A Treasury of Massachusetts House Museums and Local History Orgs: Part II: Authors Houses

A conversation led by William Hosley, Terra Firma Northeast

Massachusetts is a famously literary culture. At the birth of the house museum movement in the late 19th century, authors’ houses were among the first to be preserved, notably John Greenleaf Whittier and now others like Emily Dickinson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson and more. We will explore three outstanding authors’ houses and how they grapple with the challenges of audience engagement, preservation and interpretation.