Logo for PHOSPHORESCENCE reading series featuring the Homestead glowing at night

Phosphorescence Contemporary Poetry Series
Wednesday, June 18, 6pm ET

Phosphorescence June 2025 featured poets:
Barbara Mossberg, Bridget Lowe, and Rachelle Toarmino

VIRTUAL PROGRAM

This virtual program is free to attend and will be streamed live from the Homestead. Registration is required. 

REGISTER

To Emily Dickinson, phosphorescence was a divine spark and the illuminating light behind learning — it was volatile, but transformative in nature. Produced by the Emily Dickinson Museum, the Phosphorescence Contemporary Poetry Series celebrates contemporary creativity that echoes Dickinson’s own revolutionary poetic voice. The Series features established and emerging poets whose work and backgrounds represent the diversity of the flourishing contemporary poetry scene. Join us on a Thursday evening each month to hear from poets around the world as they read their work and discuss what poetry and Dickinson mean to them.


About this month’s poets:

headshot of poet Barbara Mossberg

Barbara Mossberg is a wordsy and passionate person who will think your story is just what our world needs, author of just released Clown Cantos: Everything Is Alive In Its Own Way, Singing, and the recent Here for the Present: A Grammar of Happiness in the Present Imperfect, Live from the Poet’s Perch, and Sometimes the Woman in the Mirror Is Not You and other hopeful news postings, Professor Mossberg’s distinguished career of five decades as a prizewinning poet, author, teacher, and honored educational leader, is dedicated to a wildly out-of-the-world optimism and brave faith. Mossberg ascribes to Emily Dickinson’s “I dwell in Possibility”–despite how things seem, it is possible to find the beauty—and hope. President Emerita Goddard College, founding Dean California State University Monterey Bay, Professor of Practice at Clark Honors College, University of Oregon, former National Council of Research on Women Senior Fellow, and American Council on Education Senior Fellow, Mossberg uses her public platforms to promote the power of words in each of our lives and human fates. She has been recognized by National Endowment for the Humanities, American Council of Learned Societies, Mellon Foundation (Aspen Institute) and others, twice named the Senior Fulbright Distinguished Lecturer, and a current Fulbright Specialist. At the University of Oregon, she has been awarded the Clark Honors College Faculty Innovation Fellowship, and the University’s highest teaching honors, the Williams Fellowship, and Ersted Award, as well as is nominated for the national teaching Cherry Award at Baylor University.

Barbaramossberg.com


headshot of poet Bridget Lowe

Bridget Lowe is an American poet. In an early interview, Lowe expressed her interest in and commitment to “figures who are rejected by the same social groups for which they are expected to perform.” The Poetry Foundation elaborates “Her poetry is accordingly concerned with those who feel they are both looked at and invisible, who are exploited yet remain deeply unknown.” / Bridget Lowe was born in Kansas City, Missouri. She is the author of two collections of poetry with Carnegie Mellon University Press: At the Autopsy of Vaslav Nijinsky in 2013, followed by My Second Work in 2020. Her work has appeared in numerous publications including multiple times in The New Yorker, Poetry, The New Republic, Parnassus, and the American Poetry Review. Her work has also appeared in the Best American Poetry anthology. Her honors include the Emily Dickinson Award from the Poetry Society of America, the Discovery/92NY Poetry Award, a fellowship to the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and the Rona Jaffe Foundation fellowship to MacDowell for an extended residency.

bridgetlowe.com


headshot Rachelle ToarminoRachelle Toarmino is a poet from Niagara Falls, New York. She is the author of the poetry collections Hell Yeah (Third Man Books, 2025) and That Ex (Big Lucks Books, 2020), as well as several chapbooks, most recently My Science (Sixth Finch Books, 2025), winner of the 2024 Sixth Finch Chapbook Contest. Her work has appeared in Poets.org, Literary Hub, Electric Literature, American Poetry Review, Bennington Review, Southeast Review, The Slowdown, and Omnidawn, which awarded her its 2024 Single Poem Broadside Prize. She earned her MFA in poetry at UMass Amherst, where she received an Academy of American Poets Prize. She is also the founding editor-in-chief of the literary publishing project Peach Mag and the creator and lead instructor of Beauty School, an independent poetry school. She lives in Buffalo.

rachelletoarmino.com

 

 


Support Phosphorescence and Honor Someone Special:
Admission to all Phosphorescence events is free, but online donations, especially those made in honor or memory of family, friends, or colleagues are heartily encouraged and vital to the future of our programs. All gifts are tax-deductible.

