Occupation: ethnologist, writer
Known for: research and analysis of Native American myths and legends
Also known as: Ellen Russell
Ellen Russell was born in Maine and educated in Maine and Boston. She married Edwin R. Emerson in 1862.
From childhood and a meeting with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ellen Russell Emerson had been interested in Native American legends, and she studied the subject, gathering her information, and finally in 1884 published Indian Myths. In this 700-page ethnological study, Ellen Russell Emerson not only compiled much information on Native American myths and legends, but compared these myths to those of other civilizations, including the Hindus, Egyptian, Chinese, Persia and Assyria.
After this book's publication she studied with leading ethnologists in Europe, including studying Egyptology in Paris. In 1891 Ellen Russell Emerson published Masks, Heads and Faces, with Some Considerations Respecting the Rise and Development of Art. In 1902 she published a collection of her essays, Nature and Human Nature.
Ellen Russell Emerson is noted in her works for her detailed compilation of data, for her logical arguments, and for her excellent writing. She was an honorary member of the Société Américaine of Paris.
