Emma Dickinson entered Mount Holyoke Seminary in 1863 and graduated in 1867. During her years at Mount Holyoke, she lived with a roommate, Sarah Elizabeth Dowd. Emma and Sarah were both a little older than their entering class. Whilst Emma graduated from Mount Holyoke, Sarah did not, though the parting did not end their friendship. After Emma graduated, both moved to Fairport, New York where Emma was born.
Like many of her classmates and alumnae, she became a teacher after graduation and taught as a kindergarten teacher in Rochester, New York. Emma Dickinson did not marry, much like most of her peers from Mount Holyoke. She continued her studies in Philadelphia and left to New York to practice electro-therapy. After traveling in Europe with Sarah until she passed away and the Middle East, she served as a missionary in Japan with Georgina Baucus for thirty years. When Georgina passed away, Emma was heartbroken and fell ill, passing away only a few months after.
(Information extracted from Emily Wazlak’s paper on Emma Dickinson)
Fun fact: the Dickinson Hall at Mount Holyoke is not named after Emily Dickinson, the famous poet, but Emma Dickinson!