CONCORD Mr. Dorr and the Concord Association: Points of Contact 1.1.07 1. Mary Gray Ward and The Transcendentalists. 2. Samuel Gray Ward and friendship with Ralph Waldo Emerson 3. Concord native Edward Emerson Simmons (1852-1931), cousin of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Harvard classmate of Mr. Dorr (class of 1874) and fellow Hastings Pudding member. 4. Emerson's Harvard Lectures, 1870-71. 5. Julia Ward Howe's relationship with Mary Gray Ward. 6. Julia Ward Howe's involvement in the Concord School of Philosophy. 7. Franklin B. Sanborn 's tribute to Mr. Emerson's long neglect by Harvard in Feb. 13th, 1902 letter to Mr. Dorr. (CFPL, Corr. to Wm. Torrey Harris. B1, f.12) 8. Dorr's invitation to Sanborn-representing Concord--to attend Feb. 1902 meeting for the Harvard Visiting to plan Emerson Hall. 9. Samuel Gray Ward's continuing relationship with Emerson family. 10. Mr. Dorr's cousin Thomas Wren Ward, SGW's son, relationship with R.W. Emerson and his children. Seen by Emerson "almost daily" in 1859 (Letters, Rusk, v.5). See also Margaret Snyder's article on Tom Ward and a reference to the fact that he did not consider himself "an Emersonian." 11. Emerson Bicentennial Celebration, May 1903. 12. Selection of Emerson Hall architect. Harvard graduate? 13. Emerson Hall dedication. & opening. "Emerson and Scholars" delivered by Edward W. Emerson, Dec. 27, 1905. 14. Dorr's letter to Sanborn, Feb. 18, 1902. Follow up to Sanborn's letter above (#7). Copy coming from Boston University Special Collections. GBD-Concord 3.30.07 or the Preservation of New England Antiquities OLD-TIME NEW ENGLAND ARTHUR S. DEWING, President A Quarterly Magazine Devoted to the Ancient Buildings, CHARLES F. BATCHELDER, Vice-President Household Furnishings, Domestic Arts, Manners and Customs, BERTRAM K. LITTLE, Director and Corresponding Secretary and Minor Antiquities of the New England People APPLETON WELD, Recording Secretary GUY W. WALKER, JR., Treasurer BULLETIN OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF NEW ENGLAND ANTIQUITIES AN CHARLES, Librarian WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, Director of Museum ABBOTT LOWELL CUMMINGS, Assistant Director and Volume L, No. 2 October-December, 959 Serial No. 178 Editor of OLD-TIME NEW ENGLAND ER J. FITZPATRICK, JR., Assistant Treasurer LEA S. LUQUER, Curator of Museum Miss E. FLORENCE ADDISON, Assistant to the Director MRS. W. DANFORTH COMPTON, Secretary The Concord Lyceum MRS. ELSIE E. GRAVES, Membership Secretary By ALVAH H. Low HARRY A. MERCHANT, Superintendent Roy W. BAKER, Supervisor of Properties S INCE it arose from the New Eng- first time it appears to have changed but land soil, it is doubtless only nat- little during the last century. Great arch- TRUSTEES ural that, as a movement, the ly- ing elms still throw their cool shadows 1957-1960 1958-1961 ceum should have reached its peak in over the common, and along its quiet RT B. CHOATE, Danvers Miss JOSEPHINE G. RICHARDSON, Boston that area. The lyceum movement was tree-shaded streets stately homes stand TIO ROGERS, North Andover Miss DOROTHY M. VAUGHAN, Portsmouth, N. H. by no means confined to New England, primly behind their white picket fences. RICE, Worcester WILLIAM ENDICOTT II, North Andover but by 1829 was flung far and wide over It was here, in this quiet New England TAFT, Boston GILBERT R. PAYSON, Brookline the southern and mid-western sections of village, that Emerson, Thoreau, Alcott the nation as well, although it never at- and Hawthorne made their homes. It is 1959-1962 tained the degree of prominence in those little wonder, then, that a town which MRS. J. CLIFFORD Ross, Boston regions which it enjoyed in New Eng- harbored so many famous American men MRS. HENRY SETON, Concord land.¹ There is no doubt, however, that, of letters and which will always remain FRANCIS B. LOTHROP, Boston as a true product of the New England to such a large degree associated with CHARLES E. Mason, JR., Newton mind, the lyceum movement reached its the nineteenth-century Transcendentalist greatest heights upon its home soil, and movement, should have been the home STATEMENT REQUIRED BY THE ACT OF AUGUST 24, 1912, in no section of New England was there of the foremost American lyceum as well. AS AMENDED BY THE ACTS OF MARCH 3, 1933, AND JULY 2, 1946 a lyceum which surpassed in success and On December 3, 1828, "a large and (Title 39, United States Code, Section 233) SHOWING THE OWNERSHIP, prominence that which was established respectable meeting of citizens of Con- MANAGEMENT, AND CIRCULATION OF in the village of Concord, Massachusetts. cord was convened at the Centre N ENGLAND published quarterly at Boston, Massachusetts, for October 1, 1959 es and addresses of the publisher, editor, managing editor, and business managers are: Concord could not, by any stretch of brick school-house, pursuant to public [E SOCIETY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF N. E. ANTIQUITIES, 141 Cambridge St., Boston. :t Lowell Cummings, 141 Cambridge St., Boston. the imagination, be called a large town. notice given by the Rev. Dr. Ripley after er is: THE SOCIETY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF NEW ENGLAND ANTIQUITIES, INC., 141 Cam- Even today its population does not ex- the religious exercises on Thanksgiving ston. wn bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owning or holding 1 per cent or ceed 8,000.2 To one entering it for the Day," the week before, "to take into amount of bonds, mortgages, or other securities are: None. ohs 2 and 3 include, in cases where the stockholder or security holder appears upon the consideration the expediency of forming company as trustee or in any other fiduciary relation, the name of the person or corpora- EDITOR'S NOTE: This article forms Chapter