The Thoreau Society

The Thoreau Society's offices are located at the birth house of Henry D. Thoreau (341 Virginia Road, Concord, Massachusetts), near Minute Man National Historical Park. The Society leases its office space from the Thoreau Farm Trust.

The Society has long contributed to the dissemination of knowledge about Thoreau by collecting books, manuscripts, and artifacts relating to Thoreau and his contemporaries, by encouraging the use of its collections, and by publishing two periodicals, The Thoreau Society Bulletin and the Concord Saunterer: A Journal of Thoreau Studies.

Through an annual gathering in Concord, and through sessions devoted to Thoreau at the Modern Language Association's annual convention and the American Literature Association's annual conference, the Thoreau Society provides opportunities for all those interested in Thoreau – dedicated readers and followers, as well as the leading scholars in the field – to gather and share their knowledge of Thoreau and his times.

The Thoreau Society archives are housed at the Thoreau Institute's Henley Library in Lincoln, Massachusetts. This repository includes the collections of Walter Harding and Raymond Adams, two of the foremost authorities on Thoreau and founders of the Thoreau Society; and those of Roland Robbins, who uncovered Thoreau's Walden house site.

Thoreau Society members represent a wide range of professions, interests, and hometowns across the United States and around the world. They are connected by the conviction that Henry Thoreau had important things to say and crucial questions to ask that are just as significant in our time as in his. Our list of past Society presidents is a sampling of the kinds of people who have been attracted to Thoreau's writings and philosophies. Through its programs, publications and projects, the Thoreau Society is committed to exploring Thoreau's observations on living with self, society and nature, and encouraging people to think about how they live their own lives.