Roberta Hill Whiteman facts for kids

Roberta Hill Whiteman, born in 1947, is a talented poet from the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. She is well-known for her poetry books, Star Quilt (published in 1984) and Philadelphia Flowers (published in 1996). In 1991, she received a special honor called the Wisconsin Idea Foundation's Excellence Award.

Growing Up and Learning

Roberta Hill was born in 1947 into the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. She lived with her family both on the Oneida reservation and in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Her father was a musician. She went to local schools as she grew up.

Roberta always loved languages and stories. She studied hard and earned several degrees. She got a bachelor's degree in communication from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. Later, she earned a master's degree in fine arts from the University of Montana. She then completed her PhD in American Studies at the University of Minnesota.

Her PhD project was a special book about her grandmother, Lillie Rosa Minoka Hill. Her grandmother was a Mohawk woman. She was also the second Native American woman in the United States to become a doctor! In 1905, she moved from Philadelphia to the Wisconsin reservation with her Oneida husband. For many years, Dr. Minoka Hill helped people by running a "kitchen clinic" right from her home.

Family Life

Roberta Hill married Ernest Whiteman, who is an artist. They have three children together. Ernest even drew the pictures for Roberta's first book of poems, Star Quilt, which came out in 1984.

Her Career as a Poet and Teacher

Roberta Hill Whiteman has taught at many colleges as a lecturer. She has also written her own poems and essays about her work.

She has been an instructor for the "Poets-in-the-Schools Program" in different places, like Minnesota, Arizona, and Oklahoma. This program helps young students learn about poetry. Today, she is an Associate Professor of English and American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Her Books and Writings

• Star Quilt (1984, reprinted in 1999)
• Philadelphia Flowers (1996)
• Her poems have also appeared in other collections, such as Carriers of the Dream Wheel: Contemporary Native American Poetry (1975) and Harper's Anthology of Twentieth Century Native American Poetry (1988).
• Dr. Lillie Rosa Minoka-Hill: Mohawk Woman Physician (1998) – This is the biography she wrote about her amazing grandmother.

See also

In Spanish: Roberta Hill Whiteman para niños