II n such trustee is acting; also the statements in the two paragraphs show the affiant's full of a thesis presented by Mr. Low to the Gradu- a Lyceum in Concord." Superscript(") The Honorable d belief as to the circumstances and conditions under which stockholders and security ate Faculty of the University of Virginia in John Keyes was chosen chairman and do not appear upon the books of the company as trustees, hold stock and securities in a candidacy for the degree of Master of Arts. Lemuel Shattuck was chosen as secre- r than that of a bona fide owner. rage number of copies of each issue of this publication sold or distributed, through the rwise, to paid subscribers during the 12 months preceding the date shown above was: Not 29 ABBOTT LOWELL CUMMINGS, Editor. nd subscribed before me this 23rd day of September, 1959. (signed) PHILIP W. TOWNE, Notary Public. (My commission expires Dec. 1, 1959.) Old-Time New England The Concord Lyceum 31 It was unanimously agreed that a 1822, merged with the Lyceum on plan was to promote the establishing of itself or else from towns in the near vi- um should be formed and a commit- March II, 1829. The last question dis- libraries in towns and cities throughout cinity. But this is naturally to be ex- consisting of Samuel Hoar, John cussed by the club was whether or not the the country. In accordance with this aim, pected in the case of a town organization es, Nathan Brooks, Daniel Shattuck, general establishment of lyceums in the every lyceum, no matter how small, at- which had in fact only appeared upon liel S. Southmayd, Samuel Burr, Commonwealth would be productive of tempted in some measure to build up a the national scene a scant two years and niel Stone and Lemuel Shattuck was good to the public. The question was small library and also to secure a small three months before. At this early date en to prepare and report a constitu- probably answered in the affirmative, supply of simple scientific equipment for the large number of professional lectur- for the proposed society. Two weeks since, after a discussion extending through the purpose of performing demonstra- ers who toured the country, many of the commission reported a draft of two evenings, it was decided that the tions as an accompaniment of lectures. them asking and receiving large sums constitution, which, after full con- field was too small for both societies and Some of the larger lyceums managed to for their services, was still a thing of the ration at three later meetings was, the club gracefully yielded by voting build up libraries of several hundred vol- future. some amendments, adopted on Jan- "that the Concord Debating Club will umes. More than $50 was spent during But it was not many years before the 7, 1829. The following officers cease to hold meetings, and become the first season by the Concord Lyceum list of speakers was indeed an impressive e chosen: henceforth united to the Concord Ly- in providing a cabinet, maps, apparatus, one. Frank B. Sanborn, a resident of sident-Reverend Ezra Ripley ceum, agreeably to a vote of the Lyce- and the nucleus of a library. By 1833 the Concord and one-time friend of the im- t Vice-President-Josiah Davis At the time of the union there Lyceum library consisted of one hundred portant members of the Concord circle, nd Vice-President-Reuben Brown were fourteen active members of the de- thirteen pamphlets and some two or three and who, until his death in 1917, liked asurer-Ephraim Merriam bating club. volumes. To what extent this library to consider himself the last of the Tran- ording Secretary-Lemuel Shattuck For the first five years nearly all the grew before it, along with the other Ly- scendentalists, has described for us a responding Secretary-Phineas Al- meetings were held in the old Academy ceum property, dwindled and eventually typical season: en building, but in 1833 it was voted to re- vanished with the passage of the years, turn to the brick schoolhouse on the rators-Samuel Burr, Cyrus Hosmer, does not appear in the Lyceum records, This ancient institution, founded as a de- square for the reason that the Academy bating society and still meeting every win- )aniel Stone.4 but in view of the fact that the Concord was "too far from the centre of the vil- ter in the Town Hall, has reckoned among its Lyceum was such a vigorous, flourishing lecturers all of our local authors except Haw- n Article I of the Constitution it was lage.' In 1836-1837 the meetings were organization, it is probably safe to assume thorne, Louisa Alcott, and Mrs. Jane Austin rided that "Any person living within held in the vestry of the Orthodox meet- that its library compared favorably with (a first cousin of Professor Goodwin of Har- Centre School District in Concord inghouse, and afterwards for six years in vard, and still a popular novelist). Emerson those collected by other lyceums in towns become a member of the Lyceum the brick schoolhouse, and then for eight and his brother Charles spoke there more than of similar size. a hundred times,-Charles three or four times, :nnually paying into the treasury one years in the vestry of the First Parish The first lecture was delivered in the and Waldo the rest. Thoreau gave nearly twen- ar, and any person living without the Church. After 1851 the Lyceum met in old courthouse on Wednesday, January ty lectures, and was for some years an active its of said district, by the payment of the Town Hall. 28, 1829, by Reverend Bernard Whit- "curator" or secretary, for the promotion of cents." "Ten dollars paid at any It was customary to meet in Septem- lectures. In one of his pages, some sixty years man of Waltham, Massachusetts, upon ago, he says: "How much might be done for a time shall entitle a person to one ber or October and to organize by choos- the