Emily
Dickinson
1830-1886
&
Born Emily Elizabeth Dickinson in Amherst, Massachusetts on
December 10, 1830 to Edward and Emily Norcross Dickinson.
She had an older brother Austin and a younger sister, Lavinia.
&
Born in Puritan Massachusetts and raised in the strict
Christian tradition, although later in life Emily would challenge the Christian
beliefs.
&
She had Bright’s disease- any of several kidney diseases
marked by albumin in the urine.
&
Her grandfather, Samuel Fowler Dickinson was one of the
founders of Amherst College. Emily’s
father was an attorney and later was the treasurer for Amherst College, served
as state representative and a state senator.
&
Emily’s family was very prominent and political within
Amherst society.
&
She received a formal education that was far beyond the
level that was then achieved by most Americans. She attended the Amherst Academy (1840-46) and a year at Mt.
Holyoke (1848), a seminary school. At
least half of her studies were in the Sciences.
&
Emily began her life of seclusion after her return from
Holyoke. She only saw a close few
friends.
&
She began to write poetry seriously in her early twenties.
&
Emily only traveled out of Amherst on several occasions;
once to Philadelphia for medical help regarding her eyes; once to Washington
D.C. to visit her father; and a few trips to Boston.
&
On these trips, she met several influential individuals:
Charles Wadsworth, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Samuel Bowles, and J.G. Holland.
&
April 15, 1862, Emily sent Higginson a letter with four of
her poems for his advice.
&
By the Civil War, Emily had already written half of her
canon.
&
During the Civil War, Emily wrote about 800 poems, the
turmoil of the country came through in her work.
&
After the late 1860’s, Emily never left the boundaries of
her family’s property.
&
Between the years of 1874 and 1882, Emily lost several
people close to her: Her father (1874), Samuel Bowles (1878), J.G. Holland
(1881), her nephew Gilbert (1883), and both her mother and Charles Wadsworth in
1882.
&
Emily died in the house she was born in on May 15, 1886 at
the age of 56 leaving behind close to 2,000 poems that were not to be seen until
4 years after her death when they are published.
DICKINSON AND THE CIVIL WAR: Click here for a sobering website that
places Dickinson’s
poems next to Mathew Brady’s photographs from the battle fields of the Civil
War.
Web Sites:
http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/fdw/volume2/smith/f24.html
http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~emilypg/
http://www.cwru.edu/affil/edis/edisindex.html
Created by Danielle
Vaughn, edited by LG.
Emily
Dickinson
1830-1886
&
Born Emily Elizabeth Dickinson in Amherst, Massachusetts on
December 10, 1830 to Edward and Emily Norcross Dickinson.
She had an older brother Austin and a younger sister, Lavinia.
&
Born in Puritan Massachusetts and raised in the strict
Christian tradition, although later in life Emily would challenge the Christian
beliefs.
&
She had Bright’s disease- any of several kidney diseases
marked by albumin in the urine.
&
Her grandfather, Samuel Fowler Dickinson was one of the
founders of Amherst College. Emily’s
father was an attorney and later was the treasurer for Amherst College, served
as state representative and a state senator.
&
Emily’s family was very prominent and political within
Amherst society.
&
She received a formal education that was far beyond the
level that was then achieved by most Americans. She attended the Amherst Academy (1840-46) and a year at Mt.
Holyoke (1848), a seminary school. At
least half of her studies were in the Sciences.
&
Emily began her life of seclusion after her return from
Holyoke. She only saw a close few
friends.
&
She began to write poetry seriously in her early twenties.
&
Emily only traveled out of Amherst on several occasions;
once to Philadelphia for medical help regarding her eyes; once to Washington
D.C. to visit her father; and a few trips to Boston.
&
On these trips, she met several influential individuals:
Charles Wadsworth, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Samuel Bowles, and J.G. Holland.
&
April 15, 1862, Emily sent Higginson a letter with four of
her poems for his advice.
&
By the Civil War, Emily had already written half of her
canon.
&
During the Civil War, Emily wrote about 800 poems, the
turmoil of the country came through in her work.
&
After the late 1860’s, Emily never left the boundaries of
her family’s property.
&
Between the years of 1874 and 1882, Emily lost several
people close to her: Her father (1874), Samuel Bowles (1878), J.G. Holland
(1881), her nephew Gilbert (1883), and both her mother and Charles Wadsworth in
1882.
&
Emily died in the house she was born in on May 15, 1886 at
the age of 56 leaving behind close to 2,000 poems that were not to be seen until
4 years after her death when they are published.
Click here for a sobering website that places Dickinson’s poems next
to Matthew Brady’s photographs from the battle fields of the Civil War.
Web Sites:
http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/fdw/volume2/smith/f24.html
http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~emilypg/
http://www.cwru.edu/affil/edis/edisindex.html
