List of Transcendentalists - Concord, MA 2026

Transcendentalist Selection Process

  • After submitting your deposit, you will list three Transcendentalists in order of preference from this list.

  • Assignments are made on a first-come, first-served basis. We will look at selecting these light figures in June, preference will be given to those who get their deposits in first if two people want the same light figure.

  • Once a figure is chosen, it is no longer available.

  • Alternative figures from the same era may be proposed with facilitator approval

 

TRANSCENDENTALISTS

Phineas Parkhurst Quimby 
1802–1866
An American spiritual healer, clockmaker, and inventor credited with founding the New Thought movement. His work focused on the idea that mental healing, or the belief in one's spiritual health, was possible, a belief that became a basis for many modern wellness approaches.


Ralph Waldo Emerson
1803-1882
Philosopher, essayist; considered the central voice of Transcendentalism.


Henry David Thoreau
1817–1862
Writer, naturalist; author of Walden and Civil Disobedience.


Bronson Alcott (Amos Bronson Alcott)
1799–1888
Educator, reformer; founded the utopian community Fruitlands.


George Ripley
1802–1880
Minister; founder of the utopian Brook Farm community.


Orestes Brownson
1803–1876
Philosopher, later Catholic theologian; early Transcendentalist involvement.


Theodore Parker
1810–1860
Unitarian minister, abolitionist, social reformer.


James Freeman Clarke
1810–1888
Theologian and minister; associated with Transcendentalist circles.


Rev. William Ellery Channing
1780-1842
Unitarian minister whose ideas seeded Transcentalism. Articulated a liberal conscience-centered Christianity. 

Walt Whitman
1819–1892
Poet of Leaves of Grass; not a member of the Boston group but strongly influenced by Transcendentalist philosophy.

Emily Dickinson
1830–1886
Not a participant in the movement, but her thought reflects many Transcendentalists.


Nathaniel Hawthorne  
July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864 
An American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion.

Margaret Fuller
1810–1850
Central intellectual, writer, editor of The Dial.
Considered the most brilliant mind in the movement after Emerson. She hosted Conversations for women in Boston — early consciousness-raising groups. Wrote Woman in the Nineteenth Century, foundational feminist work. Lifelong friend of Emerson; influenced Thoreau’s development as a writer.
Sometimes she shows in ‘Searches’ up under married name-Sarah Margaret Fuller Ossoli

Elizabeth Palmer Peabody
1804–1894
Publisher, salon host, educator, publisher; pioneer of the kindergarten movement in the U.S.
Elizabeth Palmer Peabody operated a West Street bookstore in Boston — essentially the movement’s headquarters. Published The Dial and Transcendentalist books. Introduced kindergarten to America.
She connected Emerson, Hawthorne, Horace Mann, and others through her intellectual salons.

Sophia Hawthorne (née Peabody)
1809–1871
Artist, writer, emotional/intellectual support to Nathaniel Hawthorne. Deeply interested in spirituality, mysticism, and nature. She contributed illustrations; influenced Hawthorne’s literary themes. Lived at Brook Farm for a short time during its founding period.


Louisa May Alcott
1832–1888
Author; grew up inside the movement.
Father Bronson Alcott was a core Transcendentalist; their home was a gathering place. Louisa’s early writing was heavily shaped by Emerson (their neighbor) and Thoreau (her teacher).
Little Women reflects Transcendentalist ethics of self-reliance and inner moral authority.


Abigail May Alcott
1800–1877
Social reformer, abolitionist; the quiet structure behind the Alcotts.
Advocated for abolition and women's education. Held the family together financially while Bronson pursued idealistic projects.


Caroline Sturgis Tappan
1819–1888
Poet, intimate friend of Emerson and the Alcotts. She wrote mystical poetry. Part of the inner Transcendentalist circle at Concord gatherings. Some scholars think she influenced parts of Walden and Emerson’s later essays.


Lydia Maria Child
1802–1880
Abolitionist, writer, influence on the moral wing of the movement. She wrote powerful anti-slavery works. While not formally a Transcendentalist, she intersected with their circles and influenced Theodore Parker and Emerson.


Sarah Alden Bradford Ripley
1793–1867
Scholar, teacher; wife of George Ripley (Brook Farm founder). Self-educated in Greek, Latin, chemistry, botany, philosophy. Before Brook Farm, she ran a school that trained many future intellectuals. Model of the Transcendentalist ideal of lifelong self-cultivation.


Mary Moody Emerson
1774–1863
Ralph Waldo Emerson’s aunt and early mentor.
Mystical thinker, diarist, and ascetic. Her letters and journals profoundly shaped Emerson’s spiritual philosophy. One of the most under-recognized influences on American thought.