The Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce will honor Helen Hunt Jackson, a 19th-century poet and novelist, with a posthumous star on the Walk of the Stars later this month, officials announced Friday.
City officials said the 477th star will be unveiled at Downtown Palm Springs Park at 3 p.m. on April 16.
The free event will honor Jackson in the literary category for her work as an advocate for Native American rights. The Chamber of Commerce cited her 1884 novel, “Ramona,” in which she described the struggles of Native Americans in Southern California.
Her friendship with Emily Dickinson facilitated her meeting Chief Standing Bear of the Ponca Tribe in 1879, and her contributions led her to become “California’s first and only literary landmark for a woman writer,” city officials said.