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.
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.
Some of the best books written about Louisa May Alcott are those geared for children. One of my favorites is Little Women Next Door by Sheila Solomon Klass. In a gentle yet poignant story Klass shows the Alcotts during their time Fruitlands through the eyes of a child from a typical family of the 1840s. …
The Conversational series welcomed back a perennial favorite in John Matteson whose Pulitzer-prize winning book Eden’s Outcasts is a standard in Alcott scholarship. He has also written a fine book on Margaret Fuller called The Lives of Margaret Fuller; she was the focus of his presentation entitled “ ‘The Mind in the Full Glow of …
These are owls that the Alcott girls would have seen living at Fruitlands. The little screech owl is one May painted over Louisa’s fireplace and the Barn Owl is in her painting that hung in The Salon in Paris. Now you can see them live! Note how regal the Barn Owl is … rather like May I think. 🙂
I love birds and I love cats. So it makes sense that owls, with their cat-like eyes, should capture my heart. I had the thrill of seeing these beautiful creatures up close and personal at the Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, MA in a presentation by Marcia and Mark Wilson of Eyes on Owls.
Passion for owls
The Wilsons are unique in their ability to care for owls and to educate the public about them. Marcia comes by her interest honestly with a mother who worked with owls throughout her life and kept a Great Horned Owl in the family home. Mark is a professional photographer with credits including the covers of National Geographic plus twenty years of service to the Boston Globe.
Lifelong commitment
Both are passionate about birds to the point of housing some eighteen owls on their property. Some of these birds live over fifty years so…
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. …
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 …
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. …
Just had to pass along to you that the Fruitlands Museum official Facebook site is carrying a link to my post about the unknown players of Fruitlands! You can visit the Fruitlands Museum Facebook site at https://www.facebook.com/Fruitlands?ref=ts&fref=ts. They are very active on this page and the museum has many wonderful activities year round (including a …
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 …
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 …
Click to Tweet & Share: Owls, Owls, Owls! Meeting our feathered friends at the Fruitlands Museum http://wp.me/p125Rp-1D4
Are you passionate about Louisa May Alcott too?
Susan’s ebook, “Game Changer” is now available From the Garret – download for free!
Louisa May Alcott is My Passion 