subject, "Popular Superstitions." The town with $100. I myself have provided a nbership for life. Persons under eight- ing officers and sometimes a committee Yeoman's Gazette, published in Concord select course of twenty-five lectures for a win- years of age, by paying one half the to procure subscriptions. When a sum of at that time, says that "Full three hun- ter, together with room, fuel, and lights, for ual sum above mentioned, shall en- $75 or $100 had been guaranteed, it was that sum,-which was no inconsiderable bene- dred hearers were present, some of whom all the privileges of the society except considered safe to proceed to engage lec- fit to every inhabitant." I had the curiosity to came from adjoining towns. "11 The va- look up this matter, and found it was in the ng. turers for the coming season. All expend- riety of topics presented over the years winter of 1842-3 that these lectures were giv- here were fifty-seven original sign- itures were on a small scale at first. Many by lecturers before this lyceum is really en-and surely a more noteworthy list of of the Constitution of whom Nathan of the lecturers were townspeople and re- speakers could hardly be found in any city quite remarkable, although during the oks, Abiel Heywood, Daniel Shat- ceived nothing, while those coming from course. They were Emerson (three), George first few seasons the list of lectures seems Bancroft, Theodore Parker, Horace Greeley, and Samuel Hoar were life mem- other places were satisfied with receiving to have been heavily weighed upon the O. A. Brownson (an early friend of Thoreau), It does not appear that there were their traveling expenses. The rest of the side of subjects of a scientific or historic Dr. Charles T. Jackson, (the chemist and ge- other life members. money went to pay for rent, fuel, and nature. Also during this period it is no- ologist, Mrs. Emerson's brother), Henry Giles, he Concord Debating Club, which lights. Dr. E. H. Chapin, then of Charlestown, after- ticeable that the majority of the speakers wards of New York, Dr. Edward Jarvis, James been founded seven years before in One of the purposes of Holbrook's were from the local citizenry of Concord Freeman Clarke, Thoreau himself, Wendell 2 Old-Time New England The Concord Lyceum 33 illips, James Richardson, Thoreau's class- the manuscript of which afterward made ite; Charles Lane, the English friend of Al- into the personality of the writer as well. a considerable part of the book Walden, of transparent winged thought charming hi it, then resident in Concord before going to Alcott, the most "transcendental" of the and the community at Fruitlands; E. W. and in 1849 he delivered a lecture en- auditors. I think his dramatic genius surpass Transcendentalists, and a man whose ing. While he lives and speaks the Lyceum 11, then busy inventing the far-famed Con- titled "White Beans and Walden Pond." life seems to have been composed of a will preach 22 the purest doctrine taught in Perhaps the best available commen- times. ou: rd grape, and half a dozen speakers of less maximum of dreamy, naive theory and taries upon the lectures and the lecturers a minimum of realistic practicality, is At a later date, having just heard Emer. The financial record of that winter themselves are to be found in the jour- known chiefly today as the father of the unds on a page of the Lyceum records. nals and letters of some of the famous son deliver a lecture on "Immortality,' novelist Louisa May Alcott. Alcott was Alcott records: horeau received and accounted for citizens of Concord. Thoreau, with his a great admirer of that other uncompro- 09.20, but he left a balance of $9.20 characteristic penetrating powers of Our people heard with eager interest, anc mising idealist, Thoreau, and in his Jour- what they did not apprehend clearly they were the treasury. 14 For the lecture room, analysis and his caustic wit, has furnished nal Thoreau records that he read a lec- charmed into loving and admiring as some- ;hted and warmed, he paid $31.25; us with some of the finest examples of ture before the Lyceum the week before thing in itself lovely and charming. Could WE Bancroft, Brownson, Giles and Jack- this sort. For example, in 1843 he writes have more preaching of this kind, our church- on the rights and duties of the individual n he paid $10 each; to Dr. Chapin that "Mr. Chapin lectured this evening, es would stand for far more than they do now. in relation to government, "much to Mr. and SO rhetorically that I forgot my duty and divinity have name and deserved repute. .00; to Parker $3.00; to Emerson, Alcott's satisfaction." In Alcott's Jour- I could not but think our village preacher must hillips, Greeley and himself nothing. and heard very little." 11 Thoreau, unlike nal we find the following entry: have received some hints not only of a nobler Many of the lecturers were enter- most nineteenth-century Americans, was doctrine but of a nobler method of address.28 ned for the night at Emerson's house, not often deceived by a flood of rhetorical Thoreau and his lecture on "Wild Apples" before the Lyceum. It is a piece of exquisite Alcott noted that what Emerson said hers by the Thoreaus, by Squire Hoar, bombast. Dramatic gestures and pom- sense, a celebrating of the infinity of Nature, upon the lecture platform sometimes rs. Brooks, and other hospitable peo- pous phrases did not impress him, and exemplified with much learning and original went over the heads of Concord audi- e. In his Journal Bronson Alcott men- possessors of second-rate intellects or observation. I listened with uninterrupted ns one such instance: those who dealt with their topic in a su- interest and delight.