Theodore P. Greene

A thoroughly engaging volume for readers interested in learning about the town of Amherst and "the soil from which Emily Dickinson emerged." The contents are arranged chronologically in four parts: "The Factionalism of the Founding Fathers 1730-1800," "The Enterprises, Contentions, Civic Consciousness, and Customs of Nineteenth Century Amherst," "The Self-Conscious Small Town 1900-1945" and "The Great Change 1946-1976." The five essays that comprise Part Two are of particular interest, especially the piece by Polly Longsworth titled "The Growth of Civic Consciousness," Helen von Schmidt's "An Amherst Neighborhood in 1870" and "Two Generations of Amherst Society," by Susan H. Dickinson. According to the book's Preface, "The most fortunate discovery of this whole enterprise came when Jean Mudge and Polly Longsworth, two scholars of the Dickinson family, unearthed Sue Dickinson's immensely engaging, heretofore unpublished account of the foibles and features of Amherst society during almost sixty years in the nineteenth century." Jean McClure Mudge was first curator of the Homestead in the 1970s, producer of the documentary film "Emily Dickinson: A Certain Slant of Light" with Julie Harris, and author of "Emily Dickinson and the Image of Home" and "Emily Dickinson: Profile of the Poet as Cook." Polly Longsworth's invaluable contributions includes "Austin and Mabel," "The World of Emily Dickinson" and "The Dickinsons of Amherst," to name but a few.… (mere)