NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Helen Hunt Jackson

Helen Maria Hunt Jackson (October 18, 1830 - August 12, 1885) was an American writer best known as the author of Ramona, a novel about the ill treatment of Native Americans in southern California. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 501 Ã— 599 pixelsFull resolutionâ€Ž (535 Ã— 640 pixels, file size: 50 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Date 1888 Author A. Frank Randall Permission (Reusing this image) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 501 Ã— 599 pixelsFull resolutionâ€Ž (535 Ã— 640 pixels, file size: 50 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Date 1888 Author A. Frank Randall Permission (Reusing this image) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... is the 291st day of the year (292nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Liberty Leading the People by EugÃ¨ne Delacroix commemorates the July Revolution 1830 (MDCCCXXX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... is the 224th day of the year (225th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1885 (MDCCCLXXXV) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... A writer is anyone who creates a written work, although the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... Ramona is a novel written by Helen Hunt Jackson and published in 1884. ... This article is about the people indigenous to the United States. ... This article is about the region of Southern California. ...

Biography

She was born Helen Maria Fiske in Amherst, Massachusetts, a daughter of Nathan Welby Fiske and Deborah Waterman Vinal. She had two brothers, both of whom died after birth, and a sister named Anne. Her father was a minister, author, and professor of Latin, Greek, and philosophy at Amherst College. Location in Massachusetts Coordinates: Country United States State Massachusetts County Hampshire County Settled 1703 Incorporated 1775 Government - Type Representative town meeting Area - Town 27. ... For other uses, see Latin (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ... Amherst College is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, USA. It is the third oldest college in Massachusetts. ...

Her mother died in 1844, and her father died three years later in 1847, leaving her to the care of an aunt. Before her father's death, however, he saw to it that she had a good education. She attended Ipswich Female Seminary and the Abbott Institute, a boarding school run by Reverend J.S.C. Abbott in New York City. She was a classmate of the poet Emily Dickinson, also from Amherst. The two carried on a correspondence for all of their lives, but few of their letters have survived. New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Emily Dickinson (December 10, 1830 â€“ May 15, 1886) was an American poet. ...

In 1852, Helen Fiske married United States Army Captain Edward Bissell Hunt, who died in a military accident in 1863. Her son Murray Hunt died in 1854 of a brain disease; her other son, Rennie Hunt, died of diphtheria in 1865. She began writing after these deaths. The United States Army is the largest and oldest branch of the armed forces of the United States. ... Please see Captain (military) for other versions of this rank Captain is a rank in the United States armed forces that ranks between a First Lieutenant and Major (O-3 in the United States Army, U.S. Air Force, and United States Marines), or a rank between a Commander and...

She travelled a great deal. In the winter of 1873-1874 she was in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in search of a cure for tuberculosis. There she met William Sharpless Jackson, a wealthy banker and railroad executive. They married in 1875. She died of cancer in 1885. Colorado Springs is most populous Home Rule Municipality in the State of Colorado. ... Tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB for tubercle bacillus or Tuberculosis) is a common and deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacteria, mainly Mycobacterium tuberculosis. ... Cancer is a class of diseases or disorders characterized by uncontrolled division of cells and the ability of these to spread, either by direct growth into adjacent tissue through invasion, or by implantation into distant sites by metastasis (where cancer cells are transported through the bloodstream or lymphatic system). ...

Scholars know her as Helen Hunt Jackson, but she never used that name herself—she only used one married name at a time: Helen Hunt or Helen Jackson.

