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Emily is born
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson is born in Amherst, Massachusetts. She is the second of three children of Edward and Emily Norcross Dickinson. -
School years
Emily and her sister Lavinia begin classes at Amherst Academy, a converted boys' school. In her seven years of schooling there, she is frequently absent due to illness. -
Mount Holyoke
Emily Dickinson enrolls at the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. This school is known as three distinct religious categories: Women who were “established Christians,” Women who “expressed hope,” and Women “without hope”. Dickinson would be the considered a no hoper -
Poems in Springfield Republican
Some of Emily's poems appear in the Springfield Republican, a paper editor by her friend, Samuel Bowles. "A Valentine" is her first known published poem. -
Poems Published
Emily’s poems appear in Drum Beat to raise money for Union soldier’s medical expenses. She also publishes poems in the Brooklyn Daily Union. -
Withdraws from social life
Emily pulls herself away from social life. She prefers to speak to others through the door rather than face-to-face. This is the most productive period of her writing. -
Emily's death
Emily dies of Bright's Disease-a kidney ailment. She requests her coffin to be carried through a field of buttercups and then buried in West Cemetery in Amherst. -
Book of Poetry published
Emily's sister, Lavinia, finds hundreds of Emily's poems after Emily dies. She has them published and they become successful readings for years to come.