²0 ences. Yet among twentieth-century people, particularly those living in sec- perficial manner were castigated in such Meet Agassiz at Emerson's. He is here to In another entry Alcott records that tions of the country other than New Eng- ture before sentences as the following: our Lyceum. The lecture is both he and Mrs. Alcott had been to land, there seems to be a rather height- :ened to with profound interest. He is emi- ntly the teacher in his department. After the We have had Whipple on Genius,-too hear Henry James, Sr., lecture on "Car- ened opinion of the intellectual level of weighty a subject for him, with his antitheti- lyle" and had greatly enjoyed "the hearty the average New Englander of the nine- ture, meet many of our people at Emerson's, cal definitions new-vamped,-what it is, what manner of the lecturer" and the anec- di have further talk with the Professor. With teenth century. No doubt this assumption knowledge of the facts of the world, what it is not, but altogether what it is not; cuffing dotes "so exceedingly characteristic and is a natural one, and has been readily fos- ght not an idealist like myself accomplish it this way and cuffing it that, as if it were an witty." James apparently related his an- India-rubber ball. Really, it is a subject which tered by the virtual monopoly which that the mind! should expand, expand, accumulate itself be- ecdotes of more than one interview with section of the country then held in the Both Thoreau and Emerson were fre- fore the speaker's eyes as he goes on, like the great good humor, giving Carlyle's broad field of literature, and by the reputation snowballs which the boys roll in the street; Scotch accent as well as his words and ent speakers before the Concord Ly- for culture acquired by Boston, which and when it stops, it should be so large that he um. Emerson delivered a total of one sentiments, and the entire audience de- cannot start it, but must leave it there. Hudson, survives to the present day. The truth is, ndred lectures there-a record not too, has been here, with a dark shadow in the lighted in his lecture, "Emerson even however, that despite the fame which core of him, and his desperate wit, SO much in- more, perhaps, than But en remotely approached by any other for Concord has acquired as the result of a eaker-and frequently came forward debted to the surface of him,-wringing out sheer popularity-in later years amount- considerable number of philosophers and his words and snapping them off like a dish- d volunteered his services when no ing almost to veneration-no lecturer literary lights living in its midst and in its cloth; very remarkable, but not memorable. eaker could be secured or when the could hope for a place in the hearts of Singular that these two best lecturers should general vicinity, the citizens of Concord eduled lecturer could not be present. have so much "wave" in their timber,-their Concord's citizens equal to that held by were like the people of any other village horeau frequently gave chapters from solid parts to be made and kept solid by shrink- Ralph Waldo Emerson. This esteem of the time. For the most part they were age and contraction of the whole, with conse- own books first as lectures. In 1845 was apparently shared by one and all, practical, hard-working Yankees, who, quent checks and fissures. ¹ gave a lecture on "Concord River." Alcott not excepted. His views are set while willing to hear an instructive or 1847, while still living in his hut at The Journals of Bronson Alcott also forth in a Journal entry which reads: entertaining lecture upon geology or alden, he lectured two weeks in suc- furnish us with some revealing insights Hear Emerson lecture on "Eloquence" be- Switzerland, had little knowledge of or ssion on "The History of Myself," into the speakers and their lectures, and fore the Lyceum, and, if not eloquent in the sympathy with the ideals of Transcen- popular, he is in the true sense-the rhetoric dentalism, and were consequently apt to 34 Old-Time New England be a bit restive when some nineteenth- man beings are only superficial and that century visionary mounted the rostrum they all have one fundamental nature, and rhetorically soared into the blue em- which it was for him to find and awaken. pyrean. The average Yankee mind had And his confidence seems to have been little use for such "nonsense." In the justified upon occasion. There is the story pages of his Journal Thoreau often gave of the Concord farmer who said he had vent to his ire at the stubborn resistance heard all Mr. Emerson's lectures be- to such idealistic philosophy exhibited by fore the Lyceum-"and understood 'em the audiences which he from time to time too." "22 The people of the village felt his addressed: friendly and modest attitude toward After lecturing twice this winter I feel that them. Mrs. Hoar, seeing a neighbor who I am in danger of cheapening myself by try- came in to work for her drying her hands ing to become a successful lecturer, i.e., to in- and rolling down her sleeves one after- terest my audiences. I am disappointed to find noon somewhat earlier than usual, asked that most that I am and value myself for is lost, or worse than lost, on my audience. I her if she was going SO soon. "Yes, I've fail to get even the attention of the mass. I got to go now. I'm going to Mr. Emer- should suit them better if I suited myself less. son's lecture," was the reply. "Do you I feel that the public demand an average man, understand Mr. Emerson?" Mrs. Hoar -average thoughts and manners,--not origi- nality, nor even absolute excellence. You can- enquired. "Not a word," was the an- not interest them except as you are like them swer, "but I like to go and see him stand and sympathize with them. I would rather that up there and look as if he thought every- my audience come to me than that I should go one was as good as he was. to them, and so they