Louisa May Alcott (; November 29, 1832March 6, 1888) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known as the author of the novel ''

Little Women ''Little Women'' is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888). Alcott wrote the book, originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869, at the request of her publisher. The story follows the live ...

'' (1868) and its sequels '' Little Men'' (1871) and '' Jo's Boys'' (1886). Raised in New England by her transcendentalist parents,

Abigail May Abigail "Abba" Alcott (née May; October 8, 1800 – November 25, 1877) was an American activist for several causes and one of the first paid social workers in the state of Massachusetts. She was the wife of transcendentalist Amos Bronson Alc ...

and

Amos Bronson Alcott Amos Bronson Alcott (; November 29, 1799 – March 4, 1888) was an American teacher, writer, philosopher, and reformer. As an educator, Alcott pioneered new ways of interacting with young students, focusing on a conversational style, and ...

, she grew up among many well-known intellectuals of the day, such as

Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a cham ...

Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that t ...

Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading transcendentalist, he is best known for his book ''Walden'', a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and h ...

, and

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and '' Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely trans ...

. Alcott's family suffered from financial difficulties, and while she worked to help support the family from an early age, she also sought an outlet in writing. She began to receive critical success for her writing in the 1860s. Early in her career, she sometimes used pen names such as A. M. Barnard, under which she wrote lurid short stories and

sensation novel The sensation novel, also sensation fiction, was a literary genre of fiction that achieved peak popularity in Great Britain in the 1860s and 1870s.I. Ousby ed., ''The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English'' (1995) p. 844 Its literary forebears ...

s for adults that focused on passion and revenge. Published in 1868, ''

'' is set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House, in

Concord, Massachusetts Concord () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. At the 2020 census, the town population was 18,491. The United States Census Bureau considers Concord part of Greater Boston. The town center is near where the co ...

, and is loosely based on Alcott's childhood experiences with her three sisters,

Abigail May Alcott Nieriker Abigail May Alcott Nieriker (July 26, 1840 – December 29, 1879) was an American artist and the youngest sister of Louisa May Alcott. She was the basis for the character AmyDinitia SmithFrom Alcott, a Parable for a Spirited Niece."The New York ...

Elizabeth Sewall Alcott Elizabeth Sewall "Lizzie" Alcott (June 24, 1835 – March 14, 1858) was one of the two younger sisters of Louisa May Alcott. She was born in 1835 and died at the age of 22 from scarlet fever. Biography She was originally named Elizabeth ''Peabod ...

, and

Anna Alcott Pratt Anna Bronson Alcott Pratt (March 16, 1831 – July 17, 1893) was the elder sister of American novelist Louisa May Alcott. She was the basis for the character Margaret "Meg" of ''Little Women'' (1868), her sister's classic, semi-autobiographica ...

. The novel was well-received at the time and is still popular today among both

children A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

and adults. It has been adapted many times to stage, film, and television. Alcott was an

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

and a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

and remained unmarried throughout her life. All her life she was active in such reform movements as temperance and women's suffrage. She died from a stroke, two days after her father, in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

on March 6, 1888.

Early life

Louisa May Alcott was born on November 29, 1832, in

Germantown Germantown or German Town may refer to: Places Australia * Germantown, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region United States * Germantown, California, the former name of Artois, a census-designated place in Glenn County * G ...

, which is now part of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, on her father's 33rd birthday. She was the daughter of transcendentalist and educator

and social worker

Abby May Abigail "Abba" Alcott (née May; October 8, 1800 – November 25, 1877) was an American activist for several causes and one of the first paid social workers in the state of Massachusetts. She was the wife of transcendentalist Amos Bronson A ...

and the second of four daughters: Anna Bronson Alcott was the eldest;

and Abigail May Alcott were the two youngest. As a child, she was a tomboy who preferred boys’ games. The family moved to Boston in 1834, where Alcott's father established an experimental school and joined the

