She collected all her letters, often dryly humorous, in a book entitled Hospital Sketches (1863) a work which brought Alcott critical acclaim. As an adult, Alcott was a strong abolitionist and a feminist advocate, becoming the first woman to register to vote in Concord, in a school board election.ĭuring the civil war, Alcott worked as a nurse in the Union Hospital at Georgetown, D.C. This instilled a determination and strong work ethic in Alcott, who worked as a teacher, governess, seamstress and writer in her early years. As a result of this peripatetic childhood, Alcott’s schooling was mainly received from her father, who was an incredibly strict disciplinarian, high thinker and advocate of plain living. They finally settled in a house they named Hillside in 1845. In 1843, the family moved again to the Utopian Fruitlands Community, an agrarian commune, dedicated to natural living. In 1840, after several financial setbacks, most notably following the experimental school set up by Louisa May’s father, the family moved to a cottage along the Sudbury River in Massachusetts. The family, despite their connections with the American intellectual elite, suffered severe financial hardship and Alcott frequently helped to support the household. Alcott was born on 29th November 1832 in Germantown, Pennsylvania, USA, and was raised by her transcendentalist parents. Louisa May Alcott was an American novelist, best known for the classic Little Women (1868) and its sequels Little Men and Jo’s Boys.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |