Transcendentalists, Ralph Waldo Emerson & New Bedford

South Coast Almanac regularly hosts walking book tours throughout the region. We choose a book with a South Coast connection and use it as jumping off point to explore a new neighborhood, allowing participants to experience literature in an unexpected and new format. The walks are generally slow rambles between 1-2 miles, with several stops along the way to read excerpts and discuss themes/questions from the works.

We are excited to explore the neighborhood around the Rotch-Jones-Duff House with two of Ralph Waldo Emerson's essays that had their origins here. Emerson spent time here and his friend Mary Rotch of Spring Street inspired the essays on Self-Reliance and Greatness. We’ve built a walking tour past his friend's home, the Unitarian Church where he sometimes preached, the Spring Street Meeting House and the gardens at the Rotch-Jones-Duff House.

The event is free but we ask that people register here so that we have a head count for refreshments.