Transcendental Club The Transcendental Club was a group of New England authors, philosophers, socialists, politicians and intellectuals of the early-to-mid-19th century which gave rise to Transcendentalism. Overview Frederic Henry Hedge, Ralph Waldo Emerson, George ...

with

and

. Bronson Alcott's opinions on education and tough views on child-rearing as well as his moments of mental instability shaped young Alcott's mind with a desire to achieve perfection, a goal of the transcendentalists. His attitudes towards Alcott's wild and independent behavior, and his inability to provide for his family, created conflict between Bronson Alcott and his wife and daughters. Abigail resented her husband's inability to recognize her sacrifices and related his thoughtlessness to the larger issue of the inequality of sexes. She passed this recognition and desire to redress wrongs done to women on to Louisa. In 1840, after several setbacks with the school, the Alcott family moved to a cottage on of land, situated along the

Sudbury River The Sudbury River is a tributary of the Concord River in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 Originati ...

. The three years they spent at the rented Hosmer Cottage were described as

idyllic An idyll (, ; from Greek , ''eidullion'', "short poem"; occasionally spelt ''idyl'' in American English) is a short poem, descriptive of rustic life, written in the style of Theocritus' short pastoral poems, the ''Idylls'' (Εἰδύλλια). ...

. By 1843, the Alcott family moved, along with six other members of the Consociate Family, to the

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book '' Utopia'', describing a fictional island soc ...

n Fruitlands community for a brief interval in 1843–1844. After the collapse of the Utopian Fruitlands, they moved on to rented rooms and finally, with Abigail May Alcott's inheritance and financial help from Emerson, they purchased a homestead in

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...

. They moved into the home they named " Hillside" on April 1, 1845, but had moved on by 1852 when it was sold to

who renamed it The Wayside. Moving 22 times in 30 years, the Alcotts returned to Concord once again in 1857 and moved into Orchard House, a two-story clapboard farmhouse, in the spring of 1858. Louisa May Alcott

Alcott's early education included lessons from the naturalist

who inspired her to write ''Thoreau's Flute'' based on her time at

Walden Pond Walden Pond is a pond in Concord, Massachusetts, in the United States. A famous example of a kettle hole, it was formed by retreating glaciers 10,000–12,000 years ago. The pond is protected as part of Walden Pond State Reservation, a state pa ...

. Most of the education she received though, came from her father who was strict and believed in "the sweetness of self-denial." She also received some instruction from writers and educators such as

Margaret Fuller Sarah Margaret Fuller (May 23, 1810 – July 19, 1850), sometimes referred to as Margaret Fuller Ossoli, was an American journalist, editor, critic, translator, and women's rights advocate associated with the American transcendentalism movem ...

, and

Julia Ward Howe Julia Ward Howe (; May 27, 1819 – October 17, 1910) was an American author and poet, known for writing the " Battle Hymn of the Republic" and the original 1870 pacifist Mother's Day Proclamation. She was also an advocate for abolitionism ...

, all of whom were family friends. She later described these early years in a newspaper sketch entitled "Transcendental Wild Oats." The sketch was reprinted in the volume ''Silver Pitchers'' (1876), which relates the family's experiment in "plain living and high thinking" at Fruitlands. Poverty made it necessary for Alcott to go to work at an early age as a teacher,

seamstress A dressmaker, also known as a seamstress, is a person who makes custom clothing for women, such as dresses, blouses, and evening gowns. Dressmakers were historically known as mantua-makers, and are also known as a modiste or fabrician. Not ...

governess A governess is a largely obsolete term for a woman employed as a private tutor, who teaches and trains a child or children in their home. A governess often lives in the same residence as the children she is teaching. In contrast to a nanny, ...

, domestic helper, and writer. Her sisters also supported the family, working as seamstresses, while their mother took on social work among the

Irish immigrants The Irish diaspora ( ga, Diaspóra na nGael) refers to ethnic Irish people and their descendants who live outside the island of Ireland. The phenomenon of migration from Ireland is recorded since the Early Middle Ages,Flechner and Meeder, The ...