Logo for PHOSPHORESCENCE reading series featuring the Homestead glowing at night

Phosphorescence Contemporary Poetry Series
Thursday, May 15, 6pm ET

Phosphorescence May 2025 featured poets:
Joy Ladin, Niina Pollari, and Joan Larkin

VIRTUAL PROGRAM

This virtual program is free to attend. Registration is required. 

REGISTER

To Emily Dickinson, phosphorescence was a divine spark and the illuminating light behind learning — it was volatile, but transformative in nature. Produced by the Emily Dickinson Museum, the Phosphorescence Contemporary Poetry Series celebrates contemporary creativity that echoes Dickinson’s own revolutionary poetic voice. The Series features established and emerging poets whose work and backgrounds represent the diversity of the flourishing contemporary poetry scene. Join us on a Thursday evening each month to hear from poets around the world as they read their work and discuss what poetry and Dickinson mean to them.


About this month’s poets:

headshot of poet Joy Ladin

Joy Ladin has long worked at the tangled intersection of literature and transgender identity. She has published eleven books of poetry, including Shekhinah Speaks; National Jewish Book Award winner The Book of Anna; and Lambda Literary Award finalists Transmigration and Impersonation, reissued in a revised edition as a free PDF from DoubleBack in April 2023. She is also the author of a critical study, Soldering the Abyss: Emily Dickinson and Modern American poetry; a memoir of gender transition, National Jewish Book Award finalist Through the Door of Life; and another work of creative non-fiction, Lambda Literary and Triangle Award finalist, The Soul of the Stranger. Family, a poetry collection, and Once Out of Nature, a collection of essays on the transformation of gender – were published by Persea in 2024. Her work has been recognized with a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, a Fulbright Scholarship, and an American Council of Learned Societies Research Fellowship, among other honors.

joyladin.com

 


headshot of poet Niina PollariNiina Pollari is a poet and Finnish translator. She is the author of the poetry collections Path of Totality (Soft Skull 2022) and Dead Horse (Birds, LLC 2015), as well as the co-author of the split chapbook Total Mood Killer (Tiger Bee Press 2017). She lives in Marshall, NC with her family. 

niinapollari.com

 

 

 


headshot of poet Joan LarkinJoan Larkin‘s most recent book of poems is Old Stranger (Alice James Books, August 2024). She is the author of five previous collections of poetry, including Blue Hanuman (2014); My Body: New and Selected Poems (2007), which received the Audre Lorde Award from the Publishing Triangle; Lambda Literary Award winner Cold River (1997); and Housework (1975). With Jaime Manrique, Larkin translated Sor Juana’s Love Poems, a bilingual edition of Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz’s poetry (1997). Her prose works include If You Want What We Have: Sponsorship Meditations (1998) and Glad Day: Daily Meditations for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender People (1998). Her plays include The AIDS Passion, The Living, and Wiretap. / Larkin co-founded Out & Out Books during the 1970s feminist literary explosion and has co-edited four anthologies, including Gay and Lesbian Poetry in Our Time. A lifelong teacher, she has served on the faculties of Brooklyn College, Sarah Lawrence College, and Smith College, among others. Larkin has been awarded fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Academy of American Poets, and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. She received the 2011 Shelley Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America.

joanlarkin.com

 


Support Phosphorescence and Honor Someone Special:
Admission to all Phosphorescence events is free, but online donations, especially those made in honor or memory of family, friends, or colleagues are heartily encouraged and vital to the future of our programs. All gifts are tax-deductible.

Poetry Walk 2025
Saturday, May 10
10am-12pm ET

IN-PERSON PROGRAM

This in-person program is free to attend. Registration is required. 

REGISTER

Dickinson's tombstone covered in daisies

On May 10, in honor of the 139th anniversary of the poet’s death, join the Emily Dickinson Museum for the annual Poetry Walk through downtown Amherst, the town she called “paradise.” This year’s Walk celebrates the opening of the newly reconstructed carriage house with stops that explore its significance to Amherst’s cultural landscape and to the poet herself. Take the walk at your own pace, but be sure to head to Dickinson’s grave in West Cemetery in time for the 12pm final poems and a lemonade toast to our favorite poet!

The Walk takes approximately 40 minutes to complete. Participants begin at the Homestead at any time between 10am and 11am to pick up their Poetry Walk map and daisies to lay at the grave. The Walk stations close at 11:45am so that all participants can make it to the final stop at noon in West Cemetery.

Registration for this program is free or by donation, but it is required in advance. Registration for the Walk does not include admission to the Museum. For Museum tour tickets click here.

Accessibility Information
The full walk is about 1 mile and is largely accessed by paved sidewalks, though some uneven terrain is possible. Participants who would prefer to meet us for the final toast are welcome to check in at the Homestead before 11:15am and then drive to West Cemetery. Cemetery parking is available behind Zanna’s clothing store.

“And so I pieced it, with a flower, now”

As a part of the 2025 Poetry Walk, the entrance to the Homestead will be transformed into a site-specific installation inspired by Emily Dickinson’s herbarium. 

Created for the Museum by artists Lisa McCarty & D. Edward Davis, the installation features Emily Dickinson’s iconic white dress as a projection screen for images of the Poet’s herbarium. Over 400 images of individual flowers collected by Dickinson will be shown as part of McCarty’s video projection, together with a haunting soundscape of hymns, drones, and birdsong by Davis. As a whole, the installation is inspired by Dickinson’s practice of attentively, and ecstatically, responding to elements of the living world through both her poetry and her herbarium.

About the artists

D. Edward Davis is a composer of electronic and acoustic music. His work often engages with the sounds of the environment, exploring processes, patterns, and systems inspired by nature. In February 2025, cmntx records released his 100 untitled works in resonant aluminum (with original art and design by Lisa McCarty) on CD and all streaming platforms. Davis is currently a Senior Lecturer in Music at the University of New Haven.

Lisa McCarty’s photographs, books, and videos explore environmentally conscious communities and rituals. McCarty has participated in over 100 exhibitions and screenings at venues including Amherst College, Cassilhaus, Duke University, Fruitlands Museum, Griffin Museum of Photography, Microscope Gallery, McEvoy Foundation for the Arts, the New York Film Festival, and the Visual Studies Workshop. Her recent books include Transcendental Concord (Radius Books) and The Arboretum Aphorisms (SF Cinematheque Press). McCarty lives and works in Boston where she teaches at Northeastern University.


a boy places a daisy on Dickinson's graveA Daisy for Dickinson: Be a part of the beloved tradition of outfitting Emily Dickinson’s final resting place at Amherst’s West Cemetery with fresh daisies on the anniversary of her death.  Make a supporting donation to the Museum in honor of Emily or in memory of a loved one and we’ll place a daisy in their name at the poet’s grave as part of this year’s Poetry Walk (May 10).

If you would like to make a supporting gift to the Museum in honor of Emily or in memory of someone you’ve loved, you may do so below.

 

 

Logo for PHOSPHORESCENCE reading series featuring the Homestead glowing at night

Phosphorescence Contemporary Poetry Series
Thursday, April 17, 6pm ET

Phosphorescence April 2025 featured poets:
Carlene Kucharczyk, Avia Tadmor, and Silvia Bonilla

VIRTUAL PROGRAM

This virtual program is free to attend. Registration is required. 

REGISTER

To Emily Dickinson, phosphorescence was a divine spark and the illuminating light behind learning — it was volatile, but transformative in nature. Produced by the Emily Dickinson Museum, the Phosphorescence Contemporary Poetry Series celebrates contemporary creativity that echoes Dickinson’s own revolutionary poetic voice. The Series features established and emerging poets whose work and backgrounds represent the diversity of the flourishing contemporary poetry scene. Join us on a Thursday evening each month to hear from poets around the world as they read their work and discuss what poetry and Dickinson mean to them.


