Visitor Center Exhibits

"Plays in the barn were a favorite amusement," wrote Louisa May Alcott about her childhood at The Wayside. Today, the Visitor Center is located in this historic structure next to the house.
Vivid graphics connect the Wayside authors to one another, to their fellow authors and to major events in American history and literature.
Lifelike sculptures of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Louisa and Bronson Alcott, and Margaret Sidney, and an audio program bring their words and works to life.

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The Wayside Barn, shown here in the foreground, is now used as a visitor center. This structure was once located on the opposite side of the house. Nathaniel Hawthorne moved it to its present location in 1860. Inside, exhibits detail the history of the house and its families.

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The exhibit, entitled "The Wayside: The House, Its Authors and the Creation of An American Literary Heritage" features lifesize cast figures of the Wayside authors in typical activities. Here, Bronson Alcott writes in his journal while his teenage daughter, Louisa, plays the part of Count Rodolpho in her play Norna; Or, The Witches Curse. Scenes from her play and passages from letters and journals in the authors' own words are dramatically recreated in an audio program.

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Exhibit graphics depict the historical eras that The Wayside has witnessed. The panels shown here explore America's Colonial and Revolutionary War periods, its struggle over slavery, the impact of industrialization, and the development of its literary heritage.

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A sculpture, based on firsthand accounts and actual artifacts, shows Nathaniel Hawthorne working at his standup writing desk. Visitors can see the original desk in Hawthorne's 1860 Tower Study during a tour of the house.
In the foreground, children's author Harriett Lothrop (Margaret Sidney) is seated in her favorite chair.

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The exhibit panel, just to the right of Louisa May Alcott, explores the changing philosophy of education in the first half of the 19th century. After 1800, children were increasingly seen as naturally good. Education aimed to teach them positive examples, ideas, values and ways of behaving. Bronson Alcott was an early advocate and innovator of new child-centered theories of education.

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The panel to the right of Hawthorne looks at the development of children's literature during the last half of the 19th century. The Wayside authors - Louisa May Alcott, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Margaret Sidney - all wrote moral tales for children that would be reprinted well into the 20th century.
The final exhibit describes the efforts of the Lothrop family to preserve The Wayside and other historic properties for the education and enjoyment of future generations.