. Only the youngest, Abigail, was able to attend public school. Due to all of these pressures, writing became a creative and emotional outlet for Alcott. Her first book was '' Flower Fables'' (1849), a selection of tales originally written for Ellen Emerson, daughter of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Alcott is quoted as saying "I wish I was rich, I was good, and we were all a happy family this day" and was driven in life not to be poor. In 1847, she and her family served as station masters on the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. ...

, when they housed a

fugitive slave In the United States, fugitive slaves or runaway slaves were terms used in the 18th and 19th century to describe people who fled slavery. The term also refers to the federal Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and 1850. Such people are also called freed ...

for one week and had discussions with

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...

. Alcott read and admired the "

Declaration of Sentiments The Declaration of Sentiments, also known as the Declaration of Rights and Sentiments, is a document signed in 1848 by 68 women and 32 men—100 out of some 300 attendees at the first women's rights convention to be organized by women. Held in Sen ...

", published by the

Seneca Falls Convention The Seneca Falls Convention was the first women's rights convention. It advertised itself as "a convention to discuss the social, civil, and religious condition and rights of woman".Wellman, 2004, p. 189 Held in the Wesleyan Chapel of the tow ...

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countri ...

, advocating for

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

and became the first woman to register to vote in

in a school board election. The 1850s were hard times for the Alcotts, and in 1854 Louisa found solace at the

Boston Theatre :''See Federal Street Theatre for an earlier theatre known also as the Boston Theatre'' The Boston Theatre was a theatre in Boston, Massachusetts. It was first built in 1854 and operated as a theatre until 1925. Productions included performances by ...

where she wrote The Rival Prima Donnas, which she later burned due to a quarrel between the actresses on who would play what role. At one point in 1857, unable to find work and filled with such despair, Alcott contemplated suicide. During that year, she read

Elizabeth Gaskell Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (''née'' Stevenson; 29 September 1810 – 12 November 1865), often referred to as Mrs Gaskell, was an English novelist, biographer and short story writer. Her novels offer a detailed portrait of the lives of many st ...

's biography of

Charlotte Brontë Charlotte Brontë (, commonly ; 21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855) was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novels became classics of English literature. She enlisted i ...

and found many parallels to her own life. In 1858, her younger sister Elizabeth died, and her older sister Anna married a man named John Pratt. This felt, to Alcott, to be a breaking up of their sisterhood.

Literary success

As an adult, Alcott was an abolitionist and a feminist. In 1860, Alcott began writing for the ''

Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

''. When the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same 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 polici ...

broke out, she served as a nurse in the Union Hospital in Georgetown, DC, for six weeks in 1862–1863. She intended to serve three months as a nurse, but halfway through she contracted

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over severa ...

and became deathly ill, though she eventually recovered. Her letters homerevised and published in the Boston anti-slavery paper ''Commonwealth'' and collected as ''

Hospital Sketches ''Hospital Sketches'' (1863) is a compilation of four sketches based on letters Louisa May Alcott sent home during the six weeks she spent as a volunteer nurse for the Union Army during the American Civil War in Georgetown. Summary Tribulation ...

'' (1863, republished with additions in 1869)brought her first critical recognition for her observations and humor. This was her first book and inspired by her army experience. She wrote about the mismanagement of hospitals and the indifference and callousness of some of the surgeons she encountered, and about her own passion for seeing the war first hand. Her main character, Tribulation Periwinkle, shows a passage from innocence to maturity and is a "serious and eloquent witness". Her novel ''Moods'' (1864), based on her own experience, was also promising. After her service as a nurse, Alcott's father wrote her a heartfelt poem titled "To Louisa May Alcott. From her father". The poem describes how proud her father is of her for working as a nurse and helping injured soldiers as well as bringing cheer and love into their home. He ends the poem by telling her she's in his heart for being a selfless faithful daughter. This poem was featured in the books ''Louisa May Alcott: Her Life, Letters, and Journals'' (1889) and ''Louisa May Alcott, the Children's Friend'', which talks about her childhood and close relationship with her father. Between 1863 and 1872, Alcott anonymously wrote at least thirty-three "gothic thrillers" for popular magazines and papers such as '' The Flag of Our Union''; they began to be rediscovered only in 1975. In the mid-1860s she wrote passionate, fiery novels and sensational stories akin to those of English authors

