skip to Main Content

Founded in 1941, The Thoreau Society, Inc. is the largest and oldest organization devoted to an American author. The Society has members from more than twenty countries around the world, the Penobscot Nation, and all fifty US states. The Thoreau Society is committed to diversity and inclusion, and welcomes people of all ages, ethnicities, gender expressions and identities, origins, physical abilities, races, religions, and sexual orientations.

In Walden, Thoreau wrote, “I desire that there may be as many different persons in the world as possible.” The Thoreau Society likewise recognizes that the contributions of all will continue to result in a more vital organization and a more vital world.

Mission

The Thoreau Society exists to stimulate interest in and foster education about Thoreau’s life, works, legacy and his place in his world and in ours, challenging all to live a deliberate, considered life.

Vision

The Thoreau Society keeps Thoreau’s writings and ideas alive around the globe and across generations.

Organizational Goals

  • To encourage research on Thoreau’s life and works and to act as a repository for Thoreau-related materials
  • To educate the public about Thoreau’s ideas and their application to contemporary life
  • To preserve Thoreau’s legacy and advocate for the preservation of Thoreau country

Read the Thoreau Society By-Laws

Publications

The Thoreau Society Bulletin is a 20-page newsletter with bibliographic information and writings on the life, works, and legacy of Henry Thoreau.

The Concord Saunterer: A Journal of Thoreau Studies is an annual peer-reviewed journal of Thoreau scholarship that features in-depth essays about Thoreau, his times and his contemporaries, and his influence today.

Thoreau Society

Honorary Advisors

Terry Tempest Williams
Nature Writer and
Conservationist

James E. Francis, Sr.
Penobscot Nation
Tribal Historian

Officers

Rochelle Johnson, PhD
Boise, ID
Second-Term President 2022-2024
First-Term President 2020–2022
Second-Term Director 2019–2022
Board Appointment 2018–2019
First-Term Director 2015–2018

John J. Kucich, PhD
Maynard, MA
Vice President 2023-2024
First-Term Director 2021-2023

Michael Schleifer, CPA
Brooklyn, New York
Third-Term Treasurer 2023-2025
Second-Term Treasurer 2021–2023
First-Term Treasurer 2019–2021
Past President 2018–2019
Third-Term President 2016–2018
Second-Term President 2014–2016
First-Term President 2012–2014
Second-Term Treasurer 2010–2012
First-Term Treasurer 2008–2010
First-Term Director 2005–2008

Geoff Wisner
New York, NY
First-Term Clerk 2023-2025
First-Term Director 2020–2023

Michael Frederick
Concord, MA
Office of Executive Director 2006-Present

Board of Directors

Kristen Case, PhD
Farmington, ME
Board Appointment 2023-2024

Theodore David, JD
Ramsey, NJ
Second-Term Director 2021–2024
First-Term Director 2018–2021

KC Dolan, PhD
Rolla, MO
Board Appointed Director 2024

Rebecca Kneale Gould, PhD
North Ferrisburgh, VT
Second-Term Director 2021–2024
Board Appointed Director 2020–2021
First-Term Director 2017–2020

Robert A. Gross, PhD
Concord, MA
Second-Term Director 2021–2024
First-Term Director 2018–2021

Richard Higgins
Concord, MA
Second-Term Director 2022-2025
First-Term Director 2019–2022

Dennis Noson, PhD
Seattle, WA
Second-Term Director 2022-2025
First-Term Director 2019–2022

Henrik Otterberg, PhD
Gothenburg, Sweden
Second-Term Director 2021–2024
Board Appointed Director 2020–2021
First-Term Director 2017–2020

Beverly Pittman, PhD
Philadelphia, PA
Board Appointed Director 2023-2024

Catherine Staples, MA
Devon, PA
Board Appointed Director 2023-2024

Robert M. Thorson, PhD
Storrs, CT
First-Term Director 2022-2025

Get news from the Thoreau Society and learn about ways you can help preserve Thoreau Country as part of our common heritage and as the embodiment of Thoreau’s landmark contributions to social, political, and environmental thought.

The Thoreau Society®, Inc.
341 Virginia Road, Concord, MA 01742
P: (978) 369-5310
F: (978) 369-5382
E:  info@thoreausociety.org

Educating people about the life, works, and legacy of Henry David Thoreau, challenging all to live a deliberate, considered life—since 1941.

blank
blank

Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Back To Top