Emily Dickinson's Philadelphia

In late winter 1855, Emily Dickinson and her sister, Lavinia, spent two or more weeks in Philadelphia visiting their second cousin, Eliza Coleman, and her parents. No letter from her describing their activities there has survived. This paper attempts to fill that void by examining Philadelphia's physical, social, intellectual, and cultural character at the time of their visit. Also considered are questions relating to Dickinson's friendship with Eliza Coleman and the origins of her longtime correspondence with the Reverend Charles Wadsworth of Philadelphia's Arch Street Presbyterian Church. The aim is to suggest how the trip may have influenced the poet's subsequent life and work.