About this month’s poets:

headshot of poet Avia Tadmor

Carlene Kucharczyk’s debut collection “Strange Hymn” is the winner of the Juniper Prize for a first book of poems and will be published by the University of Massachusetts Press in April 2025. She is the recipient of a Creation Grant from the Vermont Arts Council, and her work has been published in journals such as Poetry Northwest, Tupelo Quarterly, Green Mountains Review, Conduit, Mid-American Review, and Permafrost Magazine, and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She was the Henry David Thoreau fellow at the Vermont Studio Center, where she worked for two years in the Writing Program, and was the Writer-in-Residence at the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site. She has received support from The Center for Book Arts Fine Press Seminar and The Frost Place Poetry Seminar. She holds an MFA from North Carolina State University, where she also taught creative and expository writing. She lives in Vermont, and works as an Administrative Assistant in the English and Creative Writing Department at Dartmouth College.


headshot of poetAvia Tadmor is the author of the poetry collection “Song in Tammuz,” winner of the Tupelo Press International Berkshire Prize, forthcoming 2026. Her poems appear or are forthcoming in Best New Poets, The New Republic, New England Review, Prairie Schooner, Iowa Review, and elsewhere. Avia’s poetry received support from Yaddo, the Rona Jaffe Foundation/ Bread Loaf Writers’ Workshop, the Vermont Studio Center, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and the Adroit Journal’s Gregory Djanikian Scholars Program. Previously, she has taught writing at Columbia University, where she directed the Columbia Artist/Teachers program, promoting no-cost arts education in schools and community organizations in NYC. Currently, she is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Expository Writing Program at New York University. Born in Jerusalem, she lives in New York.
aviatadmor.com

 


headshot Silvia BonillaSilvia Bonilla was born and raised in South America. She received an MFA in Poetry from The New School. She is the author of a chapbook called “An Animal Startled by The Mechanisms of Life” (Deadly Chaps 2024) and “Town of Eves,” forthcoming from Arizona University Press. Her work has been featured in Blackbird, Green Mountains Review, Cream City Review, Reed, Cimarron Review, among others. She has received support from Kenyon Writers Workshop, The Staltonstall Foundation, Sewanee Writer’s Conference, Community of Writers, Napa Valley, The Frost Place, Colgate Writers Workshop and The Post Graduate Conference at The Vermont College of Fine Arts.

 

 


Support Phosphorescence and Honor Someone Special:
Admission to all Phosphorescence events is free, but online donations, especially those made in honor or memory of family, friends, or colleagues are heartily encouraged and vital to the future of our programs. All gifts are tax-deductible.

Education school group in the Evergreens

K-12 Group Visits

Spark your students’ imaginations by visiting the Emily Dickinson Museum.

Plan a field trip to the place she called home in Amherst, MA by signing up for The Power of Poetry tour or This was a Poet tour — learn more below!

If you’d like to work with the Emily Dickinson Museum, but don’t see an opportunity that would fit the age or needs of your students, please reach out to us at edmprograms@emilydickinsonmuseum.org. We’d love to connect with you!


The Power of Poetry (Hands-on tour for Middle & High School students)

a student writing while sitting on the floor in Dickinson's bedroom

Discover the ways that Dickinson embraced her unique personal vision, defying societal and literary convention to pen nearly 1800 revolutionary poems. In this participatory program, led by experienced educators, students will:

  • Tour the Homestead to learn about the poet’s early life, inspirations, and how she forged her own definition of poetry
  • Explore Dickinson’s writing process through a hands-on investigation of facsimile poem manuscripts
  • Write an original poem, reflecting on their own lives with a Dickinson-inspired prompt

Booking Information:

  • 90-minute program; anticipate up to 2 hrs on site.
  • Maximum group size: 36 (including adults). Groups larger than 12 will be divided and tour simultaneously.
  • Please book two weeks in advance. Following your request, the Museum will reach out to you to confirm the details of your visit and issue an invoice for a 50% deposit to secure your reservation.

Pricing:

  • $10 per student, one free adult per every 12 students.
  • $15 additional teachers, $17 additional adult chaperones.
  • Groups of fewer than 10 will be charged a fee to meet a $120 minimum. 
  • Amherst-Pelham public schools are free of charge.

RESERVE THE POWER OF POETRY


This Was a Poet (Middle & High School students)

Education school group in the Evergreens
The Museum’s general audience tours are led by knowledgeable guides who introduce Dickinson’s journey as a poet, with an emphasis on sharing her poems and letters.

