Louisa May Alcott

(1832-1888)

Early Life

• Born November 29, 1832

• 3 sisters – 1 older and 2 younger

• Mostly homeschooled by her father

Early Life cont…

• Her favorite subjects in school were reading, writing, and history

• Saved from drowning by a black boy

• Mostly grew up in Concord, MA but her family moved around a lot due to her father’s constant job schemes

Later On

• Settled back in Concord, MA for around 20 years before moving to Europe for a few years

• Helped in the Civil War due to her strong abolitionist beliefs

• Wrote Little Women – her most famous book that mirrors her home life

• Attended Women’s Congress of 1875 in Syracuse, NY

• 1st to register to vote in Concord

Coming to an End

• Her sister May left her daughter Louisa to her

• Finally settled in a nursing home

• Died March 6, 1888

Her InvolvementMainly involved in Abolitionist and

Women’s Suffrage movements

Abolition

• Focused on removal of slavery in US

• Fighting against slavery dates back to 1700’s

• Civil War fought over slavery in 1861-1865

• Slavery officially abolished in 1865

“I became an Abolitionist at an early age…the conversion was genuine; and my greatest pride is in the fact that I lived to know the brave men and women who did so much for the cause, and that I had a very small share in the war which put an end to a great wrong”

~Louisa May Alcott

Women’s Suffrage

• Women questioned society’s limits to women’s rights

-women not allowed to vote or get education ect..

• Two major groups in 1869:-National Women’s Suffrage

Association-American Women Suffrage

Association

Louisa May Alcott and Women’s Suffrage

• Went door to door encouraging women to vote

• Held meetings in her home teaching women how to cast ballot

• Supported other women suffrage writers-H. Robinson’s Massachusetts in the Women Suffrage Movement

• Wrote for Woman’s Journal

• Attended Women’s Congress of 1875 in Syracuse, NY

Letter to a Newspaper 1880• Account of first experience of women voting in

Concord

• Voting for school committee

• Over thirty women intended to vote

• Women voted first as sign of respect from men

“[Concord] has distinguished herself by an unusually well conducted and successful town meeting”

Women’s Congress

• Education and Hygiene

• Professions and Employments

• Art of Living

• Finance

• Charity and Reform

• Relation of Women to the Legal Education Provisions of the Country

Bibliography• Library of Congress. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Apr 2010. <http://www.memory.loc.gov>. • "Women's Suffrage." N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Apr 2010.

<http://lwvnet.org/tn/nashville/files/the_history_of_womens_suffrage.pdf >. • Myerson, Joel. Library of Congress, 1995. Web. 11 Apr 2010.

<http://books.google.com/books?louisa+may+alcott>.• Goodwin, Joan. "Louisa May Alcott." Louisa May Alcott. UUHS. Web. 12 Apr. 2010.

<http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/louisamayalcott.html>.• "Women's Suffrage in Arkansas". Web. 8 Apr 2010.

<asms.k12.ar.us/armem/wallace/Index.htm>. • "Women's Votes, Women's Voices". Web. 6 Apr 2010. <

www.wshs.org/.../womensvotes.aspx>. • "Women's Suffrage". Web. 7 Apr 2010. <www.law.louisville.edu/.../gallery/suffrage>. • unknown. "The Women's Congress." New York Times 13 Oct. 1875: page 3. Print. • Alcott, Louisa May. "Letter to a Newspaper, 1880." Woman's Journal 3 April 1880,

Print.