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YOU ARE INVITED TO TEA AT WHITTIER’S HOUSE

First you will get a chance to tour this amazing museum, the home of poet John Greenleaf Whittier for 56 years. It has remained largely unchanged since his death in 1892. Then you will be served an elegant traditional tea. During tea you will get the chance to ask questions about the fascinating Whittier Home and the life of the poet.

Whittier was known first as an abolitionist and newspaper editor and a Quaker citizen of the Merrimack Valley. His rise to fame began at the close of the Civil War with the publication of his poem "Snowbound" that became an instant bestseller.

Whittier lived in this modest house with his sister and mother, and remained here as a lifelong bachelor as his fame grew with his expansive canon of poems, many based on legends from the mountains and Seacoast of New Hampshire where he loved to vacation. Whittier was a frequent visitor to the Isles of Shoals where he befriended island poet Celia Thaxter and also her friend poet Sarah Orne Jewettt of South Berwick, Maine.

The Whittier house is filled with the furnishings, books, paintings, portraits and belongings of the Whittier family. The rooms are largely unchanged and Whittier’s study, where he wrote much of his poetry including Snow Bound, looks as if he just left it for a brisk walk around the neighborhood.

To schedule your tea with the museum manager, please call Pat at 978-388-1337 for reservations and directions. (And don’t forget to mention that you heard about it on SeacoastNH.com.) Groups of from four to eight are welcomed for tea that includes tea sandwiches and assorted pastries. Tea and tour takes about two hours and tickets are $10 each. Senior discounts are available.

See the SeacoastNH.com photo tour of the Whittier House museum and watch for updates. And read Whittier’s poem "New Hampshire" and others on SeacoastNH.com.