Thomas Wentworth Higginson, co-editor of Emily Dickinson's first two collections of poetry, was a man of startlingly diverse abilities and accomplishments. He was a longtime leftist who was an ardent abolitionist, women's rights campaigner, and the founder of the Intercollegiate Socialist Society. He was also a renowned poet and literary critic. The daughter of a wealthy Boston family, he was born on July 2, 1824. His father was a prominent physician who had emigrated from England in 1766 and his mother was Elizabeth Higginson, one of the most respected poets of her time. Young Thomas went to school in Boston where he learned to love literature and poetry. When he was twelve years old, his father died suddenly of tuberculosis, leaving him a large estate. This allowed him to live at home while continuing his education. He graduated from Harvard University with highest honors in 1845. After graduating from Harvard, Higginson traveled to Europe where he studied at various universities including Oxford and Cambridge. Upon returning home in 1849, he became one of the first professors of English at Bowdoin College where he taught for ten years. In 1859, he moved to Boston University where he served as professor of ancient English literature until his death in 1915. Higginson was just fifty-two years old when he met Emily Dickinson.