Helen Jackson and American Indian policy

In 1879, her interests turned to the plight of the Native Americans after attending a lecture in Boston by Ponca Chief Standing Bear, who described the forcible removal of the Ponca Indians from their Nebraska reservation. Jackson was angered by what she heard regarding the unfair treatment at the hands of government agents and became an activist. She started investigating and publicizing the wrongdoing, circulating petitions, raising money, and writing letters to The New York Times on behalf of the Poncas. She also started writing a book condemning the Indian policy of the government and the history of broken treaties. Because she was in poor health at the time, she wrote with desperate haste. A Century of Dishonor, calling for change from the contemptible, selfish policy to treatment characterized by humanity and justice, was published in 1881. Jackson then sent a copy to every member of Congress with an admonishment printed in red on the cover, "Look upon your hands: they are stained with the blood of your relations." But, to her disappointment, the book had little impact. Boston redirects here. ... The Ponca are a Native American tribe originally living around the mouth of the [[Niobrara River],] Nebraska, but was later removed to the Indian Territory. ... Standing Bear Standing Bear (1834(?) - 1908) was a Ponca Native American Indian chief who successfully argued in U.S. District Court in 1879 that American Indians are persons within the meaning of the law and have the rights of citizenship. ... Official language(s) English Capital Lincoln Largest city Omaha Largest metro area Omaha Area Ranked 16th - Total 77,421 sq mi (200,520 kmÂ²) - Width 210 miles (340 km) - Length 430 miles (690 km) - % water 0. ... This article is about Native Americans. ... The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed internationally. ... Written by Helen Hunt Jackson in 1881, A Century of Dishonor was a best-selling book which chronicles the injustices done to Native Americans by the United States and its people. ... See also: 1880 in literature, other events of 1881, 1882 in literature, list of years in literature. ... Type Bicameral Houses Senate House of Representatives President of the Senate President pro tempore Dick Cheney, (R) since January 20, 2001 Robert C. Byrd, (D) since January 4, 2007 Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, (D) since January 4, 2007 Members 535 plus 4 Delegates and 1 Resident Commissioner Political...

She then went to southern California to take a much needed rest. She had become interested in the area's missions and the Mission Indians on an earlier visit, and now she began an in-depth study. While in Los Angeles, California, she met Don Antonio Coronel, a former mayor and city councilman who had also served as State Treasurer. He was a well-known authority on early Californio life in the area and was also a former inspector of missions for the Mexican government. Don Antonio described to Jackson the plight of the Mission Indians after 1833, when secularization policies led to the sale of mission lands and the dispersal of their residents. Mission Indians, predominantly from present-day California (although members of the Shoshoni also joined), were groups of Native Americans who lived with the Catholic Order of Franciscan Fathers as early as 1769 when the Mission of San Diego was established. ... Los Angeles and L.A. redirect here. ... Languages Spanish Religions Predominantly Roman Catholic Related ethnic groups Mediterranean Amerindian Mestizo The Californios were Spanish-speaking inhabitants of Alta California, first a part of New Spain, later of Mexico. ...

Many of the original Mexican land grants had clauses protecting the Indians on the lands they occupied. But when Americans assumed control of the southwest after the Mexican-American War, they ignored Indian claims to these lands, which led to mass dispossessions. In 1852, there were an estimated fifteen thousand Mission Indians in Southern California. But, because of the adverse impact of dispossessions by Americans, by the time of Jackson's visit they numbered less than four thousand. Combatants United States Mexico Commanders Zachary Taylor Winfield Scott Stephen W. Kearney Antonio LÃ³pez de Santa Anna Mariano Arista Pedro de Ampudia JosÃ© MariÃ¡ Flores Strength 78,790 soldiers 25,000â€“40,000 soldiers Casualties KIA: 1733 Total dead: 13,271 Wounded: 4,152 AWOL: 9,200+ 25,000...

The stories told by Don Antonio spurred Jackson into action. Her efforts soon came to the attention of the U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Hiram Price, who recommended she be appointed an Interior Department agent. Jackson's assignment was to visit the Mission Indians and ascertain the location and condition of various bands, and determine what lands, if any, should be purchased for their use. With the help of Indian agent Abbot Kinney, Jackson criss-crossed Southern California and documented the appalling conditions she saw. At one point, she hired a law firm to protect the rights of a family of Saboba Indians facing dispossession of their land at the foot of the San Jacinto Mountains. Abbot Kinney (b. ... This article is about the region of Southern California. ... The LuiseÃ±o are a Native American people who at the time of the first contacts with the Spanish in the 16th century inhabited the coastal area of southern California, ranging 50 miles from the southern part of Los Angeles County, California to the northern part of San Diego County... North slope of San Jacinto Peak San Jacinto Mountains The San Jacinto Mountains are short mountain range east of Los Angeles in southern California in the United States. ...

