About
Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) was an American novelist, best known for her novel Little Women (1868-1869), inspired by her childhood in Concord, Massachusetts. She also served as a nurse during the Civil War, an experience she recounted in Hospital Sketches (1863). Under the pseudonyms A. M. Barnard and Flora Fairfield, she wrote sensational stories and poems. An advocate for women's rights, she became the first woman to register to vote in Concord in 1879. She is buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, alongside Emerson, Hawthorne, and Thoreau.
* 1832-11-28 — † 1888-03-06
Major works
- Little Women; or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy (1868)novel
- Hospital Sketches (1863)memoir
- Little Men (1871)novel
- Jo's Boys (1886)novel
Key milestones
- 1862-1863Served as a nurse during the Civil War in Georgetown.
- 1879Became the first woman to register to vote in Concord, Massachusetts.
- 1888Died in Boston, two days after her father Bronson Alcott.
Themes
Family and domestic lifeFemale independenceEducation and moral growthSocial engagementWriting and creativity
Sources: louisamayalcott.org · guides.loc.gov · britannica.com
