Clara B. Newman Turner (Mrs. Sidney) (1844-1920)
Clarissa Badger Newman was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1844. Her parents passed away when she was just eight years old, leaving Newman and her three sisters to join the household of their uncle Edward Dickinson, father of Emily Dickinson. In 1869, Clara married Sidney Turner; the couple divided their time between Turner’s hometown of Norwich, Connecticut and Baltimore. They had no children. Turner became a member of the WLCB in the 1893-1894 season and remained a loyal member for over twenty years. She appeared on programs hosted by a variety of committees, from the Committee on Art to the Committee on Essays and Essayists to the Committee on Modern Poetry. Turner published a single book of poetry, Mail from Nowhere, the only known copy of which is held at the Houghton Library at Harvard University. Like her more famous cousin’s fascicles, the book was in a small format and may have been circulated only to close friends, and her poetry, likewise, was wide-ranging in subject matter while being simple and direct in its use of language. In contrast to Dickinson, Turner conveys a deep contentment with domestic life as well as an abiding faith in God. Turner passed away in 1920.
Sources
Sewall, Richard B. The Life of Emily Dickinson. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003.
Contributors
Jill Fury