Wilkie Collins William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist and playwright known especially for '' The Woman in White'' (1859), a mystery novel and early "sensation novel", and for '' The Moonstone'' (1868), which has b ...

and

Mary Elizabeth Braddon Mary Elizabeth Braddon (4 October 1835 – 4 February 1915) was an English popular novelist of the Victorian era. She is best known for her 1862 sensation novel ''Lady Audley's Secret'', which has also been dramatised and filmed several times ...

under the nom de plume A. M. Barnard. Among these are ''

A Long Fatal Love Chase ''A Long Fatal Love Chase'' is a 1866 novel by Louisa May Alcott published posthumously in 1995. Two years before the publication of ''Little Women'', Alcott uncharacteristically experimented with the style of the thriller and submitted the result ...

'' and ''Pauline's Passion and Punishment''. Her

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

s for these books, like those of Collins and Braddon (who also included feminist characters in their writings), are strong, smart, and determined. She also produced stories for children, and after they became popular, she did not go back to writing for adults. Other books she wrote are the anonymously published novelette ''A Modern Mephistopheles'' (1877), which attracted suspicion that it was authored by

Julian Hawthorne Julian Hawthorne (June 22, 1846 – July 14, 1934) was an American writer and journalist, the son of novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne and Sophia Hawthorne, Sophia Peabody. He wrote numerous poems, novels, short stories, mysteries and detective f ...

, and the semi-autobiographical novel ''Work'' (1873). Catherine Ross Nickerson credits Alcott with creating one of the earliest works of

detective fiction Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as sp ...

in American literature, second only to

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...

's "

The Murders in the Rue Morgue "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe published in ''Graham's Magazine'' in 1841. It has been described as the first modern detective story; Poe referred to it as one of his "tales of ratiocination". C. Auguste Du ...

" and his other

Auguste Dupin ''Le Chevalier'' C. Auguste Dupin is a fictional character created by Edgar Allan Poe. Dupin made his first appearance in Poe's 1841 short story "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", widely considered the first detective fiction story. He reappears ...

stories, with the 1865 thriller "V.V., or Plots and Counterplots." A short story published anonymously by Alcott, it concerns a Scottish aristocrat who tries to prove that a mysterious woman has killed his fiancée and cousin. The detective on the case, Antoine Dupres, is a parody of Poe's Dupin who is less concerned with solving the crime than in setting up a way to reveal the solution with a dramatic flourish. Alcott became even more successful with the first part of ''

: or Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy'' (1868), a semi-autobiographical account of her childhood with her sisters in Concord, Massachusetts, published by the

Roberts Brothers Messrs. Roberts Brothers (1857–1898) were bookbinders and publishers in 19th-century Boston, Massachusetts. Established in 1857 by Austin J. Roberts, John F. Roberts, and Lewis A. Roberts, the firm began publishing around the early 1860s. Ameri ...

. When Alcott returned to Boston following her travels in Europe, she became an editor at a magazine, ''Merry's Museum''. It was here where she met Thomas Niles, who encouraged the writing of Part I of the novel, asking her to create a book especially for girls. Part II, or ''Part Second'', also known as '' Good Wives'' (1869), followed the March sisters into adulthood and marriage. '' Little Men'' (1871) detailed Jo's life at the Plumfield School that she founded with her husband Professor Bhaer at the conclusion of Part Two of ''

''. Lastly, '' Jo's Boys'' (1886) completed the "March Family Saga". Louisa May Alcott 5c 1940 issue

In ''

'', Alcott based her heroine "Jo" on herself. But whereas Jo marries at the end of the story, Alcott remained single throughout her life. She explained her "

spinsterhood ''Spinster'' is a term referring to an unmarried woman who is older than what is perceived as the prime age range during which women usually marry. It can also indicate that a woman is considered unlikely to ever marry. The term originally den ...

