And later, in August it may be,
When the meadows parching lie,
Beware, lest this little brook of life,
Some burning noon go dry!
--Fr 94 |
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| OPEN HOURS
Summer hours end and the regular schedule resumes on August 31:
11 a.m. - 4 p.m., Wednesday - Sunday, March - December.
Summer: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Wednesday - Sunday during June, July, and August
Closed January and February.
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Emily Dickinson Poetry Marathon
Saturday, September 24, 2011 Time: 7 a.m. - ??? Location: The Emily Dickinson Museum Fee: None Emily Dickinson lovers of all ages are invited to join the Emily Dickinson Poetry Marathon, a daylong marathon reading of all 1,789 poems by Emily Dickinson. The annual event, sponsored by the Emily Dickinson Museum, will begin at 7 a.m. at the Homestead and continue until the 1,789th poem is read (approximately 11 p.m.). All are welcome to participate in the free event as a reader, a listener, or both! Stay for just a single poem or join us for the entire day. Readers who arrive between 7 and 10 a.m. receive a "poetry coffee break" discount coupon to The Black Sheep Deli in Amherst. Readers who arrive between 5 and 7 p.m. receive a "poetry happy hour" discount coupon. Pictured above are those present for the very last poem at last year's marathon reading. For information on how you can participate, please e-mail csdickinson@emilydickinsonmuseum.org. More information on the Poetry Marathon. Help us Tweet the marathon.  |
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Second Annual Emily Dickinson Baking Contest
 Emily Dickinson was well-known among friends and family for her baked goods. She even won second place (and 50 cents) for her Rye and Indian Bread in the 1856 Amherst Cattle Show!
In the spirit of her success, the Emily Dickinson Museum is sponsoring its second annual baking contest. Entrants may choose to make one or more of the following recipes:
- Gingerbread (Youth and Adult categories)
- Coconut Cake (Youth and Adult categories)
- Black Cake (Adult category)
- Rye and Indian Bread (Adult category)
Rules for entering as well as recipes for all four categories are available in a downloadable PDF, Contest Rules and Recipes.
If you'd like to enter the contest, please complete our Intention to Enter form. The deadline for submitting the form is Thursday, September 22.
Entries must be delivered to the First Congregational Church (165 Main Street) across the street from the Emily Dickinson Museum between noon and 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 24. Prizes, which include Emily Dickinson Museum aprons, will be awarded at 4 p.m.--and all second-place winners will also receive 50 cents.
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| It's Friends Day, Too!
"Home was always dear to me & dearer still the friends around it"
Emily Dickinson to her brother Austin, 17 Feb 1848
Members of the Friends of the Emily Dickinson Museum will gather for their first annual Friends Day on September 24. Friends will have an opportunity to "parse a poem" in a members-only poetry discussion group with poet John Hennesey, lunch with the Museum directors to learn about current and future plans at the Museum, and anchor two "member marathon" hours.
Friends--Look for your mail and e-mail invitation! For information and details, visit the Friends Day page on the Museum website, call 413-542-5084, or e-mail the Membership department.
Not yet a Friend? Read on, then join!
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Become a Friend of the Emily Dickinson Museum
Join us in preserving Emily Dickinson's vibrant poetic and material legacy by becoming a Friend. $65 annual membership dues provide the following benefits:
Membership also makes a wonderful gift!
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| Poetry Discussion Group Resumes September 16
The Museum's Poetry Discussion Group begins its new season on Friday, September 16 at the
Amherst College Alumni House (on Churchill Street near Spring Street) from noon to 2 p.m. The theme of this year's discussions will be "Poetic Pilgrimages."
The Emily Dickinson Museum's Poetry Discussion Group meets monthly on the third Friday of the month, from September through May, for a brown bag lunch and lively conversation about Emily Dickinson's poetry--favorite poems, challenging poems, and the poet's craft.Fees for the year are $65 for Friends, $80 for non-Members. Individual session fees are $12 for Friends, $15 for non-Members.
See the Poetry Discussion Group page on our website for a schedule of meetings. For more information contact Nan Fischlein, program coordinator, by e-mail or at 413-542-2034.
