Susan Huntington Gilbert Dickinson (1830-1913) was born in Deerfield Massachusetts, the youngest of 7 children. Susan’s mother died when she was 5, and she was raised (with her sisters) in Geneva, New York by an aunt.

Susan first visit Amherst when she was 16. She married Austin Dickinson there in July 1856.

Throughout her life, Susan wrote essays, reviews and poems, and was published in the Springfield Republican.

Susan Gilbert features as Emily Dickinson’s friend and lover in the 1st series of the American drama Dickenson (2019-2021). At the end of that series, she marries Emily’s brother, Austin Dickinson.