Helen Hunt Jackson (
pen name,
H.H.; born
Helen Maria Fiske; October 15, 1830 – August 12, 1885) was an American poet and writer who became an
activist on behalf of improved treatment of
Native Americans by the United States government. She described the adverse effects of government actions in her history
A Century of Dishonor (1881). Her popular novel
Ramona (1884) dramatized the federal government's mistreatment of
Native Americans in
Southern California after the
Mexican–American War and attracted considerable attention to her cause. Commercially successful, it was estimated to have been reprinted 300 times, with readers liking its romantic and picturesque qualities more than its political content. The novel was so popular that it attracted many tourists to Southern California who wanted to see places from the book.
Photograph credit: Charles F. Conly; restored by Adam Cuerden