Booking Information:

  • Available Thursday mornings.
  • 50-minute tour of the Homestead only.
  • Appropriate for middle and high school students.
  • Please book two weeks in advance. Following your request, the Museum will reach out to you to confirm the details of your visit and issue an invoice for a 50% deposit to secure your reservation.

Pricing:

  • $10 per student, one free adult per every 12 students.
  • $15 additional teachers, $17 additional adult chaperones.
  • Groups of fewer than 10 will be charged a fee to meet a $120 minimum.
  • Amherst-Pelham public schools are free of charge.

RESERVE THIS WAS A POET


Partnership Programs for K-12

If you’d like to work with the Emily Dickinson Museum, but don’t see an opportunity that would fit the age or needs of your students, please reach out to us at edmprograms@emilydickinsonmuseum.org. We’d love to connect with you! We can discuss:

  • How to tailor content or teaching methods to support your group
  • Experiential learning activities you’d like to develop or offer in collaboration with the Museum
archival lithograph showing the carriage house next to The Evergreens

Carriages – Be sure – and Guests – True:
A Dickinson Birthday Celebration
Tuesday, Dec. 10, 6pm ET

VIRTUAL PROGRAM
This free event has limited capacity, we encourage you to register in advance.

REGISTER

archival lithograph showing the carriage house next to The Evergreens

Reconstruction of The Evergreens Carriage House has begun at the Museum! In this virtual celebration of Emily Dickinson’s 194th birthday, we explore what it takes to re-create a historic structure, from conducting archaeology to designing an environmentally passive building within a historically-sensitive shell. Join Jane and Robert Keiter Family Executive Director Jane Wald and special guests as we go behind the scenes of this exciting moment in the Museum’s history. Along the way we’ll hear special birthday messages to the poet from fans around the world. 

All are welcome to this free VIRTUAL program. Space is limited, register in advance.


Give a Birthday Gift
It’s not a birthday party without gifts! If you’re looking to honor Emily Dickinson with a birthday present, please consider a donation to the Museum to support our free virtual programs which are made possible with your support. Gifts of all sizes are deeply appreciated.

DONATE


About Dickinson’s Birthday

Emily Dickinson, the middle child of Edward Dickinson and Emily Norcross Dickinson, was born on December 10, 1830, in the family Homestead on Main Street in Amherst, Massachusetts, now the home of the Emily Dickinson Museum. She celebrated 55 birthdays before her death in 1886. Some of the poet’s most favored themes were time and immortality; she wrote, “We turn not older with years, but newer every day.” (Johnson L379)

emily dickinson graphic standing in front of numbers 194! and balloons

[SOLD OUT] Emily Dickinson 194th Birthday Open House
Sat., Dec. 7, 1-4:30pm ET

IN-PERSON PROGRAM at the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst, MA

emily dickinson graphic standing in front of numbers 194! and balloonsThis program is now SOLD OUT — please join us for the virtual birthday celebration. 

You are cordially invited to the Emily Dickinson Museum’s celebration of the poet’s 194th birthday! On Saturday, December 7, join us in person at the Homestead for a free open house with tours, crafts, music, cider and gingerbread cookies! All are welcome to this free program. 

Can’t make it to Amherst? Join us for our virtual birthday celebration.


Give a Birthday Gift
It’s not a birthday party without gifts! If you’d like to honor Emily Dickinson on her birthday, please consider a donation to the Museum to support our free programs which are made possible with your support. Gifts of all sizes are deeply appreciated.

DONATE


About Dickinson’s Birthday

Emily Dickinson, the middle child of Edward Dickinson and Emily Norcross Dickinson, was born on December 10, 1830, in the family Homestead on Main Street in Amherst, Massachusetts, now the site of the Emily Dickinson Museum. She celebrated 55 birthdays before her death in 1886. Some of the poet’s most favored themes were time and im/mortality; she wrote, “We turn not older with years, but newer every day.” (Johnson L379)

Dickinson's writing desk with pens, scraps of paper and her lamp

Mild Nights!
At the Emily Dickinson Museum

Dickinson's writing desk with pens, scraps of paper and her lampIN-PERSON PROGRAM

‘Mild Nights!’ at the Emily Dickinson Museum

Spend an evening in Emily Dickinson’s home, in quiet community with fellow creatives! For Dickinson, everyday life was a wellspring of poetic imagination, and evidence suggests she put pen to paper whenever and wherever that inspiration struck. Reserve a desk in one of the Homestead’s restored 19th-century spaces where the poet spent her own ‘Wild Nights!’.

