The Omni Parker House: birthplace of Parker House rolls, Boston cream pie and plenty of literary discussion among some of the greatest American authors of the 19th century.
In my youth, American literature held no charm for me. When we read Longfellow and Hawthorne, I was more occupied with recess and my girlfriends. In high school, Walden Pond was not as interesting as the boy who sat across from me.
Then in college, a light went on in my head. Well, actually some maturity set in, and I began to enjoy literature.
On a recent trip to Boston, I found the perfect tour. The Literary Trail of Greater Boston explores homes, meeting places and districts that were popular with the 19th-century literary circle - the time when the city was known as the "Athens of America."
The literary tour, which includes Boston, Concord and Cambridge, begins at the Omni Parker House Hotel. In the 1850s, it was Boston's toniest hotel. Its French chef, who was paid $8,000 a year, created Parker House rolls and Boston cream pie.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Amos Bronson Alcott (Louisa May's dad), Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., James Whittier, Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne met at the Parker House on the last Saturday of each month to discuss the issues of the day and to savor the pie. When in town, Charles Dickens would join their "Saturday Club." In fact he gave his first reading of A Christmas Carol there.
The Saturday Club, along with Harriett Beecher Stowe, also were regulars at the Old Corner Book Store at Washington and School streets. The reason for its popularity? Publishers William Ticknor and James Fields, who operated here, were the first to pay authors royalties. An interesting side note is that Houghton Mifflin Co. is a descendent of Ticknor and Fields.
The Boston Athenaeum, 101/2 Beacon St., was another 19th-century literary haunt. Its balconies and alcoves still maintain their beauty after more than 150 years. Many of the 700,000 volumes and manuscripts, as well as the sculpture and artwork, are original.
Unlike the Athenaeum, the Boston Public Library does not charge for membership. Opened in 1852, the library's popularity forced it to relocate to Copley Square in 1895. It is worth a trip on the "T," Boston's metro rail system, to see this impressive Italian Renaissance structure. Its 218-foot-long Bates Hall has been compared to the great hall of a Roman bath. Close by is a tribute to another former resident, Lebanese-born poet Kahlil Gibran. I am sure many of you baby boomers read his books of philosophic poetry when you were in college.
From here, the tour becomes a car or bus trip, which is a heck of a lot easier than many of the members of the "Saturday Club" had it. In those days, the carriage or horseback trip to Boston from Cambridge or Concord was long and arduous. It became easier after a railroad was constructed. Along with ice from Walden Pond, the train carried people, poets and essayists.
Cambridge, where Longfellow was a language professor at Harvard, is the first stop on the road trip. At first, Longfellow wrote poetry only to impart history, like Paul Revere and Hiawatha, and to tell of everyday people like The Village Blacksmith.
"He used it (poetry) to make people aware of who we are," says National Park Service Guide Nancy Jones.
The house at 105 Brattle St. is now known as the Longfellow National Historic Site. It was a wedding gift from the author's father-in-law. Longfellow, a George Washington buff, always loved the house that served as Washington's headquarters during the siege of Boston for nine months spanning 1775 to 1776, it served as Washington's headquarters. Washington's bedroom was the second-floor front right room.
The busts of Dante, Shakespeare and Goethe, which are scattered around Longfellow's study, served to inspire him. The study itself was the inspiration for the classic poem, The Children's Hour.
Longfellow lived in the house for 45 years. Emerson, Hawthorne, Julia Ward Howe, Charles Sumner and Thoreau would often drop by when they were in the neighborhood. Longfellow stopped writing poetry after his wife, Fanny, died in a fire in the house. The long-flowing beard that we see in pictures was an attempt to hide the scars that he sustained while trying to save her.
The next stop, the village of Concord, is west just off Route 2, the Cambridge Turnpike. Talk about off the beaten path. Even with a map, it is difficult to find and its sights are spread out. It's worth the effort, though.
In the 19th century, Concord was a town of reformists and abolitionists - probably why Thoreau, Emerson and Amos Bronson Alcott were residents. Now boutiques and gift shops embellish Concord's cute little shopping area, and Walden Pond, located at the bottom of a hill, looks more like a lake than a pond.
To Thoreau, Walden Pond was a place to escape from the pressures of everyday life. It wasn't much of one. The 10- by 15-foot cabin was not in the wilderness, either. He could easily walk to a family member's home for a meal and conversation.
The pond isn't quite the same today. There is a replica of his cabin next to the parking lot. The locals have become overzealous about conservation, and there are three times as many trees. It is now a popular recreation area, swimming hole and a lovely place for a stroll.
Thoreau's desk, on which he wrote Walden Pond and Civil Disobedience, is at the Concord Museum. Civil Disobedience inspired both Gandhi and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Don't miss the "one if by land and two if by sea" lantern, one of the museum's most prize possessions, or Ralph Waldo Emerson's study.
Emerson's family lived in Concord for seven generations. His house, Old Manse, was built by his grandfather. (It is not part of the guided tour but people can visit it.) Waldo, as his friends called him, wrote the Concord Hymn there. A great believer in self-reliance, he also was known as the "Sage of Concord." He was also the only one with money and was there to give a little help to his friends like Bronson Alcott. Emerson was influenced by Alcott, a diehard transcendentalist and Utopian philosopher.
In 1858, Emerson helped Alcott buy Orchard House. The family used to live next door at Wayside or Hillside, as they called it. At one time, Hawthorne also called Wayside home.
When walking through Orchard House, you get a sense of the Alcott family life. The Alcott daughters were all very artistic. An etched wooden board that decorates the kitchen was a gift from the girls to their mother. May's room is filled with her artwork. Her beautiful painting of a black woman is in Bronson's study. The desk by the window in Louisa's room is where she wrote Little Women. When you walk outside, look to the rear of the building. The churchlike building was Bronson's progressive school.
The literary legacy of Greater Boston still thrives. Many well-known authors, such as Sylvia Plath, Eugene O'Neill, John Updike and Doris Kearns Goodwin, have called the area home.
Most visitors only sample Boston's early American history, the cream pie and beans. If you get a chance, seek out the Literary Trail. It is a nice respite, and you don't have to be a literary guru to enjoy it.
- Roberta Sotonoff is a freelance writer living in Glenview, Ill.
IF YOU GO
GETTING THERE: Several airlines offer nonstop and connecting service from Tampa International Airport.
TOURING THERE: On the second Saturday of each month, you can join a guided Literary Trail of Greater Boston.
The 20-mile walking and bus tour, which begins at the Omni Parker House Hotel, 60 School St., takes about 31/2 hours, and includes transportation ($30). The self-guided tour ($21) includes passes to Gibson House, the Orchard House and the Concord Museum and a book with a detailed description of the Boston, Cambridge and Concord literary sites. Some of the sites, such as the Boston Public Library and Wayside and Old Manse in Concord are not included on the guided tour, but can be visited on a self-guided tour.
For literary buffs, the book, The Literary Trail of Greater Boston, is a must. Contact the Boston History Collaborative, 617 350-0358. Or check the Web site for the Literary Trail of Greater Boston at www.lit-trail.org The Longfellow National Historic Site is at 105 Brattle St., Cambridge, Mass., 02138; call (617) 876-4491 www.nps.gov/long
