Henry David Thoreau

An item at American Writers Museum

Henry David Thoreau lived a provocative life in which he endeavored to escape the limitations of human society by exploring the wider, wilder natural world. He was a naturalist, land surveyor, pencil maker, abolitionist, and student of Native American culture and artifacts whose varied experiences informed his writing.

His most famous work, Walden (1854), describes his attempt to live out the Transcendentalist philosophy in a cabin in the woods, trying "to live deep and suck out the marrow of life." Thoreau's writing inspires respect for the wilderness and personal conscience rather than yielding to society's expectations, notably influencing activists Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.

AMERICAN VOICES

An exhibit at American Writers Museum

American writing is distinctive, diverse, and comes in many forms from across the nation. The 100 authors featured here represent the evolution of American writing. Learn more about each writer on the timeline by turning the panels below their portraits. Explore centuries of writing by pulling, turning, and touching the interactive elements on the counter.

This is not meant to be a list of the greatest or most influential writers. Instead, we present authors and works as part of the American story as it grows and changes. Taken together, this rich literary heritage reflects America in all of its complexity: its energy, hope, conflict, disillusionment, and creativity.

American Writers Museum