" in an interview with

Louise Chandler Moulton Louise Chandler Moulton (April 10, 1835 - August 10, 1908) was an American poet, story-writer and critic. Contributing poems and stories of power and grace to the leading magazines, ''Harper's Magazine'', ''The Atlantic'', '' The Galaxy'', the f ...

, "I am more than half-persuaded that I am a man's soul put by some freak of nature into a woman's body.... because I have fallen in love with so many pretty girls and never once the least bit with any man.” However, Alcott's romance while in Europe with the young Polish man Ladislas "Laddie" Wisniewski was detailed in her journals but then deleted by Alcott herself before her death. Alcott identified Laddie as the model for Laurie in ''Little Women''. Likewise, every character seems to be paralleled to some extent with people from Alcott's lifefrom Beth's death mirroring Lizzie's to Jo's rivalry with the youngest, Amy, as Alcott felt a rivalry for (Abigail) May, at times. Though Alcott never married, she did take in May's daughter, Louisa, after May's untimely death in 1879, caring for little "Lulu" for the next eight years. In addition to drawing on her own life during the development of ''Little Women,'' Alcott also took influence from several of her earlier works including "The Sisters' Trial," "A Modern Cinderella," and "In the Garret." The characters within these short stories and poems, in addition to Alcott's own family and personal relationships, inspired the general concepts and bases for many of the characters within ''Little Women'' as well as the author's subsequent novels. ''

'' was well-received, with critics and audiences finding it suitable for many age groupsa fresh, natural representation of daily life. An ''Eclectic Magazine'' reviewer called it "the very best of books to reach the hearts of the young of any age from six to sixty". With the success of ''Little Women'', Alcott shied away from the attention and would sometimes act as a servant when fans would come to her house. Grave of Louisa May Alcott

Along with Elizabeth Stoddard,

Rebecca Harding Davis Rebecca Blaine Harding Davis (June 24, 1831 – September 29, 1910) was an American author and journalist. She was a pioneer of literary realism in American literature. She graduated valedictorian from Washington Female Seminary in Pennsylvania. ...

Anne Moncure Crane Anne Moncure Crane (Seemüller) (January 7, 1838 – December 10, 1872) was an American novelist, who wrote books such as '' Emily Chester,'' ''Opportunity'' and ''Reginald Archer.'', which were about female sexual desires. Her novels were conside ...

, and others, Alcott was part of a group of female authors during the

Gilded Age In United States history, the Gilded Age was an era extending roughly from 1877 to 1900, which was sandwiched between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was a time of rapid economic growth, especially in the Northern and Wes ...

, who addressed women's issues in a modern and candid manner. Their works were, as one newspaper columnist of the period commented, "among the decided 'signs of the times'".

Later years

In 1877, Alcott was one of the founders of the

Women's Educational and Industrial Union The Women's Educational and Industrial Union (1877–2006) in Boston, Massachusetts, was founded by physician Harriet Clisby for the advancement of women and to help women and children in the industrial city. By 1893, chapters of the WEIU were esta ...

in Boston. After her youngest sister May died in 1879, Louisa took over the care of her niece, Lulu, who was named after Louisa. Alcott suffered chronic health problems in her later years, including

vertigo Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...

. She and her earliest biographers attributed her illness and death to

mercury poisoning Mercury poisoning is a type of metal poisoning due to exposure to mercury. Symptoms depend upon the type, dose, method, and duration of exposure. They may include muscle weakness, poor coordination, numbness in the hands and feet, skin rashes ...