be sifted; i.e., I would rather write books than lectures. That is fine, But not every speaker was endowed this is coarse. To read to a promiscuous audi- with the personality of an Emerson. That ence who are at your mercy the fine thoughts this fact sometimes had an adverse effect you solaced yourself with far away is as vio- can be seen from the following entry in lent as to fatten geese by cramming, and in this the Lyceum records: case they do not get fatter. ²4 Rev. Thos. L. Stone delivered the first of a That the people of Concord were will- course of Six Lectures, upon English Lan- ing and even eager to listen to the lec- guage and Literature-to be given on succes- tures of Emerson, many of which later sive Wednesday evenings. This "course" has became some of his philosophical essays, been something of a failure, the audience tir- ing of the same voice & subject, & demanding which are generally obscure enough, is a variety & more popular style of lectures.27 an eloquent tribute to the lofty regard in which Emerson was held in the thoughts Although the interest of audiences may of Concord's citizens. No doubt this was have sometimes flagged, yet the general in large part due to the warm, kindly tenor of the meetings seems to have been smile, the benevolent manner, and the upon a uniformly high level. At the an- genial optimism which radiated from nual meeting of the Lyceum in 1842 him as he spoke and which endeared him Dr. Jarvis and Mr. Alcott argued in fa- to the hearts of his listeners-character- vor of giving the meetings "a more social RALPH WALDO EMERSON istics in which Thoreau, however, seems character" and thought that an intended to have been somewhat lacking. The change would better promote the objects From a photograph by Frank Rowell, B secret of Emerson's hold upon audiences of the Lyceum. The record does not was his faith that all differences in hu- show what the proposed innovation was, Old-Time New England The Concord Lyceum 37 it appears that the plan was opposed ed some of the greatest talent in town, bring- ran overtime on the first night, "some win, acting as president, that the imme- Dr. Tewksbury, who thought that it ing information of importance to everyone. other gentlemen signifying a wish to be During the intervals before and between the diate abolition of slavery would be inex- "detracting somewhat from the dig- heard on the exercises the Concord Band occasionally vol- subject." 4 At the succeed- pedient, and an appeal to the members of the association to introduce soft unteered their services to heighten the enjoy- ing meeting the debate was continued of the Lyceum resulted in a vote of four- and courting times into our meet- ment of the evening. This exercise introduces "with some warmth until past the usual teen to three sustaining the presiding of- The matter was finally referred variety into Lyceums and, it is hoped, will be hour, when the President decided the he directors, but there is no further continued.³0 ficer. Feeling ran high upon this point, as question in the affirmative. This ap- can be seen from the following excerpts rd of what action-if any-was tak- This, incidentally, was the first appear- parently settled the matter-at least for from the Lyceum records for the year We may be fairly certain, however, ance of music in the Concord Lyceum. the record. 1842: the board of officers did not allow Like the subjects of the lectures, the The members could not always come After Greely had spoken, was announced r Lyceum to degenerate into an OC- questions which were debated-often to a decision, however, for although it that Wendell Phillips would lecture on slavery on for light-hearted gossip and mer- hotly-present a varied and sometimes was agreed that money might be judi- at the next meeting. Thereupon Hon. John ent. amusing list. After arguing through four ciously spent in the erection of national Keyes offered following resolution; by its very nature, and also because it successive evenings, the society decided monuments, no decision was reached Resolved that as this Lyceum is established for social & mutual improvement, the intro- partially composed of the members by a vote of two to one that imprison- on the question of whether the legisla- duction of the vexed or disorganizing question he Concord Debating Club, the Ly- ment for debt ought not to be abolished. Superscript(3) ture ought to grant a lottery for the of Abolitionism or Slavery should be kept out n became an ideal vehicle for discus- They also felt that corporal punishment completion of Bunker Hill monument; of S and debates on topics of timely or should not be abandoned in the discipline nor was it decided whether the pulpit or The next entry states simply but elo- eral interest. Each year a committee of schools; 32 that the light of nature bar afforded the greater field for elo- quently: aree was chosen to select questions for teaches the immortality of the soul; quence. 45 President Ball ventured to de- ussion and to make a list of those per- that theatrical exhibitions do not have a cide that the national debt was a bless- Lyceum met and heard the above alluded to Lecture from W. Phillips Esq.4 who would consent to take a part in good moral tendency. They flattered ing, but a vote of the society reversed debates. The volunteers were called themselves that a dense population is this opinion. The "vexed question" arose again in n by the committee in alphabetical or- more immoral than a scattered one, 35 For the first few years debating flour- 1845, when the curators were, by a vote and were given a topic upon which and that a fertile soil is not calculated to ished, but toward the end of the 1830's, of twenty-one to fifteen, requested to in- were expected to debate at a future bring forth the best energies of a people. 