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.
In this post, I would like to acquaint you with Kent Bicknell, an avid Alcott scholar and collector of artifacts related to Transcendentalism. Bicknell has amassed a fantastic collection that tells compelling stories about the Alcott family not found in biographies of this remarkable family. Recently, Bicknell was honored by The Ticknor Society, which awarded …
Continue reading "Alcott artifacts and collectibles tell stories beyond the written word."
I invite you to read my latest article in the Winter edition of Discover Concord Magazine: https://discoverconcordma.com/winter-2020-issue Are you passionate about Louisa May Alcott too? Subscribe to the email list and never miss a post! Keep up with news and free giveaways on Susan's books, Louisa May Alcott: Illuminated …
Continue reading "Bronson Alcott’s Fruitlands, as seen in Discover Concord Magazine"
Last Wednesday I attended the first of three lectures on Bronson Alcott at the Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, MA, presented by Helen Batchelder, a local scholar. Fruitlands in the dark I have never been to Fruitlands before in the dark and it was disconcerting to see the lights over the mountains, reminding me it was …
Continue reading "Three-part series on Bronson Alcott at Fruitlands Museum: genius or crackpot?"
The 1930s was an interesting time in Alcott scholarship. The year 1932 marked the one hundredth year of Louisa’s birth. 1938 not only marked the 50th anniversary of Louisa and Bronson’s death but also the 70th anniversary of the publication of Little Women. Thus in 1937, two important biographies were released – Odell Shepherd’s Pedlar’s …
This an amazing post from one of our readers, a young educator who spoke for the first time at the Summer Conversational Series this summer. She certainly made me rethink "Dead Poet's Society," one of my favorite movies.
By the time Elisabeth Sewall Alcott was born, Bronson had moved on from chronicling the daily activities of his daughters to exploring the soul. In Eden’s Outcasts, John Matteson writes that “Elizabeth was fairer than her elder sisters and … was the model of serenity that Bronson had vainly hoped Anna and Louisa would be. …
Continue reading "Elisabeth Alcott through the eyes of her father"
Ever since last July I have dreamed of the day I could return to the Houghton Library at Harvard and Saturday was that day. I had made a connection with one of the librarians who had supplied me with scans of three of Abba’s letters (see previous post). She told me that a collection of …
Continue reading "A day at Houghton: Getting to know the inner Bronson through his own hand"
One of you (Julie) gifted me with a wonderful book and once I picked it up, I could not put it down. The book, geared for older children, is called Fruitlands Louisa May Alcott Made Perfect by Gloria Whelan. A lost diary The premise of the book is based on Louisa’s diary kept at Fruitlands. …
Continue reading "Book Review: Fruitlands Louisa May Alcott Made Perfect by Gloria Whelan"
What was it like to live at Fruitlands? Serious Alcott biographers have devoted much ink to the family’s experience during this six-month utopian experiment. Sometimes thoughtful, often absurd and always dramatic, Fruitlands is credited with both the shaping of the famous daughter, and a change in the power structure of the Alcott marriage and family …
Continue reading "The unknown players of Fruitlands – finally hearing their voices"
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"
Louisa May Alcott is My Passion 