Emily Dickinson Museum offers look into Homestead restoration project

July 19, 2021 | Nasya Blackshear
nblackshear@thereminder.com

The Emily Dickinson Museum
Reminder Publishing submitted photo

AMHERST – On Feb. 17, the Emily Dickinson Museum announced they’d be temporarily closing the Homestead’s doors as they embarked on major restorations to the revered poet’s home.

While museum goers won’t be able to visit the property until spring 2022, the museum has decided to give an inside look on the restorations through a three-part series.

The series, titled “The Props assist the House” after a fragment of Emily Dickinson’s poetry, began on July 15. The second installment is slated for mid-August and the final installment is slated for mid-September. The final program will be a part of their ninth annual Tell It Slant Poetry Festival, which they are announcing soon.

The museum’s Communications Manager Patrick Fecher said the format of the series will vary. “In general, they will be live programs with introductory comments, interview-style conversation, plus Q&A. Each will include photos/graphics, featuring key members of the restoration team.” These live programs will be led by the museum’s Executive Director Jane H. Wald.

“We’re of course thrilled with the recent wave of interest in Emily Dickinson, and particularly in the home so intimately connected to her work. The Museum is committed to providing visitors with an increasingly authentic experience of the homes and grounds inhabited by the Dickinson family, and this restoration will have a profound impact on that experience,” said Wald.

This isn’t the first restoration done to the poet’s home. Previous restorations have included Emily Dickinson’s bedroom, conservatory, family library, and heirloom orchard. While these restorations have heightened guests’ experience, the museum wants to do more.

The Homestead’s latest restoration will be rather extensive. “It will not only triple the amount of restored space in the Homestead accessible to guests, but also add critical details to their understanding of Dickinson’s daily life, especially as we introduce exciting new programs and interpretive themes in the coming years as part of our long-range plan,” Wald added.

To preserve the historic house museums and protect their collections, they plan to implement an environmental regulating system that will provide the level of temperature and humidity control. The environmental regulating system will not only be implemented in Homestead, but at Austin Dickinson’s home, The Evergreens, which is next door to Emily’s. Other key elements to be restored at Homestead include the hallways, parlors, and the Northwest Chamber.

A project this massive couldn’t be achieved by the museum alone, but they were given a generous gift that allowed them to start. “This project was prompted by a desire to restore the National Historic Landmark home of one of America’s greatest poets to its period of historic significance. It was in part possible by a generous gift made by the late William McC. Vickery–a longtime board member and champion of the Museum,” Fecher said. Vickery, who passed in Feb. 2019, gave an amount of $22 million to the museum.

For more in-depth information about the current restoration along with upcoming restorations, visit the museum’s website, https://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/restoration-project/.

The three-part series is free to attend, but the museum also encourages donations. Viewers can learn more about the museum’s upcoming events and register for them online at https://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/events-news/.

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