. During her

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

service, Alcott contracted

and was treated with a

compound Compound may refer to: Architecture and built environments * Compound (enclosure), a cluster of buildings having a shared purpose, usually inside a fence or wall ** Compound (fortification), a version of the above fortified with defensive struc ...

containing mercury. Recent analysis of Alcott's illness suggests that her chronic health problems may have been associated with an

autoimmune disease An autoimmune disease is a condition arising from an abnormal immune response to a functioning body part. At least 80 types of autoimmune diseases have been identified, with some evidence suggesting that there may be more than 100 types. Nearly a ...

, not mercury exposure. However, mercury is a known trigger for autoimmune diseases as well. An 1870 portrait of Alcott does show her cheeks to be quite flushed, perhaps with the "butterfly rash" across cheeks and nose which is often characteristic of

lupus Lupus, technically known as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), is an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in many parts of the body. Symptoms vary among people and may be mild to severe. Commo ...

, but there is no conclusive evidence available for a firm diagnosis. Alcott died of a stroke at age 55 in Boston, on March 6, 1888, two days after her father's death. Louisa's last known words were, "Is it not

meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Other symptoms include confusion or ...

?" She is buried in

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York, is the final resting place of numerous famous figures, including Washington Irving, whose 1820 short story " The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is set in the adjacent burying ground at the Old Dutch ...

in Concord, near Emerson, Hawthorne, and Thoreau, on a hillside now known as "Authors' Ridge". Her niece Lulu was only eight years old when Louisa died. She was cared for by Anna Alcott Pratt, then reunited with her father in Europe and lived abroad until her death in 1976. Louisa frequently wrote in her journals about going on long walks and runs. She challenged prevailing social norms regarding gender by encouraging her young female readers to run as well. In an interview in the early 1880s, Alcott declared, "I am more than half-persuaded that I am a man’s soul, put by some freak of nature into a woman’s body." The Alcotts' Concord, Massachusetts home, Orchard House (c. 1650), where the family lived for 25 years and where ''Little Women'' was written and set in 1868, has been a historic house museum since 1912, and pays homage to the Alcotts by focusing on public education and historic preservation. Her Boston home is featured on the

Boston Women's Heritage Trail The Boston Women's Heritage Trail is a series of walking tours in Boston, Massachusetts, leading past sites important to Boston women's history. The tours wind through several neighborhoods, including the Back Bay and Beacon Hill, commemorating w ...

. Harriet Reisen wrote ''Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind "Little Women,"'' which later became a PBS documentary directed by Nancy Porter. In 2008, John Matteson wrote ''Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father'', which won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography. Louisa May Alcott was inducted into the

National Women's Hall of Fame The National Women's Hall of Fame (NWHF) is an American institution incorporated in 1969 by a group of men and women in Seneca Falls, New York, although it did not induct its first enshrinees until 1973. As of 2021, it had 303 inductees. Induc ...

in 1996.

Selected works

The ''Little Women'' series

* ''

'', or ''Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy'' (1868) * Part Second of ''Little Women'', or " Good Wives", published in 1869; and afterward published together with ''Little Women''. * '' Little Men: Life at Plumfield with Jo's Boys'' (1871) * '' Jo's Boys and How They Turned Out: A Sequel to "Little Men"'' (1886)

Novels

* ''The Inheritance'' (1849, unpublished until 1997) * ''Moods'' (1865, revised 1882) * ''The Mysterious Key and What It Opened'' (1867) * '' An Old Fashioned Girl'' (1870) * ''Will's Wonder Book'' (1870) * '' Work: A Story of Experience'' (1873) * ''Beginning Again, Being a Continuation of Work'' (1875) * '' Eight Cousins'' or ''The Aunt-Hill'' (1875) * ''

Rose in Bloom ''Rose in Bloom'' is a novel by Louisa May Alcott Louisa May Alcott (; November 29, 1832March 6, 1888) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known as the author of the novel ''Little Women'' (1868) and its sequels ''Lit ...