On this decidedly mild night, participants can write letters, compose poetry or prose, draw, read, or contemplate for two uninterrupted hours. A tour guide welcomes the group with a brief orientation to the house, and each participant is provided with a chair and a small writing table with a desk light in their designated space. 

Looking for a more private experience? Check out our Studio Sessions program.

2025 Fall Sessions
Tuesday, October 14, 5-7pm
Tuesday, November 18, 5-7pm
Tuesday, December 16, 5-7pm

Pricing: $75 per person

RESERVE YOUR SEAT

“The event itself was a complete joy. Sitting in the library of the Dickinson home and writing for two hours was a dream. I felt as though I had traveled back in time. The quiet atmosphere added to the experience. So much of life is loud, but that night was quiet.” — Beth Ann J.


Rooms

 

The parlor of the Homestead

The Parlors (4 seats): A double room on the first floor with spaces for family time and entertaining. Find yourself seated near the portrait of the Dickinson children, an original Italianate marble fireplace mantel, or an 1852 square piano amid plush fabrics and cool tones once enjoyed by Amherst’s elite. 

 

 

 

 

The library of the Homestead

The Library (2 seats): A cozy room on the first floor where Emily Dickinson accessed the literary world through the family’s vast collection of verse and prose, news subscriptions, and academic texts. The poet’s conservatory opens into this room.

 

 

 

 

 

Dickinson's bedroom with the bed, desk and white dress

Emily Dickinson’s Bedroom (2 seats): The southwest room on the second floor where the poet spent her most private writing time. Find yourself surrounded by the rose-patterned wallpaper and personal effects, including her sleigh bed.

 

 

 

 

 

The northwest chamber of the Homestead

Northwest Bedchamber (1 seat): This second floor bedroom was a refuge for Emily Dickinson’s mother in her final years. The poet spent significant time caring for her mother in this space, which features an original wallpaper pattern and family art and furniture. 

 

 

 

 

 


Learn more about these spaces through the Virtual Exploration.
Find out about accessibility at the Museum.

‘Mild Nights!’ are intended to be quiet experiences, but you will likely be sharing a space with other participants. Looking for a solo experience? Check out private Studio Sessions in Emily Dickinson’s bedroom.

Program Guidelines:

  • Registration closes two weeks prior to the event date. Each session requires a minimum of six participants to run. In the case of cancelation, ticket purchasers will be notified two weeks before their session and their ticket will be refunded or rescheduled. 
  • Photo ID must be presented upon arrival for your session and a photocopy will be made which will be destroyed after your session.
  • The door to rooms in use will remain open, and staff will be present nearby at all times. Participants must remain in the designated area of the room and may not touch the historic furnishings.
  • Bags, food, and beverages other than bottled water must be left in the designated area of the tour center.
  • No pens, inks, or paints permitted. Pencil and paper or electronic device only. Other materials must be approved by special request in advance. Outlets may not be available; please arrive with your device fully charged.
  • Participants agree to help maintain a quiet environment for all.
  • Photography for non-commercial, personal use is permitted.
  • Refunding and rescheduling are at the discretion of the Emily Dickinson Museum. Unless a session is canceled by the Museum, ticket refunds or rescheduling are not permitted except in the case of emergency. 


RESERVE YOUR SEAT

Please direct questions to EDMPrograms@emilydickinsonmuseum.org.

Sweet Countrymen — Judge Tenderly of Me
A Community Poetry Hour
Tuesday, Nov. 5, 3pm ET

VIRTUAL PROGRAM

For any questions, please e-mail connect@emilydickinsonmuseum.org

This is my letter to the World
That never wrote to Me –
The simple News that Nature told –
With tender Majesty
Her Message is committed
To Hands I cannot see –
For love of Her – Sweet – countrymen –
Judge tenderly – of Me

Take a mid-day break from the uncertainties of election day for an hour of poetry.  “Sweet Countrymen — Judge tenderly of me” offers an opportunity to consider, through the poetry of Emily Dickinson and others, themes of discord and unity, the known and unknown, places of refuge and moments of hope for the future. All are welcome to join the Zoom webinar to hear the poetry reading, and to sign up to read a poem of their choice. If you wish to read a poem, please register for the program AND complete the reader request form.

