by Virginie - @provencenewyork (Twitter)
January 2022
I dwell in Possibility –
Dickinson fans, the purpose of this post is to share guidelines, tips and recommendations with anyone who is interested in traveling to Amherst in search of Emily - or anyone who is too far to do it and that I hope I can help travel through our mutual passion for America's greatest poet.
The Homestead and the Evergreens
"Once she grabs you, she doesn't let go."
Polly Longsworth - Dickinson Biographer and Historian
Well, Emily DID grab me - and I didn't know how strong she was. My heart started beating so fast when I approached the Homestead in early December of 2021. Unlike Emily, I cannot find words to describe the feeling of being in her hometown and seeing the house where she was born and drew her last breath about 135 years ago. The Homestead is located at 280 Main St., Amherst, Massachusetts. The Evergreens, Sue and Austin's house, is right next to it, "a hedge away" as Emily would describe the distance between the two houses herself, and as shown below.
There is a cute sign across the street, where I parked my car (in front a couple of quaint little stores) as the parking spaces in front of the houses were not available due to road construction.
The Homestead is currently closed for renovations and will re-open in the Spring of 2022. I was only able to see the houses from the street. Emily's bedroom windows are facing Main street, with the third one with a view on the Evergreens. The kind team who manages the museum is always answering my questions whenever I reach out on Twitter (@DickinsonMuseum).
The Evergreens, view from Main street:
Facing Main street, we can also see Emily's famous conservatory. It was empty at the time I took the picture but the team behind the Museum confirmed it will be filled with plants in the spring when they reopen it.
I cannot wait to see it breathing with plants and flowers, as one of my favorite visuals from Dickinson, the show, is the scene where Emily (Hailee Steinfeld) reads Whitman's Leaves of Grass in her colorful and serene private paradise.
I did bring some of my books on the trip...
The Homestead in Amherst and Emily's bedroom in Dickinson, the show. There are some discrepancies from the show that I need to verify once I will be able to enter the Homestead. As shown in the picture of the show below, Emily's desk is not facing the Evergreens. The last window on the right of the room is. I'd love some input from anyone who could confirm that!
I think the show got this wrong but I would need to confirm:
The Two Cemeteries
Emily, Lavinia, their parents and grandparents are all buried in the same cemetery: on Triangle St, Amherst, MA 01002. You can't miss the plot, it is the only one with a fence and tall tree in it, in the middle of the cemetery. There is also a map at one of the entrances to help you find it.
This is initially what I found from the website of the cemetery at https://www.amherstma.gov/829/Cemeteries
Below an attempt to help you locate each grave by color:
In red: Emily's grandparents (both with the same grave stone)
In yellow: Emily's parents (both with the same grave stone)
In white (of course...): Emily's grave
In Blue: Lavinia's grave
The words "called back" were added later by Martha Bianchi Dickinson, Emily's niece (Sue and Austin's daughter).
I found a few touching gifts on the grave like a poem and a little stone that will speak to many of us...
And I left mine...
What the map does not show is that Frazar Stearns' grave is also in that same cemetery. Frazar died young and way before Emily. Knowing that the Dickinsons were right there where I stood, some 159 years ago made me dizzy! Emily must have stood there too for Frazar's funeral as her brother Austin was a close friend of Frazar's, himself the son of the President of Amherst College at the time. Emily was deeply touched by his death and wrote four letters about the "Christian Martyr of Amherst". The grave is located on the little path that goes to the Dickinson plot on the right. I will take a better p icture soon along with a google map to help you locate it.
Fazar (the character in Dickinson) and the real life Frazar Stearns below:
There is a beautiful mural passed the map in that cemetery which you should not miss. You will recognize many people from Emily's life:
Emily and Lavinia:
Helen Hunt Jackson and Mabel Loomis Todd:
Sue, holding Gib with Edward "Ned" and Martha "Mattie":
Edward Dickinson and Frazar Stearns:
Here is a Google map to help you locate all the aforementioned sites
Wilwood Cemetery - Sue's Grave
Sue and her children are buried in another cemetery about 10 minutes from Emily's. Address: Wildwood Cemetery, 70 Strong St, Amherst, MA 01002. There is no map I could find there, so I just went with my instinct and started checking the path that goes from the parking lot to the right. The graves are on the right side, down the hill of that same path, about a two-minute walk form the parking lot.