'': A Sequel to Eight Cousins (1876) * '' Under the Lilacs'' (1878) * '' Jack and Jill: A Village Story'' (1880) * ''Proverb Stories'' (1882)

As A. M. Barnard

* '' Behind a Mask, or a Woman's Power'' (1866) * ''The Abbot's Ghost, or Maurice Treherne's Temptation'' (1867) * ''

'' (1866; first published 1995)

Published anonymously

* ''A Modern Mephistopheles'' (1877)

Short story collections for children

* ''Aunt Jo's Scrap-Bag'' (1872–1882). (66 short stories in six volumes) ** 1. "Aunt Jo's Scrap-Bag" ** 2. "Shawl-Straps" ** 3. "Cupid and Chow-Chow" ** 4. "My Girls, Etc." ** 5. "Jimmy's Cruise in the Pinafore, Etc." ** 6. "An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving, Etc." * ''Lulu's Library'' (1886–1889) A collection of 32 short stories in three volumes. * '' Flower Fables'' (1849) * ''On Picket Duty, and other tales'' (1864) * ''Morning-Glories and Other Stories'' (1867) Eight fantasy stories and four poems for children, including: *"A Strange Island", (1868); * "The Rose Family: A Fairy Tale" (1864), "A Christmas Song", "Morning Glories", "Shadow-Children", "Poppy's Pranks", "What the Swallows did", "Little Gulliver", "The Whale's story", "Goldfin and Silvertail". * ''Kitty's Class Day and Other Stories (Three Proverb Stories)'', 1868, (includes "Kitty's Class Day", "Aunt Kipp" and "Psyche's Art") * ''Spinning-Wheel Stories* '' (1884). A collection of 12 short stories. * '' The Candy Country'' (1885) (One short story) * ''May Flowers'' (1887) (One short story) * ''Mountain-Laurel and Maidenhair'' (1887) (One short story) * ''A Garland for Girls'' (1888). A collection of eight short stories. * ''

The Brownie and the Princess ''The Brownie and the Princess: And Other Stories'' () is a book of ten children's stories by the American author, Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888). The stories were published in various children's magazines during her lifetime. They were also pr ...

'' (2004). A collection of ten short stories.

In popular culture

''Little Women'' inspired film versions in

1933 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, and

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

. The novel also inspired television series in

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 ...

, and

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

, and

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

versions in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

and

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

. ''Little Women'' also inspired a BBC Radio 4 version in 2017. ''Little Men'' inspired film versions in

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maxi ...

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * Januar ...

, and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

. This novel also was the basis for a 1998 television series. Other films based on Alcott novels and stories are ''An Old-Fashioned Girl'' (1949), ''The Inheritance'' (1997), and '' An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving'' (2008). In 2009 PBS produced an ''American Masters'' episode titled "Louisa May Alcott – The Woman Behind 'Little Women' ". In 2016 a

Google Doodle A Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and notable historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running an ...

of the author was created by Google artist

Sophie Diao ''I Am Golden'' is a children's picture book by Eva Chen and illustrated by Sophie Diao. It tells the story of Mei, the daughter of Chinese immigrants to New York, who is shown to be a bridge connecting her parents to their new home. The book was ...

. A dramatized version of Alcott appeared as a character in the television series '' Dickinson'', in the episode "There's a Certain Slant of Light," which premiered on November 1, 2019. Alcott was portrayed by

Zosia Mamet Zosia Russell MametAccording to Vermont Births, 1981–2001, and Vermont Birth Records, 1909–2008, at Ancestry.com. (; born February 2, 1988) is an American actress and musician who has appeared in television series including ''Mad Men'', ...

References

Bibliography

External links

Sources * *

at

Project Gutenberg Australia Project Gutenberg Australia, abbreviated as PGA, is an Internet site which was founded in 2001 by Colin Choat. It is a sister site of Project Gutenberg, though there is no formal relationship between the two organizations. The site hosts free eboo ...

