Literary Landmarks: Henry David Thoreau's House

Literary Landmarks: Henry David Thoreau's House
(Second in the Series)

Written and photographed by Jenn Buliszak

Henry David Thoreau (pronounced “thorough”) was born on July 12, 1817 in Concord, Massachusetts. He was named David Henry Thoreau but later changed his name. His birthplace is located at 341 Virginia Road and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The Thoreau Farm Trust is dedicated to preserving the famous literary landmark and is responsible for maintaining and managing Thoreau Farm. Visitors are able to take a guided tour of Thoreau Farm House on Saturdays and Sundays.
Henry David Thoreau graduated from Concord Academy and Harvard College. Through the years, he worked as a teacher, gardener, pencil-maker, tutor, surveyor and most notably, an author. In fact, Thoreau surveyed the land for Bronson Alcott’s Orchard House. He published poems and essays in The Dial (Walden Woods Project). Thoreau also lived at various times with his mentor, Ralph Waldo Emerson and his family, in Concord. Both Emerson and Thoreau were transcendentalists; transcendentalists adhered to a “philosophy based on the idea that divinity pervades all nature and humanity, asserting existence of an ideal spiritual reality that transcends the empirical and scientific and is knowable through intuition” (Thoreau Gift Shop)

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In 1842, Henry’s brother John died from lockjaw. This event greatly affected Henry’s life. In 1845, Emerson invited Thoreau to build a small house on the land he recently purchased on the local pond. Thoreau borrowed an axe from Bronson Alcott to build the one-room house on the northwest ”slope overlooking Walden Pond” (Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, 2013). Thoreau lived in the small home as an “experiment in simplicity” and to write his book. He resided in the small house from July 4, 1845 to September 6, 1847 (Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation).

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(View of Thoreau’s Cove on Walden Pond)

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The two years spent at Walden Pond were a highly productive time in Henry David Thoreau’s writing career. He chronicled the boating trip he and his brother, John Jr., took in A Week on the Concord and Merrimack River and journaled daily about his keen observations of nature and living simply at Walden Pond. 

At the end of the two-year experiment, Thoreau concludes, “I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for that one” (Thoreau, 1854, p. 209). In his conclusion to Walden, Thoreau writes, “I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours” (Thoreau, 1854, p. 209). 

When Henry David Thoreau “left the woods, to become a ‘sojourner in civilized life again,’ he turned the house over to Emerson, who soon sold it to his gardener. Two years later two farmers bought it and moved it to the other side of Concord where they used it to store grain. In 1868, they dismantled it for scrap lumber and put the roof on an outbuilding” (Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation). 

After Henry David Thoreau’s experience at Walden Pond, he lived with the Emersons and, later, his parents. During this time he concentrated on publishing A Week on the Concord and Merrimack River and editing drafts of Walden. He revised eight drafts of Walden before it was published in 1854. (Henry David Thoreau, 2008). He traveled to Cape Cod, Canada, New Jersey, Maine and New Hampshire; his travels heavily influenced his writing and themes of his lectures. 

“Although Thoreau was not widely known in his lifetime, his writings have become classics, and their influence has been vast. His essay, “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience” (1849), written after one night he spent in jail for not paying the church tax, and other essays on civil resistance became important to Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and other subsequent reformers” (Henry David Thoreau, 2008). Thoreau passed away, at the age of 44, on May 6, 1862 of tuberculosis (Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation). 

The Replica

A replica of the Thoreau’s house was built in the Walden Pond

State Reservation near the Walden Pond parking lots. They were able to build a detailed replica because Thoreau had described his house in great detail in Walden, or Life in the Woods.  Thoreau writes that he chopped down trees to build the frame and purchased the boards from James Collier’s home (Thoreau, 1854, p. 27). He states that he created “ a tight shingled and plastered home, ten feet wide by fifteen feet long, and eight-feet posts, with a garret and a closet, a large window on each side, two trap doors, one door at the end, and a brick fireplace opposite” (Thoreau, 1854, p. 31).

