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Date: 8/16/2022
AMHERST – The newly restored Emily Dickinson Museum reopened on Aug. 16 after a coronavirus pandemic-driven closure for over two years.
The museum was established in 2003 when ownership of Dickinson’s home called the Homestead and the Evergreens, a neighboring house also belonging to the Dickinson family until 1988, merged under Amherst College’s ownership. Jane Wald, the museum’s executive director, said the museum utilized the closure to implement a restoration plan that was developed in 2019 for the Homestead.
“I can say that we are just thrilled to be opening the doors of the homestead once again,” Wald said. “It’s been two and a half years since we’ve been open, and the homestead has been getting lonely. We’re just delighted to welcome Emily Dickinson’s friends back and to be doing it with some really wonderful changes to the space that conveys to guests more accurately, more authentically, Emily Dickinson’s environment and spaces in which she did her tremendous, genius poetic work. I think that’s just really important to us to be able to share with people, how eager we are to bring folks back to Dickinson’s own home.”
Admission is by guided tour only and reservations are required as part of the museum’s attempt to keep staff and visitors safe, a strategy Wald said she thinks most museums have turned to while coming out of the “COVID[-19] era.” Wald said the museum is also maintaining protocols for keeping spaces and surfaces clean and are requiring masks for entry. Tickets are $16 for adults, $13 for seniors and $10 for students over 18 years old and schoolteachers. Youth, Five College students, Blue Star families and Amherst College faculty and staff can enter for free. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets can be reserved online at https://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/.
Wald said the Homestead’s restoration was “fairly extensive” and centered on remodeling the main block of the Homestead, a portion built by Dickinson’s grandfather in 1813. Wald said changes included architectural adjustments to the interior of the house, rebuilding the front entryway, returning original materials to the house that were removed at the beginning of the 20th century, changing the interior décor and putting in a new heating ventilation and cooling system to keep the house conditions appropriate for a museum collection.
The museum has also been working on cataloging its collection for an online database after receiving a grant to start the work in 2019 from the Institute for Museum and Library Services. Wald said the project was originally delayed for approximately eight months but has since been moving along on schedule and the museum will soon be able to make the images widely available.
Wald encouraged residents to join in the museum’s upcoming events, starting with a book launch with author George Boziwick for his book, “The Musical Life of an American Poet,” which covers Emily Dickinson’s lesser-known work as a musician.
“He’s written a book about Emily Dickinson’s own music portfolio and her music making,” Wald said. “People may not realize that Emily Dickinson was actually a fairly accomplished pianist so his book and this program will be taking a look at that aspect of her life and her accomplishments.”
Wald added that the museum is also hosting its annual poetry festival at the end of September with numerous programs relating to poetry, Dickinson’s work including a “marathon reading of all of Emily Dickinson’s nearly 1,800 poems,” and bringing a variety of established poetic voices together with new, emerging poetic voices to Amherst both in-person and virtually.