Established in 2003, the Emily Dickinson Museum sits on approximately three acres of land in the center of Amherst, Massachusetts and consists of two historic homes—The Homestead and The Evergreens.
The Homestead was the home of famed 19th century poet Emily Dickinson. She spent most of her formative years until her death within this house. The Evergreens, 300 feet from The Homestead within the same fenced property, was the home of her brother and his family. The Homestead remained in Dickinson family ownership until 1916 and The Evergreens until 1988. In 1965, neighboring Amherst College, which had direct ties with the Dickinson family, purchased The Homestead and started public tours to help promote awareness of Emily Dickinson’s work and cement her significance in American poetry. In 1991, The Evergreens entered the Martha Dickinson Bianchi Trust where it was also opened as a public museum. 2003 saw ownership of The Evergreens moved to Amherst College where it joined The Homestead to formally become the Emily Dickinson Museum that guests enjoy today.
The outside and interior structures remain largely unchanged and original. In this way, the museum offers a multi-faceted experience for a variety of guests. First and foremost, fans of Emily Dickinson can get a glimpse into the homelife of the poet herself—how she lived and how her surroundings inspired her poetry. Through the architecture of the buildings and the various pieces on display from the museum’s 8,000-object collection, it also offers a unique snapshot of 19th century New England life. And lastly, by hosting poetry-related events, providing a variety of digital resources, and offering learning programs and workshops for K-12 and higher education institutions, the Emily Dickinson Museum succeeds in its mission “to spark the imagination by amplifying Emily Dickinson’s revolutionary poetic voice from the place she called home.”
The Mission Statement
The Mission Statement for the Emily Dickinson Museum has remained unchanged over the past seven years: “The Emily Dickinson Museum’s mission is to spark the imagination by amplifying Emily Dickinson’s revolutionary poetic voice from the place she called home.”
The emphasis on those three key phrases is their own. Each act as a roadmap for the initiatives implemented at the museum each year.
Sparking the imagination is in specific reference to the direct educational efforts that the museum makes to share Emily Dickinson’s poetry. Over the years, they have partnered with academic institutions like the University of Massachusetts, Amherst to have undergraduate students actively engage with the museum’s collection as part of course curriculum. They also implemented a National Endowment for the Humanities-funded Landmarks of American History and Culture workshop called “Emily Dickinson: Person, Poetry, Place” to bring introduce Emily Dickinson’s poetry and the museum to K-12 schools.
Amplifying Emily Dickinson’s revolutionary poetic voice refers to their continued efforts to diversify and build their museum programming centered on Emily Dickinson’s poetry and life experiences. The museum offers both free and paid on-site and virtual events. The most popular free events include an annual Tell it Slant Poetry Festival, various Art Nights, independent in-person/virtual workshops and lectures, and Free Fun Fridays. The museum also offers seasonal free events like an Annual Poetry Walk in summer and a Candlelight tour of The Homestead in winter.
As noted in their 2020 – 2021 Annual Report, the adoption of a robust series of free programming led to 1,126 unique donors contributing to the museum—almost double what they saw in 2019 – 2020. The introduction of more virtual programs which accounted for 15% of their overall programming in 2020 has also increased the global reach and awareness of the museum and its mission.
All of the above is centered on the physical location in which the museum resides—the place [Emily Dickinson] called home. The continual restoration and maintenance of The Homestead, The Evergreens, and site grounds is an integral part of the museum’s mission. From the restoration of Emily Dickinson’s own bedroom to its original state in 2015, to a collection document project whose outcome is to “enhance interpretive, educational, and research use of the collection” (Annual Report 2019 – 2020), the museum is committed to ensuring the historic infrastructure of the museum is maintained. Future projects include the restoration of The Evergreens main house so that it can be opened back up for public tours as well as rebuilding The Evergreens carriage house and Homestead Barn.
The Museum Today
In terms of an everyday visit to the Emily Dickinson Museum, guests have multiple options. They can take a paid 45-minute, docent led tour of The Homestead which gives a historical account of the life of the poet and includes several interactive exhibits for guests to tangibly explore the poet’s writing process. They can explore the grounds and gardens of the museum with an hour-long, self-guided audio tour. This tour gives guests further information about the Dickinson family as well as the town of Amherst all through the backdrop of Dickinson poems read aloud. Or guests may browse The Homestead and The Evergreens virtually room-by-room through a series of videos and photographs on the museum’s website.
Beyond these activities, you can also visit the Events & News page of their website to find out about a variety of poetry and Emily Dickinson themed events occurring at the museum and around Amherst.
Embracing Community & Diversity
Involvement in the local as well as global community is a major initiative for the museum. The museum boasts having had guests from every state as well as 38 different countries attend their virtual and in-person tours and programming. Beyond those who come just to visit the house or attend a lecture on the poet, the museum has developed several program and projects meant to invite individuals from around the world and different backgrounds to connect with the museum and engage with Dickinson’s work.
One such success story was the 2019 project “The World Writes Back: Postcards to Emily.” In this project, the museum invited people from around the world to send greetings to Emily Dickinson. The museum received nearly 1,000 postcards from 31 states and 21 countries in eight different languages. The museum has been working to digitize these postcards and publish them on their website to continue to the dialogue about how Dickinson continues to inspire people around the world.
Another area where the Emily Dickinson embraces and promotes community and diversity is during their annual Tell It Slant Festival. The event not only showcases poets from a variety of social, racial, cultural, and gender backgrounds, but also puts on several programs which discuss topics like identity and diversity. The event is regularly cited in Massachusetts newspapers as a must-see event.
Conclusion
The Emily Dickinson Museum’s approach to developing multi-faceted free and paid event and touring programs has proven to be a recipe for success when it comes to attracting visitors from different backgrounds and with varied interests.
While the museum does have the backing of several endowments as well as Amherst College, in assessing their year-over-year operating income records and how the museum has initiated new ways to engage with the community, I believe that they have been successful in accomplishing their mission statement. As Emily Dickinson has cemented herself in American poetry, I believe The Emily Dickinson Museum has cemented itself as an excellent example of a historic home.
References:
(2015). Annual Report July 1, 2014 – June 30, 215. emilydickinsonmuseum.org. https://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/FY15-EDM-AR-without-donors.pdf
(2017). Highlights from the Emily Dickinson Museum June 1, 2016 – June 30, 2017. emilydickinsonmuseum.org. https://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/FY17-Annual-Report-with-Corrections-May-2018.pdf
(2019). Highlights from the Emily Dickinson Museum June 1, 2018 – June 30, 2019. emilydickinsonmuseum.org. https://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/FY19-ANNUAL-REPORT-for-Website.pdf
(2020). Highlights from the Emily Dickinson Museum June 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020. emilydickinsonmuseum.org. https://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/FY20-Annual-Report-for-Website.pdf
(2021). Highlights from June 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021. emilydickinsonmuseum.org. https://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/EDM_Annual-Report_FY21.pdf
(n.d.). Emily Dickinson: Grounds of Memory Audio Tour. emilydickinsonmuseum.org. https://emilydickinson.oncell.com/en/index.html
(n.d.). Emily Dickinson Museum: The Homestead & The Evergreens Virtual Tours. emilydickinsonmuseum.org. https://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/homestead-parlors/
(2022). The Homestead House Tour [45-Minute House Tour]
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