Millicent Todd Bingham: Human Geographer and Literary Scholar

Abstract

Millicent Todd Bingham was the first and only woman to earn a Ph.D. in the Department of Geology and Geography at Harvard. A talented linguist, she published in the classic tradition of the French school of human geography. Her professional geographic career came to a halt when she elected to edit the poems and letters of Emily Dickinson, work originally begun by her mother, Mabel Loomis Todd. Bingham's efforts resulted in the publication of several books and articles fundamental to the Dickinson scholarship. She credits her geographic training for much of her literary success.