The Interior

The interior is furnished minimally. Thoreau writes “my furniture, part of which I made myself, and the rest cost me nothing of which I have not rendered an account, consisted of a bed, a table, a desk, three chairs, a looking-glass three inches in diameter” (Thoreau, 1854, p. 42). Thoreau’s original desk, chair, bed and other wonderful artifacts are on display at the Concord Museum (Concord Museum).

The Remains

It is a fifteen-minute walk along the shore of Walden Pond to reach Thoreau’s Cove and the remains of Thoreau’s House. The location is marked with trail markers along the routes. The remains are located the upper slope and feature a plaque of Thoreau’s famous quotation.

Next to the plaque is Thoreau’s Cairn; visitors, from around the world, have brought rocks with notes written on them about Thoreau and his importance. “The approximate site of Thoreau’s house had been known for years. His old friend…Bronson Alcott (father of Louisa May Alcott) had walked out from Concord in 1872 with [Mary Newbery Adams] and placed a stone at what he remembered to be the site of Thoreau's house” (Site of Thoreau's House on Walden Pond). Visitors continue to bring stones and build the cairn. 

 

 Interest in Walden and Henry David Thoreau has grown through the years. “Thoreau's popularity continued: six editions of Walden were published in 1948, eleven in 1958, and twenty-three in 1968, along with many editions of his other works” (Witherell & Dubrulle).

The Excavation 

“In 1945, the centennial of Thoreau's move to Walden Pond, Roland Wells Robbins, an amateur archaeologist and Thoreau enthusiast, dug for three months before discovering and excavating the stones that formed the foundation of the chimney. In July 1947, the Thoreau Society, founded in 1941, dedicated the inscribed field stone that marks the hearth site today (Department of Conservation and Recreation). Robbins found stones from the foundation in trees that blew over in a hurricane a few years earlier. Granite pillars were placed on the site to commemorate the actual location of Thoreau’s house.

Granite pillars mark the actual location of Thoreau's House at Walden Pond.

Thoreau’s House site is a literary landmark not to be missed!

Picture Books to investigate:

·      Burleigh, Robert. If you spent the day with Thoreau at Walden Pond. Illustrated by Wendell Minor. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 2012.  Book trailer available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-O-ts1Ec0tA

·      Lorbiecki, Marybeth and Dunlap, Julie. Louisa May and Mr. Thoreau’s flute. Illustrated by Mary Azarian. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers. 2002.

·      McCurdy. Michael. Walden then & now: an alphabetical tour of Henry Thoreau’s pond. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge. 2010.

Book trailer available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SM1tOQ1gHDI

·      Schnur, Steven. Henry David’s House. Illustrated by Peter Fiore. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge. 2007.

There is a delightful picture book series written and illustrated by DB Johnson inspired by Henry Thoreau and his book Walden. Some of the titles include:

·      Johnson, DB. Henry builds a cabin. Illustrated by DB Johnson. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. 2002.

·      Johnson, DB. Henry hikes to Fitchburg. Illustrated by DB Johnson. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. 2000.

·      Johnson, DB. Henry works. Illustrated by DB Johnson. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. 2004.

·      Johnson, DB and Michelin, Linda. Henry’s night. Illustrated by DB Johnson. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. 2009.

To preview this wonderful series, visit http://www.henryhikes.com/books.html

Additional Thoreau Resources:

·      Thoreau Farm (WEB) http://thoreaufarm.org/visit-thoreau-farm/

·      Department of Conversation and Recreation: It's Your Nature.  "Walden Pond State Reservation." Mass.gov (WEB) http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/walden/thoreau2.htm

The Park Interpreters offer many fun programs for visitors throughout the year. Upcoming programs include “Henry and Walden’s Former Inhabitants”, “Thoreau Ramble”, “Sunset Saunters”, “Walden’s Changing Forest” and “Literary Walk”. Literary Walk’s topics of discussion are announced a week prior to the program. The interpreter and participants discuss that selected topic as they walk along Walden Pond.  Participants are requested to bring their own copies of the selected book or essay for that program. The program schedule is available online.

