“It is time we had uncommon schools, that we did not leave our education offwhen we begin to be men and women. It is time that villages were universities…”
As our country’s first inland community, the crucible of the American Revolution, and the home of some of America’s most prophetic voices, Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, and the Alcotts, Concord, Massachusetts has symbolized our striving as a na
tion to fulfill the promise of our ever “New World”: “liberty and justice for all”, . . . “brotherhood from sea to shining sea.”
The Center grew out of the work of a circle of Concord friends. In 1978 a weekend conference was held at the Concord School of Philosophy & Literature on the theme: The Grail & America: A Journey of Peace with Francis Edmunds, Founder of Emerson College, Sussex, England. Further conferences and gatherings followed. In 1982, Dialogue, A Journal of Insights was launched, picking up the thread of Emerson and Margaret Fuller’s magazine, The Dial. In 1986, the written word unfolded into the spoken word with the founding of the Center for American Studies at Concord. At its inauguration, the Center dedicated itself to carrying on Concord’s heritage, by relating the enduring principles and practices of our past to the very real challenges facing our nation today. Central among these has been the “translation” of Transcendentalism (the works of Emerson, Thoreau, Bronson Alcott, Margaret Fuller and their colleagues) into a language for our modern scientific age. The Center for American Studies has pursued its mission through research, publications, educational programs, and – in the spirit of applied American Studies – action projects. Central to the success of our work to date have been the collaborations and close working relationships that have been developed with individuals in kindred initiatives. “To act collectively is according to the spirit of our institutions”, notes Thoreau at the conclusion of his “Reading” chapter in Walden. William Channing, Concord School of Philosophy
