Meet the Transcendental Club Members

Emerson drew New England’s brightest thinkers into a literary circle. Known as the Transcendental Club this group of writers, educators and artists joined their voices to call for change in the stagnant 1800s.

The Transcendental club first met in September 1836, the same month Emerson’s first book, Nature, was published. But the idea of a club had been in his mind much earlier. It may have prompted his purchase in 1835 of Bush – a home large enough to accommodate family, guests and visitors.

Clubs had became popular in Puritan times when the British considered colonists to be ignorant. They served to further educate Americans once school years ended.

Originally started as a symposium to allow free discussion of theological and moral subjects, this club adopted Emerson’s book, Nature, as the philosophical constitution of Transcendentalism. Founding Members were all men, but they quickly agreed to include women. There were 30 such gatherings in the Boston area from 1836 until ending in 1840.

First Meeting
George Ripley, hosted first meeting
Waldo Emerson
Frederic Henry Hedge
Amos Bronson Alcott, hosted second meeting
James Freeman Clark
Convers Francis

Other Male Attendees
Theodore Parker
George Putnam
Orestes Brownson
Judge Samuel Hoar
Henry David Thoreau
Nathaniel Hawthorne
William Henry Channing
Jones Very
Christopher Cranch
Charles Follen

Female Attendees
Margaret Fuller
Sarah Ripley
Lizzie Hoar
Elizabeth Peabody – hosted last meeting
Sophia Peabody

Additional posts will add insight into the contribution each member brought to the club.