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Walt Whitman House Historic Site Overview

- "Who, constructing the house of himself or herself, not for a day, but for all time, sees races, eras, dates, generations, The past, the future, dwelling there, like space, inseparable together."
-Walt Whitman "Leaves of Grass"

Step back in time to the humble dwelling of the "Good Gray Poet," Walt Whitman. Constructed in 1848, this modest wooden-framed structure built in Greek-revival style was the only home ever owned by Walt Whitman. Here is where Whitman grew to international fame as the author of "Leaves of Grass," hosted visitors from around the world and completed his last comprehensive volume of poetry before his death in 1892. Today, as a New Jersey State Historic Site and a National Historic Landmark, the restored Whitman House welcomes visitors from around the world who come to experience the last worldly surroundings of America's “Poet of Democracy."

"Camden was originally an accident, but I shall never be sorry I was left over in Camden. It has brought me blessed returns." - Walt Whitman

In 1884, Walt Whitman purchased a modest two-story frame house on Mickle Street for $1,750. He lived there until his death in 1892, at the age of seventy-two.

He had come to Camden years earlier, in 1873, and lived with his brother George on nearby Stevens Street. By this time, Whitman's international reputation attracted the attention of the day’s most prominent literary figures. Among them, Bram Stoker and Oscar Wilde came to Camden to visit America's greatest poet.

When George and his wife Louisa decided to move to rural Burlington, NJ, Walt chose to stay in Camden. With the surprising success of the 1882 edition of Leaves of Grass, Whitman was able to purchase his own home. He soon met Mary O. Davis, the widow of a sea captain, who was renting a house on West Street. The aging poet proposed that she move into his empty house with her furniture, rent free, and keep house for him. He would provide the living expenses and pay her a small salary. Mrs. Davis moved in and remained with Whitman until his death on March 26, 1892. Whitman had always referred to Mary as his housekeeper and friend.

During his years in Camden, Whitman became a friend of the Philadelphia artist, Thomas Eakins. These two giants of nineteenth-century American culture found much to admire in each other's work. Each in his own medium broke with conventions, creating something new and distinctly American. Eakins photographed Whitman and painted his portrait.

Today the Walt Whitman House, a National Historic Landmark, provides an intimate glimpse into the life of the poet, attracting visitors from around the world. Whitman's original letters, personal belongings, the bed in which he died and the death notice that was nailed to the front door have all been preserved, as well as a collection of rare nineteenth-century photographs, including the earliest known image of Whitman - an 1848 daguerreotype.

Visits to the Whitman House are by guided tour only and are limited in size. Please call to speak with a staff member before visiting to confirm hours and tour availability. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays, most state and federal holidays, and Wednesdays following Monday or Tuesday holidays. For current schedule or to make a reservation call 856-964-5383.

Walt Whitman in Mickle Street
When asked why he chose Camden as his home, Whitman replied, "Camden was originally an accident, but I shall never be sorry I was left over in Camden, It has brought me blessed returns." Join us for a tour of Walt Whitman's home in Camden on Mickle Street (today's Mickle/Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard). Here we will explore the great writer's last residence, discuss everyday life and share the thoughts of the many visitors who came to see the aging poet in his final years. Admission is free. Call 856-964-5383 for tour times and to schedule a visit.

Tours Scheduled by Appointment
Wednesday through Saturday between the hours of: 10 a.m. to noon, 1 to 4 p.m.
Sunday: 1 to 4 p.m. Tours are limited in size. Call to speak to a staff member before visiting to confirm hours and tour availability. Please note: the schedule may be subject to change. Call for current times 856-964-5383.

Admission
Free

Group Tours & School Programs
Available by reservation. Group reservations are required two weeks in advance of your planned visit. Call: 856-964-5383

I CELEBRATE myself
And what I assume you shall assume
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you
I loafe and invite my soul
I lean and loafe at my ease....observing a spear of summer grass.

Leaves of Grass

With these lines, a then unknown Walt Whitman introduced himself to the literary world of his day. In 1855, at his own expense, he published a book called Leaves of Grass. Of the 795 copies printed, almost none were sold. But in time, this small book, just 95 pages long, would alter the course of world literature.

During the first half of the 19th century, Americans looked for signs of an emerging cultural style distinct from European precedents. American artists flocked to Niagara Falls to capture on canvas a sight that was truly American.

America's leading man of letters, Ralph Waldo Emerson, called for a new kind of poet, an American bard who would create a new kind of poetry.

"For it is not metres, but a metre-making argument, that makes a poem, - a thought so passionate and alive, that, like the spirit of a plant or an animal, it has an architecture of its own, and adorns nature with a new thing."

Ralph Waldo Emerson, "The Poet" (1844)

While many American poets abandoned European subjects, they continued to follow European conventions of form. Whitman, who had discovered Emerson's work in the early 1850s, abandoned these conventions, opening the line of the poem to allow greater freedom of expression. He later said: I was simmering, simmering, simmering; Emerson brought me to a boil.

Whitman sent Emerson a copy of the new book and received the following reply:

Concord, Massachusetts, 21 July, 1855

Dear Sir,

I am not blind to the worth of the wonderful gift of Leaves of Grass. I find it the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America has yet contributed...I greet you at the beginning of a great career....

