Louisa May Alcott

Legacy: the Artists Behind the Legends

Louisa May Alcott was an American novelist and poet active during the 19th century, and probably best known for the fiction classic Little Women. Alcott grew up in a financially unstable household, with a father who neglected the needs of his family, and so from a very young age Alcott was driven not only to work and support her family but also to find success as a writer. She grew up under the influence of some of the more recognizable intellectuals of her time, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thorough, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, all close friends of her father’s, and Alcott was additionally a known abolitionist during the Civil War as well as a staunch feminist, and she remained unmarried throughout her entire life. Though Little Women is the story that put Louisa on the map, her career truly commenced at the start of the 1860s under the pen name A.M. Bernard, which we will learn a little more about later in the episode. One of the amazing things about Louisa May Alcott that I have come to discover is how grounded of a woman she was – she did not let acclaim or accomplishment deter her from her morals and beliefs, and Alcott even was known to dress up as a servant when fans of her writing would show up at her home just because she hated having to be the center of attention. So without further ado, let’s dive into this week’s episode of Legacy and talk about the amazing Louisa May Alcott, a woman ahead of her time, and a force to be reckoned with.