36 when the list of speakers began to include vite Mr. Phillips to lecture again on ting. Two were assigned to the af- They were firmly of the opinion that in- the names of more and more of the fa- slavery. Two of the three curators, be- native side of the question and two to come ought not to be taxed; 37 that lib- mous men of the period, it started to lieving the Lyceum no place for a one- negative. It was the usual custom for erty of the press ought not to be re- wane. The members of the Lyceum seem sided presentation of a hotly disputed president to give his own opinion on strained by law; that it would be ex- to have simply lost interest in it, and dur- question of public policy, resigned. 49 topic at the conclusion of the debate. pedient for the state to construct a rail- ing the 1840's it disappeared entirely. What occurred next is recorded in the etimes he called upon the members road from Boston to the Hudson River, Like any other organization, the Con- Lyceum records: he audience to voice their opinion by near Albany 39 It was also thought that cord Lyceum had its troubles. Though It was then moved to adjourn sine die, which low of hands, but it was not until the conferring of literary and scientific generally harmony and good feeling motion was submitted to the Lyceum by the 7 that the following resolution was degrees upon women would not be de- characterized the meetings, occasionally President & declared to be a vote, which vote ed by the society, after a protracted sirable. 40 This last decision was resolute- the whole structure and organization of was immediately doubted, but without calling for the contrary minded or in any way settling ussion: The president shall give his ly confirmed upon appeal to the Lyceum. the Lyceum was threatened with ruin the vote, the President left the chair. ion on all questions, this opinion sub- During the year 1833 the question of by a division of opinion on a question up- After calling for the vice president, Col. to an appeal to the society. whether or not the morals of the people on which feeling was strong. One such Wm. Whiting took the chair. On motion, Col. During the season of 1830-1831, ex- were better than formerly presented it- issue was slavery. As early as 1833 it was Whiting was chosen President pro tem. The ling from September to May, the Ly- Lyceum then proceeded to fill the vacancies self for debate. This was obviously a debated by the society and decided by made by the resignation of Messrs. Frost & n listened to 30 lectures and I 2 de- question of deep-seated interest, and one Dr. Bartlett, then president, that the Keyes. Thereupon Messrs. Ralph W. Emer- S. upon which even the most shy, retiring Anti-Slavery Society ought not to be en- son, Saml. Bassett & David H. Thoreau were iscussions of one question were frequently soul might be tempted to expound at couraged. Again, in 1835, the decision chosen curators by ballot.50 inued through several evenings, and elicit- some length. Needless to say, the debate was rendered by Reverend H. B. Good- Phillips, upon invitation of the new 3 Old-Time New England The Concord Lyceum 39 ors, came and lectured as desired, Trouble arose also from another ting in much bitter feeling and un- source. The by-laws adopted soon after is sometimes entertained with whimsical room. In an attempt to remedy the situ- criticism. 51 The probable truth is the organization of the Lyceum had pro- entries of various sorts, which, although ation, Concord Academy, a private in- the members of the Lyceum were vided that "each member may admit two they do not adhere strictly to the business stitution, was founded in the early 1820's sed to the institution of slavery, but ladies, and, if married, his children in at hand, nevertheless do give us a more to furnish a better education than that believed as well in the fundamental addition"; and that "those ladies of vivid picture of some of those gatherings publicly provided. But it was this very iples of law and order, and that, as the town, widows and others, who are which took place a century or more ago. type of educational class division which ole, the Constitution of the country so situated that they cannot be admitted The following entry is illustrative of this: lyceums were working to prevent. a good one and worth preserving. to the Lyceum by the right of any per- George Sumner had just commenced a lec- That Thoreau was aware of the val- addition to the slavery issue, there son who is a member, may be admitted ture upon "France" when the cry of Fire start- ue of the lyceum in the field of educa- also the New England weather to gratuitously. Strangers were admitted ed up his audience, the flames from which is- tion is evident from the following sen- ealt with, no small obstacle in win- on invitation, and persons not members suing from the Jos. Bartlett house, could be tences in his book, Walden: as numerous entries in the Lyceum might receive tickets of admission for seen from the Hall. The gentlemen generally withdrew leaving a select audience of Ladies, We boast that we belong to the nineteenth ds show. Thus, in 1840, Thoreau, one or more evenings on such terms as who were entertained with a fine lecture. century and are making the most rapid strides secretary of the Lyceum, wrote, "A the curators might fix upon. For a long (Note, the House was destroyed!) of any nation. But consider how little this vil- audience having assembled, owing time the lectures and discussions were lage does for its own culture. We have a One of the aims of lyceums every- e inclemency of the weather-the open and free to all inhabitants of the system of common schools, schools for in- where was to work for the improvement re which had been expected from town, but as early as the third season fants