The People Behind the Books: Visiting Author Historic Sites
Wandering through General Lew Wallace’s study and the grounds of his study where he wrote Ben Hur was a fascinating side trip for our family. Wallace fought in the Mexican American War, served as a general in the Civil War, ran for Congress, served as the US Minister Resident to the Ottoman Empire, wrote seven books, worked as an inventor, and served as architect for the "study" he built in 1895. The study is full of the mementoes of his busy life as well as Ben Hur memorabilia. Ben Hur was written as a result of Wallace’s intense study of the Bible spurred by an encounter with an atheist. Wallace who had been indifferent to his Methodist upbringing stated, "Long before I finished the book I became a believer in God and Christ." Author museums and historic land marks dot America. While some areas like Massachusetts have an abundance of such sites, you should find an author historic site within driving distance of your home. When planning a vacation, remember to search through your vacation literature for possible short side trips to visit a favorite author. The Internet is a great place to find local attractions including author historic sites. A search at www.google.com using a favorite author’s name will usually turn up a biography or two. Do a follow up search on the author’s birthplace or places they lived. You may turn up exactly what you are looking for. California - Jack London Call of the Wild, White Fang Jack London State Historic Park
2400 London Ranch Rd
Glen Ellen, CA 95442
(707) 938-5216
www.parks.sonoma.net/JLPark.html Jack London State Historic Park was created in 1959, when a small portion - about 40 acres - of London's 1,400-acre Beauty Ranch was acquired by the state. The original park included London's grave, the ruins of Wolf House, and Charmian London's House of Happy Walls. Indiana - General Lew Wallace Ben Hur Ben Hur Museum
Wallace Avenue at Pike Street
Crawfordsville, IN 47933
(765) 362-5769
www.ben-hur.com/ Massachusetts - Emily Dickinson Poetry Home of Emily Dickinson
280 Main Street
Amherst MA 01002
(413) 542-8161
http://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/ Florida & Arkansas - Ernest Hemingway Old Man and the Sea, The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms The Hemingway Home and Museum
907 Whitehead Street
Key West, FL
http://www.literarytraveler.com/hemingway/keywest.htm Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center
1021 W. Cherry Street
Piggott, AR
http://hemingway.astate.edu/ Massachusetts - Louisa May Alcott Little Women, Little Men Orchard House/Home of the Alcotts
PO Box 343
Concord, MA 01742
(978) 369-4118
http://www.louisamayalcott.org Orchard House was home to the Alcott family from 1858 to 1877. It is generally believed that Louisa May Alcott set her classic work, Little Women, here, although the experiences on which she based it would have happened during the Alcott years at Hillside. There have been no major structural changes to the site since the Alcotts’ time of residence. Approximately 75% of the furnishings were owned by the Alcotts, and the rooms look very much as they did when the family lived there. New Jersey - James Fenimore Cooper The Last of the Mohicans James Fenimore Cooper House
457 High Street
Burlington City, NJ 08016 This house was built about 1780. In 1789, it became the birthplace of James Fenimore Cooper, novelist of the American wilderness. It has now been restored and contains four museum rooms displaying Cooper artifacts, implements and furnishings. http://08016.com/cooper-house.html Pennsylvania - Pearl S. Buck The Good Earth Pearl S. Buck House
Green Hill Farms
520 Dublin Road
Perkasie, PA
(800) 220-BUCK Her parents were Presbyterian missionaries, stationed in China. She was born when her parents were near the end of a furlough in the United States; when she was three months old, she was taken back to China, where she spent most of the first forty years of her life. http://www.pearl-s-buck.org/psbi/PSBHouse/visiting.asp Kansas, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wisconsin - Laura Ingalls Wilder Little House in the Big Woods
Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society
Box 269
Pepin, WI 54759 Little House on the Prairie
Little House on the Prairie, Inc.
P.O. Box 110
Independence, KS 67301 On the Banks of Plum Creek
Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum
330 Eighth St
P.O. Box 58 WG
Walnut Grove, MN 56180
(507) 859-2358 or 2155. The Ingalls Memorial Site
Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society
Box 344
DeSmet, SD 57231
(605) 854-3383 Setting for her last five books. For more information on these and other Laura Ingalls Wilder sites visit: http://vvv.com/home/jenslegg/sites.htm Texas - Katherine Anne Porter Pale Horse, Pale Rider, The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter Katherine Anne Porter Museum
508 West Center Street
Kyle, TX 78640
(512) 268-2220
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/literary_tour/29373 Built in 1880, this historic home is a beautiful tribute to one of the nation’s most admired writers. Furnished with period pieces and collections of works by Southwest writers, artists, and poets, this home also displays a unique collection of Porter’s photographs, recordings, and videos. A collection of Porter’s letters and manuscripts is also maintained at this site. Prince Edward Island, Canada - LM Montgomery Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea Green Gables Prince Edward Island National Park. Off Rte. 6, west of Rte. 13. Built in the mid-1800s, the house was once the home of cousins of Lucy Maud Montgomery's grandfather. Their farm inspired the setting for her fictional novel, Anne of Green Gables. Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Cavendish Home
Cavendish (Anne's Land) Rte. 6, at Cavendish
http://www.peisland.com/lmm/ |
