The Fruitlands Farmhouse

At Fruitlands, Alcott was able to withdraw from institutions and social structures for a much needed retreat and to explore the relationships between individuals and their world.To Alcott, the material world, especially nature, expressed aspects of the universal divinity - ideas that became central aspects of Transcendentalism. His vision for a new order included a philosophy that explained and integrated changes in science, technology, and man’s relationship to God. He believed the universe was benevolent, that everything has a spiritual essence, and that “one Divine nature flows through all visible things.”

- see the attic where the Alcott girls played
- play 19th century games like hoops, graces and shifts
- learn how Alcott was ahead of his time as a teacher, a champion of both human rights and living in harmony with nature

Clara Endicott Sears created Fruitlands as a museum of the Bronson Alcott's Fruitlands experiment and the Transcendentalist movement in 1914.

Notes of Sentiments expressed by James Pierrepont Greaves Esq. 1834 [120k file]

Letter A.Bronson Alcott and Charles Lane wrote to The Dial in June, 1843 [4 mb file] about the Fruitlands experiment.

Guide to the Transcendentalist Collection at Fruitlands [120k file]