“Hawthorne in the Berkshires”

Nathaniel Hawthorne Society Summer Meeting
June 12-15, 2014
North Adams, Massachusetts

Hosted by Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts

Reconstruction of Hawthorne's "Little Red Farmhouse" at Tanglewood

In 1850 Hawthorne moved his family to Lenox, where for almost two years he produced a range of literary work: The House of the Seven Gables and a new edition of Twice-ToldTales,as well as The Snow Image and Other Twice-told Tales, A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys, and other works for children. Related to this productivity were his new friendships with Herman Melville in nearby Pittsfield and Catharine Sedgwick, Grace Greenwood, and other women who were part of that “d----d mob of scribbling women.” The scenic region, which had become a summer playground for the very rich, also brought him into contact with Shakers, artists, mill owners and workers, and church-goers of all persuasions—contradictory personalities and forces which also impacted his later works. In Lenox, the Hawthornes learned of Margaret Fuller’s death with its accompanying questions about a woman’s professional role and domestic arrangements. In a nutshell, there were dizzying contradictions in Hawthorne’s observations and associations while he was in Lenox.

Melville's "Piazza" below his study at his farmhouse in Pittsfield

Conference venue will be the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, with affordable dormitory housing available in single or shared rooms, the Holiday Inn in walkable downtown North Adams, and various local B&Bs. Possible planned excursions for Saturday afternoon include Arrowhead and the Berkshire Athenaeum in Pittsfield, Hancock Shaker Village, an iron kiln such as inspired Ethan Brand, or a former mill site. Organizers can facilitate individual plans for a Sunday hike on Mount Greylock or Monument Mountain, with a stop at the reconstructed “The Little Red House” in Lenox, depending on interest. Other sites within short walking distance of MCLA include historic Eclipse Mill with its artist galleries, Natural Bridge and Hudson Falls, which inspired a description in Hawthorne’s American Notebooks during a visit in 1838, and the acclaimed Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MoCA). The downtown architecture is dominated by “the seven steeples of North Adams,” a range of monumental 19th-century churches and a synagogue. North Adams is easily accessible by car, or travelers may fly into Albany, Boston, or NYC airports and travel by train or bus to Pittsfield, where a short shuttle service is available to North Adams. All inquiries about the conference site and travel particulars should be addressed to Rosemary Fisk at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Registration and housing costs will be announced by early fall 2013. Graduate students who present papers will be subject to a housing rebate, depending on dormitory availability.

You can visit the "Hawthorne in the Berkshires" Facebook page and the Nathaniel Hawthorne Society website for more information.