Helen+Hunt+Jackson+-+A+19th+Century+American+Hero+by+Willy+Wonka

[|Helen Hunt Jackson]
 * __Definition:__** A Hero is someone who is inspirational to someone else. The Hero must of done something in his or hers life that made them become inspirational in someone else's life.

There are many people in the world who think they are inspirational to other people because of what they did. Someone may think that picking up someone else’s pencil from the ground qualifies them to be a hero. In my eyes, it doesn't. A hero needs to have gone out of their way to help somebody else in a big way. Just because the person doesn't know they are helping someone, doesn't mean they aren't a hero. Just by living your life, you can be a hero, because you are inspirational. Helen Hunt Jackson did just that.

Helen Hunt Jackson was born in 1831 in Amherst, Massachusetts into a pious family. Her parents were also very concerned with academics. Fortunately, Helen knew how to have fun and was a very high-spirited child. She was able to form a life long friendship with another soon to be well known woman, Emily Dickinson. Tragically, Helen didn't always get to laugh and have fun through her life. Helen's mother died of tuberculosis when she was twelve years old. Her inflexible father was a minister, but three years after the death of his wife, he passed away. Helen wanted to move on with her life, so she decided to unroll at the Abbot School in New York City. There, she earned a reputation as a scholar. Just think of having to go through such tragedies like Helen's. Think of how she felt.

After that, she grew up and her life took off, with some tears and smiles. She turned twenty one and married Captain Edward Hunt, a West Point graduate. They had a son, but unfortunately died in infancy. She then decided to have another son who was a healthy baby. During the Civil War, her husband died by accident while working on his own invention of a one man submarine. Four years after that, her second son died of diphtheria when he was 9 year old. She needed to get her mind off the tragedies in her life and move on. So, she began to write for therapy and self-support. Her writing became a huge hit really quickly, but her health wasn't at its best. When her doctor told her to get some fresh air up in the Rockies, she listened and ended up meeting her new husband, a Colorado Spring citizen, William Jackson.

Even though she went through many hard times with a lot of tears, she still managed to be an inspiration to many people everywhere. She once met with members of the Indian Commission. She learned of the tragic story of the Ponca People. Helen decided she wanted to help by raising funds. She wrote to a friend, "I have done now, I believe, the last of the things I have said I would never do. I have become what I have said a thousand times was the most odious thing in the world - a woman with a cause."

It was said that Helen always stood her ground and stood for what she believed in. To, me this is a hero. She is an inspiration to anyone anywhere to show them to always believe in themselves and stand for your rights as well as other's rights. She is also a writer. I always thought of being a writer would be fascinating, and Helen taught me that. On the other hand, she had a hard life to deal with also. Without looking at the glamour of being a writer, her family’s health was imperfect. Helen Hunt Jackson died in 1885. Even though she isn't here with us today, doesn't mean she won't be remembered in today's history. She wrote herself into my heart and to many others.

This woman is so inspirational because she got through the pain of losing her loved ones to work on her writing. I didn't understand how a caring, loving woman deserves this in her life. Then I thought, if these things didn't happen in her life, she wouldn't be an inspiration. A woman who could accomplish so much with other tragedies at hand is clearly a true hero!


 * Led hard life
 * One of the first authors to draw attention to the condition of the American Indian through her books "Ramona" and "The Indian's Plight"
 * Grew up in a terrible environment
 * She lived a terrible life including many deaths
 * Still a fun loving woman
 * Mother died of tuberculosis when she was 12
 * Father died 3 years later
 * Very smart; earned reputation as a scholar at the Abbot School in New York City
 * Married Captin Edward Hunt
 * They had a son together who died in infancy but had another son
 * Edward was killed in war by accident while working on a one-man submarine he had invented
 * Second son died at the age of nine from diphtheria.
 * She began to write again for therapy
 * Her health wasn't doing so well. Her doctor suggested she should go up to the Rockies to get some fresh air
 * Helen decided to raise funds for the people she met called the Ponca People beasue she felt sorry after she heard their sad story
 * She also defended the Ute and in Colorado
 * Said she was without a sympathizer in the state
 * She stood her ground and was inspired to write "A Century of Dishonor, which she considered her most important book she ever wrote.
 * Described as ""the most brilliant, impetuous and thoroughly individual woman in her time"
 * She wrote herself into history!