I believe the small stone on the left is Austin's (William Austin Dickinson but I still need to do some research to prove it):
I found a blue jay feather near Susan's grave that evening:
Below is Gib's grave (Sue and Austin's third child, who died at age 7 and was Emily's favorite nephew)
The Jones Library (43 Amity St, Amherst, MA 01002)
I had no idea the library had an Emily Dickinson room, so make sure you go when they open it. I was lucky to just ask to see anything related to Dickinson and to be there when they were about to open. The librarians were so kind and happy to show me everything they could - they both made my day and made me cry, and you will see why...
This is the book record of the doctor who brought Emily to the world, on December 10th, 1830. At the time, people wouldn't name their babies at birth considering the high mortality rate in the weeks and even months after the birth, so the doctor wrote down Edward Dickinson esq.'s name, followed with the date of birth and "G" for "GIRL":
The librarians took the book out of its glass table and opened it in front of me:
"Trim for Emily Dickinson's bonnets. These pieces of trim decorated one or more of the poet's bonnets. Materials are silk, chenille and horse hair."
I saw other objects that belonged to Emily and the Dickinsons and will update this post soon.
Now, below is the reason why I got emotional and stood in front of these "documents", speechless. I can't explain how I felt when I was able to sit at a table in front of 4 original poems and 17 letters by Emily Dickinson (if I remember the correct numbers well). The librarians brought the archives and placed them in front of me, asking which ones I wanted to see. And I remember asking: "hold on, you're about to show me the ORIGINAL poems and letters of Emily Dickinson?". My heart was beating so fast I was happy I was sitting on a chair. Below are a few of the pictures I took for you to enjoy while you plan your trip.
Immured in Heaven
A little Madness in the Spring
I've nothing else, to bring
Emily's signature - close up
A letter sent to Helen Hunt Jackson's husband a year before Emily's death. Emily was already sick at the time and her writing is so different from earlier letters. Helen was one of her dearest friends.
One of Lavinia's letters was also at the Jones Library. I love how Lavinia's letters are so messy and even bear question marks in places where I wouldn't expect seeing them (Heartily (?))
A postcard the librarians gave me - "Looking south towards Amherst College, ca 1870"
I compared with Google Maps and noticed that we are looking at a street that goes to Emily's house to the left of the picture, but the Homestead is not in it.
I love this painting of the first daguerrotype of Emily, with colors. From artist Guillermo Cuellar
Other gems on display at the library below
Tea cup from the Homestead
Buttons from Emily's dress
Cutler’s Dry Goods was one of the stores the Dickinsons used to shop at. This is a bill ($4.22) from Sept 1873: Edward D. (Top) & Austin’s (bottom). Austins’s list includes boy’s shirts, lace, merino wool (I’m sure this was for Sue ), kerosene and sweet potatoes. The group picture was taken in 1859, and standing by the back wheel of the wagon is Austin Dickinson. Thank you to the @JonesLibraryMA
The Dickinson Homestead in the 1920’s (about 34 years after Emily’s death, 7 years after Susan’s death) versus the Homestead two weekends ago (Dec. 4th, 2021). Thank you @JonesLibraryMA for the postcard
This is a map of Amherst, where we can see the Dickinsons' Homestead and Evergreens, as well as the 10 acre of land they owned. The cemetery on Triangle street where Emily was later buried (north-west of the Homestead).
Austin Dickinson can be seen standing near the back wheel of the carriage
TRIP TO BOSTON - HOUGHTON LIBRARY IN HARVARD
If you make it to Amherst, make sure you drive all the way to Boston (it's about a two-hour drive). Harvard's Houghton Library is where you can request to see their Dickinson room (you will need an appointment for that so make sure to prepare your trip). Christine spent a whole hour with me, opening the room to a collection of pure gems.
This is the original portrait of the Dickinson siblings. The chest of drawers itself is the one that was in Emily's bedroom and where Lavinia found the fascicles (imagine my heart beating out of my chest when I got closer to that piece...).
This is the original, not a reproduction, of Emily's writing desk and chair. This is also where I almost fainted.
I could see the scratches on the desk...
And the stains on the chair...
EMily's piano and her parents' portraits
The Dickinsons' library. It consists of approximately 930 books owned by the family and published before Emily's death in 1886. Some of the books are inscribed to her, such as her Bible, a copy of Emerson's Poems, Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights and more. Many volumes bear pencil markings with may or may not indicate that they were read and used by the poet.
This is a ring that belonged to Emily (it was tiny)
Here is a video I made that day for you to immerse yourself in this fantastic room
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