REGISTER FOR THE PROGRAM

 

Reconstruction of The Evergreens Carriage House

On Tuesday, August 27, 2024 the Emily Dickinson Museum began the reconstruction of the Dickinson family Carriage House that once stood east of The Evergreens, the home of Emily Dickinson’s brother Austin and his wife Susan. The project flows from a recently-completed long range plan, which maps programmatic and capital enhancements over the next decade at the Museum’s historic downtown Amherst location. 

Digital rendering of completed Evergreens Carriage

Digital rendering of completed Evergreens Carriage House (edmsSTUDIO)

The John and Elizabeth Armstrong Carriage House–scheduled for completion in 2025–will initially serve as a much-needed site for visitor welcome, orientation and services to enable a third and final phase of Dickinson Homestead restoration. In the longer term, the reconstructed carriage house will be dedicated to student and visitor learning and engagement. By expanding access to the Museum and its programs for both onsite and online visitors, the changes firmly establish the Museum as the premier center for the study and celebration of Dickinson’s life and work, and as a source and site of inspiration for new generations of poets, artists, writers, and thinkers.

The carriage house reconstruction project is supported by a major pledge of $750,000 from former Board members and long-time friends John and Elizabeth Armstrong. “We’ve always been proud of our association with the Museum, recognizing its importance to our regional community and now–through the wonders of technology–to the world.” stated Elizabeth, adding “We’ve been drawn over the years to supporting singular projects that open multiple possibilities for the Museum. The Carriage House is just such a project.”

The Museum continues to raise funds for the project. “We were incredibly fortunate to have wonderful support from John and Lise Armstrong, which enabled us to put shovels in the ground today,” says Erin Martin, Senior Director of Development. “Because this project is a very visible demonstration of the Museum’s ambitions for the future, we are asking our loyal donors and friends to support the project – as a community.” Martin says the Museum is seeking additional funding to help fit out the interior spaces of the new Carriage House to optimize its flexibility and energy efficiency.

ABOUT THE PROJECT
The design calls for reconstructing the exterior historic appearance of the carriage house as faithfully as possible while optimizing interior functions and flow. At the outset of the design phase, museum staff worked with architects at edmSTUDIO to track down details of the original structure in historic maps, deeds, insurance documents, photographs, and archaeological reports. The original structure may have been built as early as the 1840s as an outbuilding associated with the modest cottage owned by the poet’s father, which was incorporated into The Evergreens dwelling, built for Austin and Susan Dickinson in 1856. In a photograph taken in about 1870, the carriage house appears as a prominent yet simple vernacular structure with window and door openings barely visible. Insurance maps from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries revealed that it was a wood frame structure with two levels and a metal roof. Details such as these gave the design team guidance about the exterior appearance and finishes.

Archival photograph of The Evergreens and Carriage House (in middle ground of photo)

Archival photograph of The Evergreens and Carriage House (in middle ground of photo)

As new construction, the carriage house gives the Emily Dickinson Museum an opportunity to combine its sustainability and historical priorities. Since 2006, the museum has recognized that full interpretation of the historic Dickinson site and the poet’s life cannot be completely understood from a functional and aesthetic perspective without reconstruction of the outbuildings. While the current project is being carried out as a “historic reconstruction,” it also gives the museum the opportunity to advance its sustainability goals. Working with Monica Del Rio Perez and Tim Widman of edmSTUDIO, the design calls for construction techniques and materials selections that will produce significant energy savings and carbon reduction for heating and cooling. The museum has engaged Teagno Construction, Inc., as general contractor for the project.

Jane and Robert Keiter Family Executive Director Jane Wald says, “Reconstruction of the Evergreens carriage house is a true milestone for the Emily Dickinson Museum. It’s the linchpin of our future plans to complete the Homestead restoration – an effort that’s already transformed our sense of who Emily Dickinson was and how she lived. Not only does the carriage house begin to fill out the Dickinson landscape, but its flexible interior also offers greater comfort, better service, and much-needed space for public and educational programming that’s already on the drawing board.”