only; but excepting the Lyceum in Keyes was deferred till the next of common-school education. Although the winter, and latterly the puny beginning of much dissatisfaction was being expressed I have been unable to determine pre- a library suggested by the state, no school for ing-and in accordance with a vote on account of the conduct of those who cisely what effect the Concord Lyceum ourselves. We spend more on almost any article the Lyceum, Mr. William Rob- were able to buy tickets or membership of bodily ailment than on our mental ail- had upon its local schools, there is no ment. read the message of Governor but failed to do so, and night after night This town has spent seventeen thou- doubt that during the period when the sand dollars on a town-house thank fortune or ton. took possession of the hall to the exclu- Lyceum was at the height of its vigor and politics, but probably it will not spend so ut, despite the New England weath- sion of those who were legal members. influence common-school educational fa- much on living wit, the true meat to put into e boys were always the severest trial Therefore, to distribute more fairly the that shell, in a hundred years. The one hun- cilities in Concord improved steadily. :turer had to encounter. One year, burden of expense, and as an easier meth- dred and twenty-five dollars annually sub- During the early years of the nine- scribed for a Lyceum in the winter is better ), in addition to the regular comple- od of raising the funds necessary for car- teenth century Concord was divided into spent than any other equal sum raised in the t of officers, a special committee of rying out the purposes of the society, the seven school districts, each district hay- town. New England can hire all the wise was chosen "to regulate the be- ticket system was finally introduced in men in the world to come and teach her, and ing its own little one-room schoolhouse. or of boys. Six years later we have 1856. The results of this move are seen board them round the while, and not be pro- The seven district schools differed little vincial at all. That is the uncommon school following entry made by the secre- in the secretary's entry in the records: from what they had been one hundred we want. If it is necessary, omit one bridge in the Lyceum records: The "Ticket System" which was adopted years before. During the two- to three- over the river, go round a little there, and a. Reuben Brown made some remarks somewhat as an experiment, has proved quite month winter session the teacher was throw one arch at least over the darker gulf rning the annoyance suffered by the mem- as successful as was anticipated. of ignorance which surrounds us. 59 Without any special effort to procure sub- usually an undergraduate released from of the Lyceum, caused by the whispering playfulness of certain boys. He suggested scribers or dispose of Tickets. [sic] The very college to earn money for tuition. Disci- There can be little doubt that during some effectual measures should be taken finest Lecturers have been engaged and a full pline was of greater importance than in- the years of its existence the Lyceum con- t a stop to such disturbances. Mr. Keyes course of lectures of the highest order given struction. In summer there was a session tinued to work for better educational fa- rose & said that it was impossible for the -while all who have subscribed have felt that they were having their just proportion of of ten weeks, attended mostly by girls, cilities in Concord. Of course there were :ors to keep order & therefore he moved ix persons be chosen for the express pur- the expense, & have enjoyed the lectures as and employing women teachers because the inevitable delays and opposition, but of keeping order among the boys & others they never have before by being as they have the town could get them cheaper. The the sentiments of the majority are clear- sed to disturb the lecture. His motion was so free from the disturbances of all former grammar school in the center of town ly shown by the fact that in 1864 the :d and the following were chosen to car- ones. was supposed to prepare for college, but town's citizens voted in town meeting to plan into effect. Charles Bowers Occasionally an unintentional element it was so overcrowded that no girls were put up a new high school building as soon James Adams Chas. B. Davis Jacob Farmer5 of humor slipped into the pages of the allowed to attend beyond the elementary as possible. The Civil War raging at the Dan'l Clark Lyceum records, and the modern reader grades in order to save the seats for boys. time prevented immediate action, but All grades sat packed together in one soon after the cessation of hostilities the i Old-Time New England The Concord Lyceum 41 high school was built. To celebrate Only one more lecture is to be read by a Signor from the Curator's Report for the 1878- But the Concord Lyceum was not occasion, pay for teachers was raised Somebody, an Italian, paid for by private sub- 1879 season. In part, it reads: fated to last for another fifty years. The round, salaries for female teachers scription, as a deed of charity to the lecturer. lyceum movement had ceased by the They are not rich enough to offer you your raised from $6.00 to $7.00 week- The management during this period has expenses even, though probably a month or 1880's to have any significant education- been in some degree experimental, aiming to the thirty-nine-week year. 60 two ago they would have been glad of the provide not only a variety of instruction on al purpose. Its job was done, and now a ut by this time some of the one-room chance.6 scientific, historical and literary subjects and dry rot began to eat away at the founda- try schools used by elementary pu- Yet the necessary funds seem to