Susan Gilbert Dickinson

Susan Gilbert Dickinson was a writer, editor, and the wife of Austin Dickinson, the brother of the renowned poet Emily Dickinson. She was born in Old Deerfield, Massachusetts, and spent most of her life in Amherst, Massachusetts, where she was part of the town's literary and social circle, which included notable figures such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Thomas Wentworth Higginson. Her life was deeply intertwined with that of her sister-in-law, Emily Dickinson, with whom she shared a complex and intimate relationship. As a member of the Dickinson family, she was also connected to other prominent families in the area, including the Norcross family and the Bullard family.

● Early Life and Education

Susan Gilbert Dickinson was born on December 19, 1830, in Old Deerfield, Massachusetts, to Thomas Gilbert and Harriet Arms Gilbert. She was the youngest of three children, and her family was part of the local Congregational Church. She attended the Amherst Academy and later the Ipswich Female Seminary, where she received a solid education in literature, music, and art, similar to other women of her time, such as Elizabeth Palmer Peabody and Mary Lyon. Her education was influenced by the Transcendentalist movement, which emphasized individualism and intellectual freedom, and was popularized by thinkers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. She was also exposed to the works of prominent writers, including William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and John Keats.

● Marriage and Family

In 1856, Susan Gilbert Dickinson married Austin Dickinson, the brother of Emily Dickinson, in a ceremony attended by friends and family, including Edward Dickinson, Emily Norcross Dickinson, and Lavinia Norcross Dickinson. The couple had three children: Edward Dickinson, Gilbert Dickinson, and Martha Dickinson Bianchi. Her marriage to Austin Dickinson brought her into the Dickinson family circle, which included notable figures such as Edward Dickinson, a prominent lawyer and treasurer of Amherst College, and Emily Norcross Dickinson, a homemaker and mother. Her family was also connected to other prominent families in the area, including the Norcross family and the Bullard family, and she was friends with women such as Abigail Wood, Helen Hunt Jackson, and Mabel Loomis Todd.

● Relationship with Emily Dickinson

Susan Gilbert Dickinson's relationship with Emily Dickinson was complex and multifaceted, and has been the subject of much speculation and debate among scholars, including Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Mabel Loomis Todd, and Millicent Todd Bingham. The two women were sisters-in-law, but they also shared a deep emotional bond, which is evident in the many letters they exchanged, including those published in The Letters of Emily Dickinson and The Poems of Emily Dickinson. Emily Dickinson often sought Susan Gilbert Dickinson's opinion on her poetry, and Susan Gilbert Dickinson was one of the few people who knew about Emily Dickinson's writing, along with Thomas Wentworth Higginson and Helena Hunt Jackson. Their relationship was also influenced by the social and cultural norms of the time, including the Victorian era's emphasis on female domesticity and the Women's suffrage movement's push for greater equality.

● Literary Involvement and Legacy

Susan Gilbert Dickinson was a writer and editor in her own right, and she played an important role in promoting Emily Dickinson's poetry after her death, working closely with Mabel Loomis Todd and Thomas Wentworth Higginson to publish Emily Dickinson's poems in The Atlantic Monthly and other prominent literary magazines. She was also a member of the Amherst Literary Society, which included other notable writers and intellectuals, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Julia Ward Howe. Her own writing was influenced by the Transcendentalist movement and the Romantic movement, and she was particularly drawn to the works of William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and John Keats. Her legacy as a writer and editor has been recognized by scholars, including Richard Sewall, Christopher Benfey, and Doris Grumbach, who have written about her contributions to Emily Dickinson's poetry and her own literary achievements.

● Personal Life and Later Years

In her later years, Susan Gilbert Dickinson continued to live in Amherst, Massachusetts, where she remained a prominent figure in the town's literary and social circle, attending events at Amherst College and participating in the Amherst Historical Society. She was also a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Colonial Dames of America, and she was involved in various charitable organizations, including the Amherst Red Cross and the Amherst Hospital. She died on May 12, 1913, at the age of 82, and was buried in the West Cemetery in Amherst, Massachusetts, alongside her husband Austin Dickinson and other members of the Dickinson family, including Edward Dickinson, Emily Norcross Dickinson, and Lavinia Norcross Dickinson. Her life and legacy continue to be celebrated by scholars and literary enthusiasts, including those at Harvard University, Yale University, and the Emily Dickinson Museum. Category:American writers