Nathaniel Bright Emerson (July 1, 1839 Waialua,

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

– July 16, 1915, at sea) was a medical physician and author of Hawaiian mythology. He was the son of Protestant missionaries John S. Emerson and Ursula Newell Emerson, and father of artist Arthur Webster Emerson. He attended

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...

Williamstown, Massachusetts Williamstown is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It shares a border with Vermont to the north and New York to the west. Located in Berkshire County, the town is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts metropolitan statis ...

. He joined the 1st Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry of the Union Army as a private on September 22, 1862 in Boston during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. He was wounded three times. After graduating from Williams in 1865, he studied at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

and the

Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons The Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (officially known as Columbia University Roy and Diana Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons) is the medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irvin ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, from which he graduated in 1869. This was followed by work at

Bellevue Hospital Bellevue Hospital (officially NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and formerly known as Bellevue Hospital Center) is a hospital in New York City and the oldest public hospital in the United States. One of the largest hospitals in the United States ...

in New York City. In New York, Emerson was associated with Willard Parker, a surgeon, as student and assistant. For several years he was also clinical assistant to Dr. Seguin, professor of nervous diseases at the College of Physicians and Surgeons. He served as a doctor in New York until 1878, after which he relocated to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. Emerson was an historian and writer of Hawaiian mythology. One of his efforts was the translation into English of David Malo's work on Hawaiian lore and customs. In 1909, the

Bureau of American Ethnology The Bureau of American Ethnology (or BAE, originally, Bureau of Ethnology) was established in 1879 by an act of Congress for the purpose of transferring archives, records and materials relating to the Indians of North America from the Departme ...

published his book, ''Unwritten Literature of Hawaii'', and his last work, '' Pele and Hiiaka'', was published in 1915. Emerson has been criticized by Hawaiian royalists and historians for being a founding member of the Hawaiian League of 1887, which authored the Bayonet Constitution forced on King

Kalākaua Kalākaua (David Laʻamea Kamanakapuʻu Māhinulani Nālaʻiaʻehuokalani Lumialani Kalākaua; November 16, 1836 – January 20, 1891), was the last king and penultimate monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, reigning from February 12, 1874, u ...

, under threat of death. An original copy of the 1887 constitution in the Hawaii State Archives, once owned by William Owen Smith, contains a side note written by Smith listing Emerson as one of the main contributors to the constitution alongside Smith, Sanford B. Dole and Lorrin A. Thurston. He was also criticized for testifying in Washington, D.C. in support of the annexation of Hawaii.

References

Mamiya Heratige Medical Center website
*Emerson, Nathaniel Bright
''Unwritten Literature of Hawaii: the Sacred Songs of the Hula''

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

, Bureau of American Ethnology, 1909. *''Hawaiian Antiquities (Moolelo Hawaii)'', as translated by Emerson, 1987 edition,

Bishop Museum Press The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, designated the Hawaii State Museum of Natural and Cultural History, is a museum of history and science in the historic Kalihi district of Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu. Founded in 1889, it is the la ...

, *''Pele and Hiiaka: A Myth from Hawaii'', by Nathaniel B. Emerson, A.M., M.D., paperback revised edition, Edith Kanaka'ole Foundation, 2005,

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Emerson, Nathaniel 1839 births 1915 deaths Punahou School alumni Williams College alumni Harvard University alumni Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni Writers from Hawaii People of Massachusetts in the American Civil War Hawaiian Kingdom people of the American Civil War Burials at Oahu Cemetery Members of the Hawaii Board of Health Union army soldiers

See also

References

External links