·      Concord Museum is featuring an exhibit titled “Early Spring: Henry Thoreau and Climate Change” -- through September 15, 2013.
 For more information visit  http://www.concordmuseum.org/

·      Thoreau Society (WEB) http://www.thoreausociety.org/

·      Thoreau Institute (WEB) http://www.walden.org/library

For educators:

·      Walden Woods Project. "Home: Walden Woods."  (WEB)  http://www.walden.org/

·      Walden Woods Project.  "World Wide Waldens: Putting Thoreau's Words into Action." (WEB)  http://www.worldwidewaldens.org/

·       "Mapping Thoreau Country."  Thoreau Society.  (WEB) http://www.mappingthoreaucountry.org/

·      Massachusetts Government. Department of Conservation: It's Your Nature.  Mass.gov.  (WEB)  http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/walden/teachers.htm.  Full Guided Tours with interpretive staff are available.

References:

Concord Museum. Concord Museum: Thoreau collection. Retrieved May 30, 2013, from www.concordmuseum.org: http://www.concordmuseum.org/henry-david-thoreau-collection.php

Department of Conservation and Recreation. (n.d.). Thoreau at Walden Pond. Retrieved May 30, 2013 from Department of Conservation and Recreation: http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/walden/thoreau2.htm

Becher, Anne. "Henry David Thoreau". American Environmental Leaders: From Colonial Times to Present. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio Inc. 2000.

Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. (2013, May 30). Signage at Walden Pond. Concord, MA.

Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. Walden Pond State Reservation: Henry David Thoreau. Retrieved May 27, 2013 from www.mass.gov/dcr/: http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/walden/thoreau.htm

Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. Walden State Pond Reservation: Thoreau at Walden Pond. Retrieved May 30, 2013, from http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/walden/thoreau2.htm

Site of Thoreau's House on Walden Pond. Retrieved May 29, 2013 from http://www.newenglandtravelplanner.com/go/ma/boston_west/concord/sights/thoreau_hse_site.html

Thoreau, Henry David (1854). Walden; or, Life in the Woods. New York, NY: Dover Publications, Inc.

Walden Woods Project. Library -about Thoreau: Thoureau, the man. walden.org. Retrieved May 30, 2013 http://www.walden.org/Library/About_Thoreau%27s_Life_and_Writings:_The_Research_Collections/Thoreau,_the_Man

Witherell, Elizabeth & Dubrulle, Elizabeth. Writings of Henry David Thoreau. thoreau.library.ucsb. Retrieved May 30, 2013 http://thoreau.library.ucsb.edu/thoreau_walden.html

A Moment in Iowa History: Dr. Mary Edwards Walker - and the Iowa Connection

A Moment in Iowa History: Dr. Mary Edwards Walker - and  the Iowa Connection 

Dr. Mary Walker became the first (and to this date, the only) woman to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.   She was a woman before her time and among her many achievements she was well known for always wearing pants.  Cheryl Harness introduces us to this incredible woman from history and shares her unconventional path to the Medal of Honor.  Harness's book serves to introduce young and old to this remarkable woman -- a woman who has Iowa Connections. 

Harness, Cheryl.  Mary Walker Wears the Pants: The True Story of the Doctor, Reformer, and Civil War Hero.  Illustrated by Carlo Molinari.  Albert Whitman, 2013.   

Mary Edwards Walker (November 26, 1832 – February 21, 1919)

Dr. Mary Edwards Walker was among those who worked for women's right to vote in the years leading up to the granting of women’s suffrage.  She was among the very unconventional women of her time, one of the first American feminists, and she supported abolition, prohibition, as well as, the right of women to vote.  She was one of the first women doctors in the country and she wore pants! She served as a Union solider (in a modified uniform) during the Civil War, as a doctor.  She became the only woman, to this day, to earn the the Medal of Honor. 

Mary Edwards Walker was born in Oswego, New York.  Her mother taught school and Walker’s father was a country doctor and farmer who encouraged education for his five daughters: Mary, Aurora, Luna, Vesta, and Cynthia, and their one son, Alvah.   The girls’  often helped in the fields and their parents believed that the tight corsets and otherwise restrictive garments women generally wore in those days were unnecessary and hampered women’s ability to move about and do what was needed. As an adult Mary became an avid supporter of the issue of dress reform led by Amelia Bloomer.  Bloomer defended the right of women to wear Turkish pantaloons – or “bloomers” as the bloused trousers came to be called.  Eventually Mary Walker adapted the practice of wearing full men’s evening dress to lecture on Women’s Rights.

