Barrow Bookstore Presents: Concord Trivia

QUESTIONS

1 Which 19th century suffragette spoke at the Concord School of Philosophy and wrote a famous poem that is now on the Statue of Liberty in New York?

2 Which of the following women attended the Concord School of Philosophy: a) Louisa May Alcott b) Margaret Fuller c) Julia Ward Howe d) Lucy Stone

3 Before the Alcotts moved to Concord in 1845, they lived in a utopian community in Harvard, MA. What was it called? a) Fruitlands b) Brook Farm c) October Farm d) Brewster’s Farm

4 Which of the following Concordians was arrested for not paying a poll tax? a) Bronson Alcott b) Ralph Waldo Emerson c) Frank Sanborn d) Henry David Thoreau

5 Play ball! Concord’s July 4, 1879 festivities included a baseball game against the “Diamonds” of Boston. The Concord team won by a convincing score of 36-2. What was the name of the Concord team? a) The “Revolutionaries” of Concord b) The “Minutemen” of Concord c) The “Concords” of Concord d) The “Transcendentalists” of Concord

6 Famous for his illustrations of books such as Kidnapped, Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe, Last of the Mohicans, and Men of Concord, original works by this prolific artist hang in the Concord Free Public Library. Who is the artist?

7 In 1862, while serving as a nurse in a crowded Civil War hospital, Louisa May Alcott suffered which of the below ailments: a) Spanish Flu b) Covid-62 c) Typhoid fever and pneumonia d) Sodium hypochlorite poisoning

8 Transcendentalism is most closely associated with which religion? a) Catholicism b) Puritanism c) Transylvanianism d) Unitarianism

9To name a few, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Bronson Alcott, Theodore Parker, Henry David Thoreau, William Henry Channing, Margaret Fuller, and Elizabeth Peabody belonged to which club that was started in 1836? a) The Diogenes Club b) The Transcendental Club c) The Junto Club d) The Boston Athenæum club

10 Solve the riddle! April 19th, 1775. I stood motionless as a tree, and quiet as a root cellar mouse. I watched through glassy eyes and was shot by a British soldier. I did not flinch, and I still stand tall with a bullet hole seen by all. Where am I?

ANSWERS

1 Emma Lazarus

2 All of them except B) Margaret Fuller, a famed transcendentalist who died in a shipwreck in 1850 before the school was opened. (Want to hear the story of the shipwreck? Listen to “The Strange Fate of the Bark Elizabeth” on Barrow Bookstore’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=3HyxgRNgkAw)

3 Fruitlands

4 A and D, Alcott and Thoreau. In 1842, Bronson Alcott refused to pay a poll tax to a government that supported slavery. For failing to pay the tax, Bronson was arrested and taken by a constable to the Concord jail. The jailor wasn’t there and the doors were locked. The constable left Bronson unattended and went to look for the jailor and the keys. Bronson patiently waited for two hours for someone to show up and incarcerate him. During that time, a friend, Judge Samuel Hoar, paid Bronson’s tax for him, thus sparing Bronson jail time but ruining his stance against the government.

Four years later, in 1846, for similar reasons, Thoreau also refused to pay a poll tax and spent one night in prison.

Bronson Alcott

Henry David Thoreau

5 C. The “Concords” of Concord

6 N.C. Wyeth

7 C. Typhoid fever and pneumonia

8 D. Unitarianism

9 B. The Transcendental Club

10 The Bullet-Hole House on Monument Street, diagonally across the road from the Old Manse. In 1775, this was the home of Concord blacksmith Elisha Jones. After the battle at the North Bridge, a retreating British soldier shot at Jones who was standing in his doorway. The bullet lodged in the doorframe where it can still be seen today from the street.