Transcendental History:
Either Providence or Atoms!
“We review the past with the common sense, but we anticipate the future with transcendental senses,” Henry Thoreau wrote in 1851. The difference between knowledge gained by experience and knowledge gained by other means is at the heart of the transcendentalist worldview. This presentation of images and the spoken word is meant to function as a propadeutic, to bring the audience to a condition wherein a consideration of what a transcendental history might be can be attempted.
David Wood has been curator of the Concord Museum since 1985. He has curated some fifty exhibitions at the Concord Museum, including Early Spring, a collaboration with biologist Richard Primack on the subject of climate change. He is co-curator with Christine Nelson, Drue Heinz Curator of Literary and Historical Manuscripts, The Morgan Library & Museum, of the current exhibition This Ever New Self: Thoreau and his Journal.
David is the author of An Observant Eye; The Thoreau Collection at the Concord Museum, as well as numerous articles on the historic craft community of Concord, Massachusetts, including silversmith Samuel Bartlett (1752-1821) and cabinetmaker William Munroe (1778-1861).
Current:
This Ever New Self: Thoreau and His Journal
Museum exhibition presents Thoreau's journal as a monument to the examined life
Limited seating
Request your invitation here
5:00 Tour (by reservation only)
6:00 Swarming around spirits
6:30 Presentations
7:30 Digestion Choreography
See the ongoing projects produced in MILDRED ARCHAEOLOGY II Session (June 26- July 16) wrapping up this week. This project is a collaboration in discovering the hidden histories of the site we call Mildred’s Lane; and, the historic farmhouse that we now title The Mildred’s Lane Transhistorical Society and Museum; a small, vernacular 1830-1840s homestead with a 1790s hearth in the ground room, a previous structure.
During this session we uncovered histories connecting to the 1755 Connecticut Settlers; the Lillie family, amongst others, came to Cushetunk, on the Delaware River. This first settlement was within the limits of the 18th-century Connecticut Charter, west of the province of New York; (Northhampton County, now divided, and known as Wayne County, Pennsylvania.)
In MILDRED ARCHAEOLOGY II, (ongoing since 1998,) we have made progress digging up the 20th-century dump behind the museum. The everyday jewels of our work will be installed and on show through September at The Mildred Complex(ity) Project Space in Narrowsburg, NY.
Please make a contribution to help protect and SAVE The Mildred House at;
THE MILDRED’S LANE TRANSHISTORICAL SOCIETY AND MUSEUM FUND
Thank you to the people, institutions and their contributions to this unusual vernacular architecture project session at Mildred’s Lane: The Damascus Historical Society, The Wayne County Historical Society, University of Florida, Columbia University, School of Visual Arts New York City, University of Virginia McIntire Department of Art, Mark Dion, J. Morgan Puett, Zoe Crossland, Tracy Molis, Coco Fusco, Aurelio Fusco, Cecilia and Tom Coacci, Andrea Lekberg, Cheryl Edwards, Caroline Woolard, Leigh Claire La Berge, Megan O'Connell, Leander Johnson, Lesley Herzberg, David Wood, Hope Ginsburg, Josh Quarles, Deborah Davidovits, Kevin Mahoney, Duy Hoàng, Amanda Wheat, Zoe Frederick, Michelle K. Rogers, Will Staub, and Sandy Williams and many others.
Calendar
Upcoming Session: TAXIDERMY, July 16 - July 29
TOWN Friday, July 21, 6-8pm; Joanna Ebenstein and company
Social Saturday, July 22; Pablo Helguera and company
Town Friday, July 27, Robert Marbury