At the age of twenty-one (1855) Mary, graduated from Syracuse Medical College.  She was the only female in her medical class and had spent three semesters (13 weeks each) in the study of medicine.  Mary Edwards Walker is the second American woman to earn a medical degree (the first, Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell earned a degree in 1849).  The following year (1856) Walker married a fellow physician, Albert Miller.  Both bride and groom wore a suit and top hat and Mary Walker continued to use her birth name.  The two physicians established a medical practice in Rome, NY but the practice failed as few were ready to accept a female doctor.  

The Iowa Connection

This period of time is when Dr. Mary Edward Waker became part of Iowa’s history.  Dr. Walker separated from her husband after just four years of marriage (due, reportedly, to his unfaithfulness). In 1860, Walker became an active promoter of dress reform but before accepting a formal role in the organization working for reform, she wanted to finalize her divorce from Miller. New York’s laws required a five-year waiting period.  So in the summer of 1860, Walker traveled to Iowa and stayed with a family friend in Delhi, hoping to take advantage of Iowa’s more lenient divorce laws and to avoid New York’s waiting period.  The friend, Judge Albert E. House, was a former resident of Oswego and was willing to host her and to advise her on Iowa law. While in Iowa she briefly attended the relatively newly established Bowen Collegiate Institute (later Lenox College) in Hopkinton, Iowa. She protested that the college advertised that a student could study German at their institute but when she arrived the school had no German instructor.  Dr. Walker did attend the institute, however, until she was suspended when she refused to quit the all-male debate society.  Many of the male members supported her efforts and her protests of unequal rights.  Her protest efforts resulted in many supporters in the Delhi-Hopkinton community but eventually her protests led to her full expulsion from the Institute. While she waited for her divorce, she was privileged to work with a local physician, Dr. Cunningham.  Back in New York state, a long-time attorney friend, B.F. Chapman, learned of her efforts to obtain a divorce under the new laws in the state of Iowa.  Chapman sent her a five-page brief. The brief detailed cases that made clear New York state would not recognize out-of-state divorces.  Walker trusted Chapman and so she returned to Rome, NY the following summer without the divorce. That ended her physical connection to Iowa however, in the following years there would be at least one other connection to Iowa.

Civil War and the Medal of Honor

When the Civil War broke out Mary Walker attempted to join the Union Army.  She was denied an official role so she volunteered in various field hospitals and positions.  Eventually she was appointed to official Army duties.  She always wore two pistols on her side, and dressed in a modified uniform – reportedly designed by a Mrs. Littlejohn of Delhi, Iowa (Leonard 246).  She treated many soldiers and sometimes crossed Confederate lines to treat civilians.  Some suggest that during this time she also served as a Union spy.  Whatever the case, in 1864, she was captured and held prisoner in Richmond until she, along with other Union doctors, was exchanged for 17 Confederate surgeons.

After her release back to the 52^nd Ohio Infantry she spent the remainder of the war practicing at a Louisville female prison and an orphan's asylum in Tennessee.  She was awarded a military pension ($8.50, later raised to $20) but it was less than some widow’s pensions.

On November 11, 1865, Dr. Mary Edwards Walker was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by President Andrew Johnson, in recognition of her contributions during the war.  She was the only woman ever to receive the Medal of Honor, her country's highest military award.  The award was rescinded in 1917 when the “rules” were changed, but Dr. Walker refused to give up the medal and wore it every day, the rest of her life.  Sixty years later, President Jimmy Carter restored the medal to her.

After the war she continued to campaign for the right of women to vote, and entered the political arena by becoming a candidate for Congress (1890) and for a U.S. Senate seat  (1892).  She has been honored with a United States Postage Stamp (1982) and inducted into the Seneca Falls (NY) Women’s Hall of Fame.