have upon the topics of the times, but, also, enter- tions. The lyceum was no longer the were becoming overcrowded. It was tainment of a high order. No pains have been always appeared from some quarter or New England conscience bound on a taken to ascertain in advance what a lecturer osed to consolidate the various one- other to prevent a threatened deficien- believed, but rather what he knew or had done voyage to convert the world, but a star- schoolhouses in the rural sections cy. By 1879 the curators, in their an- to make it appear worth our while to listen to ring exhibition of elocutionists, musicians, e town and to erect for the younger him. nual report to the Lyceum on the season Not only is the Lyceum enjoying fi- and actors, approaching very nearly the ren a large, central, well ventilated, nancial prosperity, and, therefore, the ability which had just closed, could proudly theatricals. It was, of course, inevitable uately heated building in the village. to procure the best talent in the lecture field, state that the receipts had been larger that the Concord Lyceum should sooner but, from an intellectual point of view, it is pupils were to be graded like those than ever before in the history of the or- believed that the people of our town have or later accompany the lyceum move- le high school, but in eight divisions ganization, amounting to $874.60. The gained new vigor of thought with the increased ment in its gradual decline, although it ad of four, with separate room and vitality of this institution, and will insist upon year's expenses were $818.46, leaving a probably resisted more stubbornly than er for each grade. The plan was keeping this platform fearlessly free and in- clear balance of $56.14 to be added to most. By the turn of the century the dependent of every narrowing influence. In into effect, and the new school was the surplus fund. This had been accumu- this way only can the Lyceum continue to in- downward trend had set in, and the com- ed in Emerson's honor. Specially lating at a gratifying rate: in 1877, $120, fluence the community for good as it has al- ing of World War I sounded the death horse-drawn carriages, curtained all and in 1878, $72. These sums were de- ready done for fifty years. knell of this illustrious organization. nd against stormy weather, with posited in the bank and with the accrued llel seats from front to rear, carried NOTES interest amounted to $260.63. :hildren daily to and from the school. 1 In the year 1880 Emerson delivered Cecil B. Hayes, The American Lyceum 1831, the great majority of them were from culmination of this plan came in his last lecture before the Concord Ly- U. S. Department of Interior Office of Concord. when by a unanimous vote the citi- Education Bulletin, Nos. 10-16, 1932, p. 5. ceum. He was then almost seventy-seven 13 Frank B. Sanborn, Recollections of Sev- of Concord authorized the town's 2 In 1820 its population was 1,788; in enty Years (Boston, 1909), II, 568-570. Here years of age and his mental powers had tmen to sell the last of the one-room 1840 it was 2,017. after cited as Recollections. been slowly failing for some time. Some olhouses, now standing empty and 3 Concord Lyceum Records, Vol. I, Dec. 14 Records, Vol. I, Oct. II, 1843. idea of the veneration in which he was I3, 1828, hereafter cited as Records. late in the rural area outside the 15 Recollections, p. 171. held by the people of Concord, after over 4 Ibid., Dec. 31, 1828. 16 The Journals of Bronson Alcott, ed. half a century of unselfish service to the he Concord Lyceum had times of 5 Ibid., Nov. 4, 1829. Odell Shepard (Boston, 1938), p. 355. Here- Lyceum, may be gained by the following after cited as Alcott Journals. ession as well as prosperity, and un- 6 Ibid. In 1831 this age limit was raised to excerpt from the Lyceum records: 21. The Writings of Henry David Thoreau, le 1870's there appears to have been This was Mr. Emerson's rooth lecture be- 7 Ibid., Jan. 7, 1829. ed. F. B. Sanborn (New York, 1894), X, 72, ther frequent struggle to present a hereafter cited as Thoreau Writings. Thoreau fore the Lyceum. A very large audience was 8 Ibid., Oct. 9, 1833. ice in the treasurer's accounts at the was at this time a Director of the Lyceum. present and, as Mr. Emerson advanced to the of the season. As witness to this fact 9 Semi-Centennial Proceedings on the Fif- front of the platform, the audience rose en 18 Ibid., pp. I73-I74. tieth Anniversary of the Organization of the lave a letter from Thoreau to Daniel masse to receive him. Mr. Emerson read his Concord Lyceum, Tues., Jan. 7 1879 (Con- 19 Ibid., p. 185. etson in New Bedford, Massachu- lecture with a clearness and vigor remarkable, cord, Mass., 1879), p. 8, hereafter cited as 20 Alcott Journals, p. 326. written in 1856: considering his advanced years.6 Proceedings. 21 Ibid., p. 368. u have done well to write a lecture on By this time the lyceum movement 10 Proceedings, p. 8. By 1879 all of the Ly- 22 Ibid., p. 390. er In the expectation of getting you to had begun to wane, and the general level ceum's worldly goods consisted of a black- 23 Ibid., p. 425. it here, I applied to the curators of our board and a deposit of $260.63 in the savings of its programs likewise declined. But 24 The Heart of Thoreau's Journals, ed. bank. im; but, alas, our Lyceum has been a fail- Odell Shepard (New York, 1927), pp. 210, his winter for want of funds. It ceased that the aims and objects of the move- 11 Ibid., p. 15. 2 I I. weeks since, with a debt, they tell me, to ment were still being closely adhered to 12 Five of the first speakers were from out 25 Edward Waldo Emerson, Emerson in arried over to the next year's account. in the Concord organization can be seen of town, but thereafter, until the spring of Concord (Boston, 1889), p. 147.