorable occasion for many hundreds of visitors over the last decade.
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Join Us in Reaching our Annual Fund Goal 
The Emily Dickinson Museum is reaching ever higher in its goals for charitable contributions to support its annual operating budget. Thanks to the generous contributions of many of you, we are well over half-way toward our goal of just over $150,000 for the fiscal year July 1, 2010, to June 30, 2011.
The Museum depends upon your contributions to support more than a third of its yearly expenses. It's easy to make a gift on-line via PayPal. To those who have made an annual fund contribution this year, we send "quick gratitude" (L260) for your support!
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2011 Opening Day and Big Read Programs 
The Emily Dickinson Museum will open for public tours on Wednesday, March 2. This spring, the Museum will offer its second Emily Dickinson Big Read, an initiative funded by the National Endowment for the Arts to celebrate Dickinson's poetry. Activities will take place in April and May and involve several local partners, including the Jones Library and the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce.
The Big Read will kick off on Saturday, April 2, with a presentation and poetry reading by Thom Tammaro and Sheila Coghill, editors of Visiting Emily: Poems Inspired by the Life & Work of Emily Dickinson (2000). The Big Read will also include a four-part discussion series on themes in Dickinson's poetry, special programs with visual artist Spencer Finch, and the annual Poetry Walk with an international twist! Details will be posted on the Museum's website in mid-February.
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Program Notes Almost upon us is the January 28 opening of "Orra White Hitchcock (1796-1863): An Amherst Woman of Art and Science," a special exhibition at Amherst College's Mead Art Museum that brings to light the little-known art of one of the Connecticut River Valley's earliest female artists. Hitchcock, her husband Edward (influential scientist and president of Amherst College), and their children were well known to the Dickinsons. The exhibition runs through May 29, 2011. Look ahead to "Emily Dickinson: The Virtual Belle of Amherst," a talk by independent scholar Polly Longsworth, on February 27 at 2 p.m. at the White Church Community Center at Historic Deerfield.
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Vote for the Emily Dickinson Museum 
A Vote for Emily Dickinson is a Vote for Poetry! VOTE HERE for the Emily Dickinson Museum as the" Best Tourist Destination" and "Best Gift Shop" in the Advocate 2011 Best of Readers Poll.
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Poetry Discussion Group Meets on February 11 
It's never too late to join the Museum's Poetry Discussion Group. The next meeting--on Friday, February 11--will feature a discussion with Dickinson biographer Polly Longsworth on "Audience and Intimacy: A Look at Enclosed Poems." The program runs from noon to 2 p.m. and will take place at the Alumni House, Amherst College.
The Emily Dickinson Museum's Poetry Discussion Group meets monthly on Friday afternoons, September through May, for a brown bag lunch and lively conversation about Dickinson's poetry. The fee for Museum members is $55 for the year or $10/session; the fee for non-members is $70 for the year or $12/session. For more information, contact program coordinator Nan Fischlein.
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NEH Teachers Workshop Applications Due March 1 Landmarks Workshops provide K-12 educators from across the United States the opportunity to engage in intensive study and discussion of important topics in American history. Participants gain direct experiences in the interpretation of significant historical sites and the use of archival and other primary evidence. Participants receive a $1,200 stipend to defray costs associated with attending the workshop. More information about the workshop, eligibility requirements, and application procedures are available at www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/nehworkshop.
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Start the New Year with a New Membership 
If your 2011 New Year's resolution is to learn more about Emily Dickinson, take the first step by becoming a member of the Friends of the Emily Dickinson Museum--it's only a click away!Household or Individual Membership benefits include:
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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 overseen by a separate Board of Governors. The Museum is responsible for raising its own operating and capital funds. The Emily Dickinson Museum is a member of Museums10, a collaboration of ten museums linked to the Five Colleges in the Pioneer Valley--Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith Colleges, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The Museum's Tour Center may be reached at 413-542-2947, Wednesday through Sunday, during museum hours.
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Are you on FacebookŪ? Join us! 
The Museum has created a presence on
FacebookŪ
to share information and tools with the FacebookŪ
commmunity.Become a fan today! Just click on the FacebookŪ icon.
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Quick Links . . . |
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More Links . . . |
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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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