A Christmas Carol At The Merchant's House

05/23/2026

Is it redundant to thank someone for sending a thank you note? No matter. Gratitude deepens with practice and repetition. Thank you for your thoughtful note of support . 🙏

05/21/2026

“I wondered how it could utter joyous leaves,
standing alone there,
without its friend,
its lover near—
for I knew I could not.”
- Live Oak, with Moss (Poem II)

Get your tickets today to see in Whitman in Love in the garden. Link in bio.

poetry LGBTQ Pride

05/19/2026

Thanks to Maya for helping us with the beautiful posters ! Get your tickets now for In Love, June 24-29, 2026. Link in bio.

05/17/2026

“I dreamed in a dream of a city where all the men were like brothers, O I saw them tenderly love each other––I often saw them, in numbers, walking hand in hand.”
– “Live Oak, with Moss” (poem IX)

Get your tickets today to see in Whitman in Love in the garden. Link in bio.

poetry LGBTQ Pride

05/17/2026

This remarkable 1865 photograph captures the profound, lifelong bond between Walt Whitman and Peter Doyle, a young Irish veteran and Washington D.C. streetcar conductor. Peter Doyle later recounted their stormy first meeting on a Washington streetcar in the winter of 1865: “He was the only passenger, it was a lonely night... We were familiar at once—I put my hand on his knee—we understood.” For years in D.C., the pair were inseparable. They took long walks, shared meals, and established a routine where Doyle would look out for Whitman at the end of his conductor shifts. To Whitman, Doyle was the living embodiment of his “Calamus” poems—the ideal of “manly attachment” and adhesive love. When separated, their correspondence was fiercely affectionate. Whitman wrote to Doyle in 1869, “Dear Pete, dear son, my darling boy... my love for you is unalterable.” Doyle, in turn, wrote of his aching desire to be reunited, preserving Whitman’s old clothing just to feel his presence. Reflecting on their bond after the poet’s death, Doyle beautifully remarked: “I do not ever for a minute lose the old man. He’s always near by.” In a world that lacked the modern vocabulary to define them, their locked gazes and resting hands spoke entirely for themselves. +

03/27/2026

A full house celebrating and by watching perform Killing an Evening with Edgar Allan Poe: Seance at the . We still have tickets available next week. Come see us before we close on April 5!

02/27/2026

In 1845, Edgar Allan Poe lived on Amity Street (now West 3rd Street), just blocks from the Merchant’s House. His publication of “The Raven” had brought him instant fame and invitations to the city’s most fashionable literary salons in the city, where he performed his work.

Join John Kevin Jones (A Christmas Carol at the Merchant’s House) in the Merchant’s House Museum’s double parlor for a hauntingly memorable performance of Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Cask of Amontillado,” “The Angel of the Odd” and, of course, “The Raven.” It will be a bone-chilling evening of irrational revenge … obsession and premeditated murder … dismemberment … and the very, very dark.

02/11/2026

Save the Merchant’s House!

We need your help! The developer has applied to the Landmarks Preservation Commission for a NEW building on the lot to the west. The proposed building is not only taller than the previous design, but also adds more bulk. All of which heightens the risk of irreparable damage and the real possibility of collapse!

The lot is in the NoHo Historic District – and the Merchant’s House is an exterior and interior landmark – so the proposed development must go through a series of public hearings. The first is this Wednesday; please attend and tell your friends!

Community Board 2
Landmarks Committee Public Meeting via ZOOM
Wednesday, February 11, 5:30 p.m.

Register via the link in out bio.