author
Emma Louise Smith Dillingham
1844–1920
A writer with deep roots in nineteenth-century Hawaiʻi, she blended literary work with a life of education, philanthropy, and public service. Her books and stories helped preserve local history and place for later generations.
1 Audiobook
Six prize Hawaiian stories of the Kilohana Art League
by Emma Louise Smith Dillingham, William N. (William Nevins) Armstrong, George Harrison De La Vergne, James W. (James Walter) Girvin
About the author
Born in Honolulu on June 4, 1844, Emma Louise Smith Dillingham was a Hawaiian poet, educator, and civic leader. Reliable sources describe her as the daughter of missionary parents, and note that she later married businessman Benjamin Franklin Dillingham. She is remembered not only for her writing but also for her active role in community life in Hawaiʻi.
Her published work includes Diamond Head and Six Prize Hawaiian Stories of the Kilohana Art League, and bibliographic records also preserve material from her childhood, including a journal written when she was six. Alongside her literary work, she is noted for helping found the Daughters of Hawaiʻi and for establishing a Young Women's Christian Association branch on Oʻahu.
She died on August 15, 1920. Today, her legacy sits at an interesting crossroads of literature, education, and Hawaiian civic history, making her especially compelling for readers interested in voices connected to the islands' nineteenth-century cultural life.