Resources:

Graf, Mercedes. A Woman of Honor: Dr. Mary E. Walker and the Civil War. Thomas Publications, 2001.
Harris, Sharon.  Dr. Mary Walker: An American Radical, 1832-1919. Rutgers University Press, 2009.
Leonard, Elizabeth.  Yankee Women: Gender Battles in the Civil War.  W.W. Norton & Company, 1995.
Snyder, Charles McCool. Dr. Mary Walker: the Little Lady in Pants. Arno Press, 1974.
The History of Delaware County, Iowa: Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, &c., a Biographical Directory of Its Citizens, War Record of Its Volunteers ... History of the Northwest, History of Iowa, Map of Delaware County, Constitution of the United States.  Western historical Company, 1878.
Walker, Dale L. Mary Edwards Walker: Above and Beyond.  Macmillan, 2005.

Literary Landmarks: Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House

Literary Landmarks: Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House
(First in the Series)

Written and photographed by Jenn Buliszak

Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House is located at 399 Lexington Road in Concord, Massachusetts. Orchard House is the setting for Alcott’s children’s book Little Women that was published in two parts in 1868 and 1869. Little Women is based on Alcott’s own family and chronicles many of the events of her life when she and her family lived in nearby Wayside (then known as Hillside). 

The Alcotts, Amos Bronson Alcott and Abigail May Alcott, were a progressive family. They were abolitionists, supported women’s suffrage movement and social reform. Amos was a philosopher and innovative educator who had a difficult time financially supporting his family. Abigail was one of the first paid social workers in Boston. The Alcotts adhered to Transcendentalist beliefs that stressed “the perfection of the individual "through adherence to intuition, nature and self-reliance."  Believing that the key to social reform and spiritual growth lay in the crucible of the family, [Amos Bronson] Alcott instilled the values of self-reliance, self-sacrifice, and charity in his children from an early age. He promoted self-expression by nurturing his daughters' individual talents and encouraging them to keep journals. These journals were shared with other family members to foster openness of thought and feeling.” (Texas A&M American Transcendentalism Web).  They were a very social family who enjoyed the company of many friends including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and Margaret Fuller. 

 

Amos Bronson Alcott, Louisa’s father, purchased Orchard House in 1857. The home consists of two separate homes that were joined together on the 12-acre apple orchard before the family moved in. In fact, during the tour of the kitchen, visitors are shown a door to one of the wells located below the wooden floorboards that was never used by the family. It was discovered in 2001 when architectural preservationists added a foundation underneath the back portion of the slowly-sinking historic home. The preservation work was featured on PBS’s This Old House. 

Orchard House permits exterior photography of the home and gardens but asks that visitors forgo taking interior images. Fortunately, the organization posted wonderful 360 degree panorama images of each of the rooms on their website at http://www.louisamayalcott.org/panoramas.html. Of special note, is the white painted window desk in Louisa’s chamber; her father built the desk for her and that is the location where she wrote Little Women. The viewer can also look at Beth’s beloved piano and her portrait in the corner of the family’s dining room next to the staircase. 

Orchard House visitors can opt to take a wonderful tour of the historic home and view many of the locations described in Little Women. One of the most notable features within the home is May’s artwork in many rooms. In the entryway, where the visitor begins the tour, the wallpaper wall is filled with inked portraits. On Louisa’s white fireplace mantle is a beautifully painted young owl. May painted it for Louisa, as she loved to watch a family of owls in the tree outside her chamber window. May Alcott Nieriker was the youngest of the Alcott sisters.  She died in 1879 shortly after giving birth to her daughter, Louisa May “Lulu.” 

Orchard House Today

Orchard House offers many fun Youth programs during the summer months including a creative writing workshop and the “Apple Slump Players” Drama Workshop. One of the most popular events is their Living History Tour of the house titled “Welcome to Our Home”. Participants of this fun tour “travel to the past during an interactive tour with an expert, authentically-costumed guide portraying an Alcott family member or one of their famous friends” (Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House, 2013). The Orchard House’s gift shop is a fun stop.  They sell many books related to Little Women, the Alcott Family and the Transcendentalists.   Historical maps of Concord and Louisa May’s own Apple Slump recipe are also available for sale.  (Editor's note: More about Louisa May Alcott's Apple Slump can be found on this Literary Recipes page.)