Ralph Waldo Emerson

The rhythmic cadences of Leaves of Grass, America's first epic poem, reflect the influence of the King James version of the Bible. Expressing the optimism of "manifest destiny" and the emerging importance of individual experience, Whitman addresses the world as a prophet of a new kind of poetry:

Have you reckon'd a thousand acres much? have you reckon'd the earth much?
Have you practis'd so long to learn to read?
Have you felt so proud to get at the meaning of poems?
Stop this day and night with me, and you shall possess the origin of all poems;
You shall possess the good of the earth and sun...there are millions of suns left,
You shall no longer take things at second or third hand, nor look through the eyes of the dead,
nor feed on the spectres in books,
You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me,
You shall listen to all sides, and filter them from yourself.

Leaves of Grass

In 1862, shocked by the news that his brother George, a colonel in the Union Army, had been wounded, Whitman left New York for Washington, D.C. where he spent the remainder of the war working as a nurse in the field hospitals. Unlike most prominent writers of the period, Whitman witnessed first-hand the suffering of the war. Lincoln's assassination had a profound impact on Whitman. From his grief came the greatest literary work of the Civil War period, the American elegy, "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd":

When lilacs last in the door-yard bloom'd,
And the great star early droop'd in the western sky in the night,
I mourn'd and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring.
Ever-returning spring, trinity sure to me you bring;
Lilac blooming perennial, and drooping star in the west,
And thought of him I love...

Leaves of Grass

During his years in Camden, Whitman continued to edit and expand Leaves of Grass. In addition to his poetry, Whitman published major prose works during these years: Specimen Days and Collect (1882) and November Boughs (1888). Whitman's faithful companion during his final years and later his biographer, Horace Traubel, visited Whitman regularly and recorded with great detail the last years of the poet's life. In 1891, Horace helped Whitman publish the ninth and final version of Leaves of Grass. This, with the annex of a collection of recent poems titled Good-bye My Fancy, was to be the definitive form of Whitman's great work. Whitman died at his home on March 26, 1892. He was buried at Harleigh Cemetery in Camden.

These lesson plans were developed for teachers to use in conjunction with a class visit to the Walt Whitman House in Camden, New Jersey, the poet’s home in the last years of his life. He came to Camden in 1873 where he lived with his brother George. By this time in his career, Whitman had earned an international reputation and attracted the attention of the day's most prominent literary figures. Among them, Charles Dickens and Oscar Wilde came to visit Whitman. In 1884 he purchased his home, the only house he ever owned, at 328 Mickle Street. He lived there until his death in 1892. Whitman is considered one of this country's greatest poets. Invigorating poetry with a fresh, original voice, Whitman amazed his contemporaries. Among them, Ralph Waldo Emerson described Whitman's 1855 Leaves of Grass as the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America has yet contributed.

Please click on the links below to download the desired lesson plan.

Walt Whitman and The Worker - Lesson Plans for Grades 4-6

Walt Whitman and The Civil War - Lesson Plans for Grades 7-9

Walt Whitman and Nineteenth-Century America - Lesson Plans for Grades 7-12

Facilities for People with Disabilities
We encourage people with disabilities who require special considerations to contact the historic site / park at the phone number listed in the general information on the home page of the historic site / park. The staff will assist with arrangements. Text telephone (TT) users, please call the NJ Relay Services at (800) 852-7899.

For the Comfort and Enjoyment of All
This historic site / park is part of the NJ State Park system and your cooperation with the following will help ensure the survival of the museum collections, historic structures & features and surrounding property for the enjoyment and education of future generations!

  • Keep your historic site / park and surrounding property clean and green! Protect this site by taking your trash with you. Whatever you carry into the site, plan on carrying it out too. Bring a bag or two for trash, recycling and cleaning up after your pet. There are no trash receptacles at this site. Thank you!
  • No Smoking on NJ State Park Service Property. Pursuant to N.J.P.L.2005, c.383 (C.26:3D-56)
  • Alcoholic beverages are not permitted at state historic sites [ N.J.A.C. 7:2-2.6]
  • The collection or removal of any object from State Park property is prohibited without written permission from the Superintendent.
  • Use of metal detecting devices on or unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) on or over the property is not permitted without a special use permit (SUP) from the State historic site / park.
  • Commercial photography is not permitted on the property without a special use permit (SUP) from the historic site / park.
  • Interior photography, videotaping or audio taping are not permitted in the historic structure / visitor center / museum, except by prior written permission and for educational purposes only.
  • Non-commercial photography is permitted on the property (outside), but please help preserve the historic site / park and any surrounding property by not attaching anything to, climbing or sitting on historic structures and features or disturbing any plants, wild or cultivated. Photography may not interfere with other visitors to the historic site / park or impede site operations.
  • Food and beverages; pets/animals, except for service animals, are not permitted in the historic structure / visitor center / museum.
  • Please refrain from touching objects/furnishings in and building components of historic structures and museums, except where invited to do so by staff.

Please contact this historic site / park with specific inquiries about any of these restrictions, as there may be some variations at this specific historic site / park.

Related Links

The Walt Whitman Archive(link is external)
Walt Whitman Archive(link is external)
The Mickle Street Review (Rutgers University)(link is external)

General

Phone Number
856-964-5383

Address
328 Mickle Boulevard/Martin Luther King Jr.Blvd, Camden, NJ 08103

Email Address
whitmanhse@dep.nj.gov

Historic Site Hours

Grounds Hours Please call the site for hours of operation.
Tour Hours Please call the site for hours of operation.

Historic Site Fees

Entrance Fee Admission is free, program fees may apply.

Other Related Fees
Map / Directions

GPS Coordinates
39.942460, -75.123494