Partner Harriet Newell Haskell
Queer Places:
Mount Holyoke College (Seven Sisters), 50 College St, South Hadley, MA 01075
The Evergreens (former Monticello Female College), 5800 Godfrey Rd, Godfrey, IL 62035
Swan Point Cemetery, 585 Blackstone Blvd, Providence, RI 02906, United States
Emily Gilmore Alden (January 21, 1834 – June 6, 1914) was an American educator and author. She is primarily remembered for her long-standing professional and personal partnership with Harriet Newell Haskell and her dedicated service to the Monticello Seminary.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Alden was a descendant of John Alden, a Mayflower passenger. Her mother died shortly after her birth, and she was raised by her father, Joseph Warren Alden, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
She attended public schools in Cambridge and graduated from Mount Holyoke Seminary (now Mount Holyoke College) in 1855. It was at Mount Holyoke that she first met Harriet Newell Haskell, beginning a lifelong companionship.
In 1868, Alden joined the faculty of the Monticello Seminary in Godfrey, Illinois, alongside Haskell. She remained with the institution until 1907.
Alden was responsible for several departments, including history, rhetoric, and English literature. She also oversaw senior classes and taught physiology, zoology, and United States history.
Known as the school's "poet laureate," Alden wrote annual commencement poems for over 35 years. She often published her work under the pen name "E. G. A.," though later works were published under her own name, including a collection of her poems released in 1909.
Following the death of Harriet Newell Haskell, Alden authored a biography titled Harriet Newell Haskell: A Span of Sunshine Gold (1908).
Alden and Haskell shared a home and finances for more than 50 years. Their relationship is recognized by historians as a significant example of a committed, lifelong partnership between two women.
After Haskell’s death in 1907, Alden moved to Boston to live with her sister-in-law. She passed away there on June 6, 1914.
In 1946, the new faculty residence at the site of the former Monticello Seminary was named "Alden House" in her honor.
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