Amos Bronson Alcott's School of Philosophy

                                                                   

Also located on the grounds is Amos Bronson Alcott’s School of Philosophy building which is open to visitors during the summer months.

It is important to note that Louisa May Alcott and her family moved numerous time before her family returned to Concord. They lived at The Hillside (later renamed The Wayside by Nathaniel Hawthorne [author of The Scarlet Letter) for years before purchasing Orchard House next door.  Subsequently The Wayside became home to Daniel and Harriett Lothrop.  Harriett was the children's author of The Five Little Peppers, using the pseudonym of Margeret Sidney.  [Adam] Bronson Alcott sold The Hillside to Nathaniel Hawthorne who renamed it The Wayside and added the three-story Sky Parlor. The Wayside is also designated as a recognized stop on the Underground Railroad. (National Park Service, 2013).
 

The Wayside is currently under renovation and is closed for 2013 and is scheduled to reopen in late 2014.

The well-worn Larch Path connects the Wayside and Orchard House. It is a fun walk between the two historic properties.  

 

Additional Books to investigate:

For Young Readers:

•  Dunlap, Julie and Lorbiecki, Marybeth. Louisa May & Mr. Thoreau’s flute. Illustrated by Mary Azarian. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers. 2002.
• Krull, Kathleen. Louisa May’s Battle: how the Civil War led to Little Women.  Illustrated by Carlyn Beccia. New York: Walker & Co. 2013. 48p.
• Meigs, Cornelia. Invincible Louisa: the story of the author of Little Women. Boston: Little, Brown. 1968. 256 p. *Won the 1934 Newbery Medal.
• McDonough, Yona Zeldis and Anderson, Bethanne. Louisa: the life of Louisa May Alcott.  New York: Henry Holt and Co. 2009.

For Adults:

•  LaPlante, Eve. Marmee & Louisa: The Untold story of Louisa May Alcott and her mother. New York: Free Press. 2012. 368 p.
• Reisen, Harriet. Louisa May Alcott: the woman behind Little Women. New York: Henry Holt. 2009. 362 p.
• Matteson, John. Eden’s outcasts: the story of Louisa May Alcott and her father. New York: WW Norton. 2007. 497 p.

Additional Resources:

• For additional information about Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House, please visit the official website of the Louisa May Alcott ‘s Orchard House.  http://www.louisamayalcott.org/.
• More information about the Wayside is available on the National Park Service: U.S. Department of the Interior site, The Wayside—National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary. http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/pwwmh/ma47.htm.
• Be sure to view a wonderful video, Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House -- Home of the Alcotts and  the setting for Little Women.  

• Part 1  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQjpKHEIXOs 
• Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6K3qx9xaXk

• Women in History. Louisa May Alcott biography. Lakewood Public Library. http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/alco-lou.htm.

References:

Alcott, Louisa May. (1868). Little Women. New York: Puffin Books.

Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House. (2013). 2013 Summer Youth & Family Programs Flyer. Concord, MA, USA: Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House.

Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House. (2013, May 16). Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House. Retrieved May 16, 2013, from www.louisamayalcott.org: http://www.louisamayalcott.org/

Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House. (2013, May 11). Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House Tour. Concord, MA, USA.

Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House. (2013, May 16). Orchard House Rooms. Retrieved May 16, 2013, from www.louisamayalcott.org: http://www.louisamayalcott.org/rooms.html

National Park Service. (2013, May 16). The Wayside - National Register of Historic places travel itinerary. Retrieved May 16, 2013, from www.nps.gov: http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/pwwmh/ma47.htm

Texas A&M American Transcendentalism Web. (n.d.). Amos Bronson Alcott. Retrieved May 16, 2013, from transcendentalism-legacy.tamu.edu: http://transcendentalism-legacy.tamu.edu/authors/alcott/

Bailey, Susan.  Blog: Louisa May Alcott is My Passion.  Retrieved May 25, 2013, from   http://www.louisamayalcottismypassion.com.  (Additional resource added by editor on May 25, 2013)