Today In History: Emily Dickinson Is Born

A soft Sea washed around the House,

A Sea of Summer Air,

And rose and fell the magic Planks

That sailed without a care.

For Captain was the Butterfly,

For Helmsman was the Bee,

And an entire universe

For the delighted crew.

-- Emily Dickinson

"A Soft Sea Washed Around the House"

Born in Amherst, Massachusetts on December 10th, 1830 to Edward Dickinson, a prominent lawyer, Congressman, and treasurer of Amherst College, and his reserved wife, Emily Norcross Dickinson, Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was the middle child, a younger sister to brother Austin, and older sister to Lavinia. Their family mansion, the Dickinson Homestead, was located on Amherst's main street and served as her home for most of her life.  She studied at nearby Amherst Academy for seven years and then briefly at Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in Hadley, Massachusetts.  She was known to enjoy baking in early years and to wear white in later ones, particularly as her health declined.

Emily Dickinson chose to live in seclusion. She never married, like Lavinia, but maintained close family relations and friendships, often through correspondences. To her sister in law, Susan Huntington Gilbert Dickson, Emily is believed to have written some 300 letters.  Adding to the mysteriousness and confidentiality of her life, Lavinia fulfilled her sister's wishes to burn them.

During her lifetime, only ten of Emily Dickinson's poems were published, but a treasure trove of some 1,800 poems were discovered by Lavinia after her sister's death on May 15th, 1886. They were published posthumously to great acclaim. The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson represents the first full edition of her poetry, following a three-volume set in 1955, with works gathered and edited by scholar Thomas H. Johnson. 

Emily Dickinson's most prolific and creative period of writing occurred from 1861-1865, when she grew an interest in themes such as nature, life, death, and faith.  She is considered one of America's most significant and influential poets due to her unique style and vision. Her poems are succinct, emotional, creative, and bold in their use of punctuation and rhyme, and her work is taught in schools of all levels and indeed throughout the world, with enduring application to the study and teaching of literature.

The following articles are drawn from Proquest Historical Newspapers, which informs and inspires classroom teaching and learning.

• Dickinson Fans Will Welcome New Collection: Bolts of Melody. The Washington Post (1923-1954) 
• Grove, L. (1951, May 06). A Very Human Emily Dickinson: Emily Dickinson's Letters to Dr. and Mrs. Josiah Gilbert Holland. The Washington Post (1923-1954) 
• NardiI, R. C. (1972, Jun 11). Emily Dickinson Still Lives in Amherst: ' Called Back,' Emily Lives. New York Times (1923-) 
• Studying an American Icon: Emily Dickinson Revisited: Books.  1986, Nov 13). The Christian Science Monitor (1908-) 
• Remnick, D.  (1986, May 03). The Poetic Pilgrimage: Paying Tribute at the Folger to Emily Dickinson & Her Legacy Emily Dickinson Exhibit. The Washington Post (1974-) 
• Belfry, C. B. (1986, May 18). The Riddles of Emily Dickinson: 'Terrorism: How the West Can Win'/7 Emily Dickinson. New York Times (1923-) 
• Studying an American Icon: Emily Dickinson Revisited. (1986, Nov 13). The Christian Science Monitor (1908-) 
• Zadravec, C.  (1986, Dec 16). The Strange Invention Called Hope: Some Lessons from Emily Dickinson. The Washington Post (1974-) 
• Driscoll, M. (2011, Nov 28). Emily Dickinson Birthday Bash in Tucson: 'The Big Read' . The Christian Science Monitor (1908-) 
• Lucy, S. B. (2020, Aug 08). A Choice of Emily Dickinson's Verse (1968): Old Favourites. The Irish Times (1921-) 

Tips:

• Balderston, Jean Merrill. The Edward Dickinsons of Amherst : A Family Analysis. Teachers College, Ed.D, 1968. Closed Stacks Dissertations ; HQ734 .B35 1968.
• Dickinson, Emily, et al. Emily Dickinson. Sterling Pub. Co. ; Distributed in Great Britain and Europe by Cassell PLC Villiers House ; Distributed in Australia by Capricorn Link Pty, 1994.  Closed Stacks Juvenile ; PS1541 .A1 1994.
• Dickinson, Emily. Emily Dickinson : Poetry for Kids. Edited by Susan Snively, Illustrated by Christine Davenier, 1st ed., MoonDance, 2016.  e-book.
• Emily Dickinson Archive: An Open Access Website for the Manuscripts of Emily Dickinson.
• Emily Dickinson Collection. Harvard University.
• Miller, Cristanne. Reading in Time: Emily Dickinson in the Nineteenth Century. 1st ed., University of Massachusetts Press, 2012. e-book.
• Noble, Marianne, et al., editors. Emily Dickinson and Philosophy. 1st ed., Cambridge University Press, 2013.  e-book.
• Pollak, Vivian R. A Historical Guide to Emily Dickinson. Edited by Vivian R. Pollak, 1st ed., Oxford University Press, 2004. e-book.
• Sharma, Maya. Poetry and Meditation : The Education of Emily Dickinson. Teachers College, Ed.D.  1983.  Closed Stacks Dissertations ; PS1541.Z5 S53 1983.
• White, Fred D. Approaching Emily Dickinson : Critical Currents and Crosscurrents since 1960. Boydell & Brewer, 2008. e-book.

Images:

• Emily Dickinson Homestead / Museum, Amherst, Massachusetts, Wikimedia Commons.
• Black-White Photograph of Emily Dickinson, Wikimedia Commons.

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