During this time, Jackson read an account in a Los Angeles newspaper about a Cahuilla Indian who had been shot and killed. His wife, it turned out, was named Ramona. On one excursion, Jackson was escorted by wagon to Santa Barbara and stopped off at Rancho Camulos in the Santa Clara River Valley, where she visited the adobe of the del Valle family. But the Señora del Valle was not home the day Jackson was there. And at the Mission Santa Barbara, Jackson made the acquaintance of Father Sanchez, a source of great inspiration. The Cahuilla are a group of Native Americans that have inhabited California for more than 2000 years, originally covering an area of about 2,400 square miles (6,200 kmÂ²). Evidence shows that when the Cahuilla first moved into the area a large body of water now called Lake Cahuilla... Nickname: Location in Santa Barbara County and the state of California Coordinates: , Country State County Santa Barbara Government - Mayor Marty Blum Area - Total 41. ... Rancho Camulos, just east of Piru, California on California State Route 126, was the home of Californio Antonio del Valle. ... The Santa Clara River Valley is a rural region of Ventura County in California. ... Painting of the mission Known as The Queen of the Missions, Mission Santa Bárbara in California was founded on December 4, 1786 by Father Fermin Lasuen, who had taken over the Presidency of the California mission chain upon the death of Father Junipero Serra. ...

In 1883, she completed her fifty-six page report, which called for a massive government relief effort ranging from the purchase of new lands for reservations to the establishment of more Indian schools. A bill embodying her recommendations passed the U.S. Senate but died in the House of Representatives. Type Upper House President of the Senate Richard B. Cheney, R since January 20, 2001 President pro tempore Robert C. Byrd, D since January 4, 2007 Members 100 Political groups Democratic Party Republican Party Last elections November 7, 2006 Meeting place Senate Chamber United States Capitol Washington, DC United States... Type Bicameral Speaker of the House of Representatives House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi, (D) since January 4, 2007 Steny Hoyer, (D) since January 4, 2007 House Minority Leader John Boehner, (R) since January 4, 2007 Members 435 plus 4 Delegates and 1 Resident Commissioner Political groups Democratic Party Republican Party...

Jackson, however, was not discouraged by this Congressional rejection. She decided to write a novel that would depict the Indian experience "in a way to move people's hearts." An inspiration for the undertaking, Jackson admitted, was Uncle Tom's Cabin written years earlier by her friend, Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Toms Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly, is American author Harriet Beecher Stowes fictional anti-slavery novel. ... Harriet Elizabeth Beecher Stowe (June 14, 1811 â€“ July 1, 1896) was an American abolitionist and novelist, whose Uncle Toms Cabin (1852) attacked the cruelty of slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential, even in Britain. ...

"If I can do one-hundredth part for the Indian that Mrs. Stowe did for the Negro, I will be thankful," she told a friend. Jackson was particularly drawn to the fate of her Indian friends in the Temecula area of Riverside County and decided to use the story of what happened to them in her novel. She began writing the book in a New York City hotel room in December 1883, with an original title of In The Name of the Law, and completed the manuscript in slightly over three months. The result was her classic novel Ramona about a part-Indian orphan raised in Spanish Californio society and her Indian husband, Alessandro, which was published in November 1884 and achieved almost instant success. Temecula is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. ... Riverside County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of California, stretching from Orange County to the Colorado River, which is the border with Arizona. ... A manuscript (Latin manu scriptus, written by hand), strictly speaking, is any written document that is put down by hand, in contrast to being printed or reproduced some other way. ... Ramona is a novel written by Helen Hunt Jackson and published in 1884. ... Languages Spanish Religions Predominantly Roman Catholic Related ethnic groups Mediterranean Amerindian Mestizo The Californios were Spanish-speaking inhabitants of Alta California, first a part of New Spain, later of Mexico. ... See also: 1883 in literature, other events of 1884, 1885 in literature, list of years in literature. ...

Encouraged by the popularity of her book, Jackson planned to write a children's story on the Indian issue. But less than a year after the publication of Ramona, while she was examining the condition of the California Indians as a special government commissioner, she died of cancer in San Francisco, California. San Francisco redirects here. ...

Her last letter was written to President Grover Cleveland, urging him to read her early work A Century of Dishonor. Speaking to a friend, Jackson said, "My Century of Dishonor and Ramona are the only things I have done of which I am glad. They will live and bear fruit." Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837 â€“ June 24, 1908), the twenty-second and twenty-fourth President of the United States, was the only President to serve non-consecutive terms (1885â€“1889 and 1893â€“1897). ...

Each year, the city of Hemet stages The Ramona Pageant, an outdoor play based on Jackson's novel Ramona. Hemet is a city located in Riverside County, California. ... The Ramona Pageant is an outdoor play staged annually at Hemet, California since 1923. ...

Contents

Biography

Helen Jackson and American Indian policy

See also

Books by Helen Hunt Jackson online

External links