Louisa May Alcott is My Passion
Begun in 2010, this blog offers analysis and reflection by Susan Bailey on the life, works and legacy of Louisa May Alcott and her family. Susan is an active member and supporter of the Louisa May Alcott Society, the Fruitlands Museum and Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House.
I am pleased to present this guest post by Richard Smith. Meeting Thoreau In March 1840, Bronson Alcott and his family moved to Concord, Massachusetts. Along with Bronson were his wife, Abigail May, and their three young daughters: nine-year-old Anna, seven-year-old Louisa, and Elizabeth, aged four. There would soon be a fourth daughter added to …
Continue reading "“Our Pan” — Henry Thoreau and the Alcotts"
I never thought I’d be saying this, especially when it comes to Bronson Alcott but Pedlar’s Progress, a biography on the life of Alcott by Odell Shepherd, is turning out to be an epic read. It may rank among the top ten books on my lifetime list. A satisfying tactile experience Could it be because …
I recently tried a couple of the exercises in Corinne Hosfeld Smith's book, Henry David Thoreau for Kids--"Record Wild Animal Behavior" and "Draw a Sound Map." It was a wonderful time outdoors and I was surprised how much I heard! Here's my Sound Map: I wrote more about this on my other blog (Be as …
Continue reading "On the journey to harmony–Thoreau, the Sound Map and opening up the inner eye"
The Houghton Library at Harvard University has acquired the complete set of notes made by Henry David Thoreau as he visited the site of Margaret Fuller's drowning along with her husband and little son aboard the steamship Elizabeth. Here is a teaser from the article, published in the Harvard Gazette: A recent Houghton Library acquisition …
Cathlin Davis on Louisa’s philosophy of life Continuing with Day 4 of the series, Professor Cathlin Davis from California State University presented on “Practice Philosophy: ‘I want something to do.’” Through passages from Hospital Sketches, Work, Little Men and some of the rarer short stories (“May Flowers” from A Garland for Girls and “What Becomes …
Following up with my last post about the lecture I attended at New North Church featuring John Matteson, author of Eden’s Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father, there is a question I have wanted to ask Matteson since I started reading his book almost two years ago. How is it that …
Continue reading "The million dollar question, and the priceless answer"
Back in October I took a trip to Fruitlands in Harvard, MA, only about 40 minutes from my home. That visit sparked a long period of binge reading on the subject which is why, in the dead of winter, I’m only getting around to writing about that visit now. A paradox Having immersed myself in …
Continue reading "A visit to Fruitlands where Louisa took up the family cross"
From the pages of Aunt Jo’s Scrap-Bag comes an intriguing memoir of the boys in Louisa May Alcott's life, "My Boys." From one "boy" to another Louisa had always preferred the company of boys and wished she had been born one herself. She particularly favored the age when boys were "regarded as nuisances till they are …
As a follow-up to American Bloomsbury, and in an effort to continue to build on knowledge of life in New England for women in the 19th century, I've started reading Mr. Emerson’s Wife by Amy Belding Brown, at the advice of a friend (good advice!). This is a beautifully written book that attempts to fill …
Continue reading "Learning more about 19th century life for women with “Mr. Emerson’s Wife”"
Louisa May Alcott is My Passion 