Helen Hunt Jackson

Helen Hunt Jackson was an accomplished poet, author, and activist in the 19th century. A couple of her written works, A Century of Dishonor (1881) and Ramona (1884), advocated against the mistreatment of Native Americans by the US government. Jackson not only had a successful literary career, but she also made contributions towards the welfare of Native Americans.

Jackson was born in 1830 as Helen Maria Fiske in Amherst, Massachusetts. She went to Amherst Academy where she made a lifelong friendship with Emily Dickinson, who became a notable American writer. Around age 11, Jackson transferred to Ipswich Female Seminary in Ipswich, Massachusetts. After both of her parents died from tuberculosis, she moved to New York City to attend Abbot Boarding School.

In 1852, Jackson married US army captain and mechanical engineer Edward Bissell Hunt. She enjoyed traveling with him to different stations, meeting many writers who influenced her career.

Soon after they married, they had a son, but he died of a brain disease less than a year after he was born. Then they had a second son in 1855. Unfortunately, Jackson was struck by further tragedy when her husband was killed in an accident involving a submarine. Two years later, she lost her second son to diphtheria. The loss of her family drove Jackson to write.

Jackson discovered that writing helped her express her anguish and suffering. Her writings proved to be more than just emotional support, as her published poems received recognition and she gained financial compensation. In 1886, Jackson moved to Newport, Rhode Island to begin her literary career. She published many works in this time under a variety of pseudonyms until she settled on the alias H.H.

Because Jackson battled with her own illness, she moved to Colorado Springs in 1874 in the hope that the climate would soothe her. It was here that she established herself as a writer and remarried in 1875.

She made many trips throughout her career. During one of her trips, she attended a reception for the Ponca Native American tribe in Boston in 1879, While there, Jackson was moved by a speech given by Chief Standing Bear on the relocation of the Ponca from Nebraska to the Quapaw Reservation in Oklahoma. She developed a strong interest in activism and a passionate concern for the struggles Native Americans face.

This inspired her to write A Century of Dishonor (1881), an expose of the crimes of Native Americans by the US government, which led to the founding of the Indian Rights Association. In 1884, Jackson published Ramona, a fictitious account on the struggles of Mission Indians.

In 1885, Jackson succumbed to her battle with stomach cancer. Her passion for helping Native Americans, through her publications, essays, and poems, would be used by Native American activist groups, such as Women’s International Indian Association and the Indian Rights Association for generations to come. They would make an impact on future legislation.

Jackson’s poem “Tides,” featured in October 11, 1900 Gloucester County Democrat.

This article, featured in February 27, 1902 The Jersey City News, describes how the Women’s Club Literature Department held a meeting on American Women writers. One writer they specifically focused on was Helen Hunt Jackson. They mentioned how “it was the truthfulness of Mrs. Jackson’s poetry more than anything else that exalted her to such heights. She portrayed things as they were.”

Featured in August 25, 1917 Perth Amboy Evening News, this segment advertises a theater production of Jackson’s Ramona.

(Contributed by Kristi Chanda)

References:

“Helen Hunt Jackson.” (2021). Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation. Received from www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/helen-hunt-jackson.

Yongli. (2019). “Helen Hunt Jackson.” Articles | Colorado Encyclopedia. Received from coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/helen-hunt-jackson#page-title.