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Collection Spotlight: Emily Lavinia Norcross Sampler
 The Emily Dickinson is pleased to announce the recent acquisition of a sampler stitched by Emily Lavinia Norcross, the poet's first cousin. Dated February 23, 1842, this silk on linen sampler was created when Emily Lavinia was fourteen years old. Decorated with a cross-stitched border and trees, the sampler also contains an alphabet, the maker's stitched name, and a short verse. Jesus permit thy name to stand / As the first efforts of an infants hand / And while her fingers o'er this canvas move / Engaged her heart to seek thy love. Born in 1828, Emily Lavinia Norcross was close in age to her cousin Emily Dickinson and was in her third year at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary when Emily arrived in 1847 and became her roomate. Emily Norcross was a teacher for a year after graduating. She died in 1852 at the age of twenty-four from tuberculosis, the same illness that claimed both her parents during her childhood. The newly acquired sampler is very similar to another in the collection of Harvard's Houghton Library that was likely created by Emily Norcross, the poet's mother, in 1814. That sampler contains an almost identical verse and has sometimes been attributed to the poet herself. It can be viewed online at the Houghton Library. The Emily Lavinia Norcross sampler will soon be displayed in the poet's bedroom at the Dickinson Homestead. |
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Dickinson's Garden Blooms at Hope & Feathers Framing
 "Bloom-is Result-" is the title piece for a series of watercolor paintings by Amherst artist Victoria Dickson. They feature flowers that grew in the conservatory, gardens, and surrounding woods and meadows of the Emily Dickinson Homestead. The paintings are paired with Dickinson's extraordinary poems about flowers and her metaphysical "garden unseen," the garden of the soul. The show runs through August 27 at Hope & Feathers Framing at 319 Main Street in Amherst, just across the street from the Homestead. More information on Hope & Feathers Framing and the exhibition |
| Upcoming Fall Programs
An exciting schedule of programs awaits you this fall! There's something for all kinds of interests, so mark your calendar for these programs--and bring a friend.
- Sunday, October 16, 2-4:30 p.m., Amherst College Alumni House
Women's Fashions from 1850 to the 1880s, the Time of Emily Dickinson, a lecture and workshop with Lynda Meyer, costume historian. Details...
- Friday, October 28, 2011, 7 p.m., Buckley Recital Hall, Amherst College
"My Business Is To Sing": Modern settings of Emily Dickinson poems, featuring works by Aaron Copeland, Eric Sawyer and Ross Bauer, performed by Sarah Pelletier and Lois Shapiro.
Preceded at 4:30 p.m. by a discussion with the performers and two of the composers in Room 3, Arms Music Center, Amherst College. Details...
- Saturday, November 12, 3 p.m., Pruyne Lecture Hall, Fayerweather Hall, Amherst College
A Poetry Reading by Alice Fulton, recipient of a 2011 American Academy of arts and Letters Award in Literature. Details...
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Sesquicentennial Symposium - Civil War Causes and Consequences
 2011 marks the beginning of the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War, the most notable historical event to take place during Emily Dickinson's lifetime. Five College Learning in Retirement is sponsoring "Civil War Causes and Consequences," a two-day symposium that will bring together scholars from across the country to discuss the backdrop of the war and its continuing legacy. Keynote speakers include Eric Foner from Columbia University and David Blight from Yale University.
Among the small group sessions will be "A Civil War of Words," led by Lois Brown from Mt. Holyoke College: The tumult, tragedy, heroism, and sacrifice at the core of the War loom large in the American literary imagination and in the works of writers such as Ambrose Bierce, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Walt Whitman, and Emily Dickinson.
The symposium will take place at the University of Massachusetts Amherst at Mahar Auditorium and the Isenberg School of Management from October 14-15. The event is free and open to the public. More information can be found at the 5CLIR website or by calling 413-585-3756. |
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Keep in Touch: Follow the Museum on Facebook and Twitter!
The Museum has created a presence on Facebook and Twitter to share news, events, and information about Emily Dickinson with the online commmunity.
Be sure to like our Facebook fan page and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date with our latest happenings. July and August will feature daily updates from the life and literature of Emily Dickinson, including extracts from poems and letters as well as historical tidbits.
 
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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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For general information, contact the Museum at
Recorded Information: 413-542-8161
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