* *
Works by Louisa May Alcott
at

Online Books Page The Online Books Page is an index of e-text books available on the Internet. It is edited by John Mark Ockerbloom and is hosted by the library of the University of Pennsylvania. The Online Books Page lists over 2 million books and has several fe ...

Index entry for Louisa May Alcott
at

Poets' Corner Poets' Corner is the name traditionally given to a section of the South Transept of Westminster Abbey in the City of Westminster, London because of the high number of poets, playwrights, and writers buried and commemorated there. The first poe ...

Bibliography
(including primary works and information on secondary literature – critical essays, theses and dissertations) Archival materials
Guide to Louisa May Alcott papers, MS Am 800.23
a
Houghton Library
Harvard University
Guide to Louisa May Alcott additional papers, 1839–1888, MS Am 2114
a
Houghton Library
Harvard University
Guide to Louisa May Alcott additional papers, 1845–1945, MS Am 1817
a
Houghton Library
Harvard University
Guide to Louisa May Alcott additional papers, 1849–1887, MS Am 1130.13
a
Houghton Library
Harvard University
Guide to Louisa May Alcott papers, MSS 503
a
L. Tom Perry Special Collections
Brigham Young University
Madeline B. Stern Papers on Louisa May Alcott, MSS 3953
a
L. Tom Perry Special Collections
Brigham Young University
Carolyn Davis collection of Louisa May Alcott
at the

University of Maryland Libraries The University of Maryland Libraries is the largest university library in the Washington, D.C. - Baltimore area. The university's library system includes eight libraries: six are located on the College Park campus, while the Severn Library, an o ...

Other
Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind ‘Little Women’
– American Masters documentary (PBS)
The Louisa May Alcott Society
A scholarly organization devoted to her life and works.
Louisa May Alcott, the real woman who wrote Little Women
Documentary materials.

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080407143910/http://ww3.startribune.com/blogs/oldnews/archives/175 ''Minneapolis Tribune'', March 7, 1888, ''Obituary: Miss Louisa M. Alcott''
''Encyclopædia Britannica'', Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House
Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House historic site in Concord, MA. * Norwood, Arlisha
"Louisa Alcott"
National Women's History Museum. 2017. * Matteson, J. (November 2009)
Little Woman; The devilish, dutiful daughter Louisa May Alcott
''Humanities'', ''30''(6), 1–6.
Louisa May Alcott
s Orchard House. (n.d.). Retrieved March 20, 2018 * Hooper, E. (September 23, 2017). Louisa May Alcott
A Difficult Woman Who Got Things Done
Retrieved March 20, 2018, * Powell, K. (n.d.)
Louisa May Alcott Family Tree and Genealogy – ThoughtCo.Retrieved March 20, 2018

– archive.nytimes.com. (March 7, 1888). Retrieved March 20, 2018 * Alcott
'Not The Little Woman You Thought She Was'
(December 28, 2009). Retrieved March 20, 2018 * Raga, S. (November 29, 2017)
10 Little Facts About Louisa May Alcott
Retrieved March 20, 2018, National Women's Hall of Fame {{DEFAULTSORT:Alcott, Louisa May 1832 births 1888 deaths 19th-century American novelists 19th-century American poets 19th-century American women writers Alcott family American children's writers American Civil War nurses American women nurses American feminist writers American suffragists American temperance activists American women novelists American women poets American women's rights activists Female wartime nurses Members of the Transcendental Club People from Concord, Massachusetts Writers from Dedham, Massachusetts People from South End, Boston Pseudonymous women writers Underground Railroad people American women children's writers Women in the American Civil War Writers from Boston Novelists from Pennsylvania Writers from Philadelphia Writers of Gothic fiction Sewall family Quincy family Novelists from Massachusetts 19th-century pseudonymous writers

Early life

Literary success

Later years

Selected works

The ''Little Women'' series

Novels

As A. M. Barnard

Published anonymously

Short story collections for children

Other short stories and novelettes

In popular culture

References

Bibliography

Further reading

External links