Profile of the Day: Louisa May Alcott

Do you remember reading Little Women? On this day in 1832, author Louisa May Alcott was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania.

Image: Louisa May Alcott / Library of Congress

The second daughter of Amos Bronson Alcott and Abby May, Alcott was born on her father’s 33rd birthday. Amos Alcott was a transcendentalist and established an experimental school in Boston. She grew up around family friends Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson, who were a part of the Transcendental Club along with her father..

At the outbreak of the American Civil War, Alcott served as a nurse at a Union hospital. During that time, Alcott’s letters home were published in the Boston anti-slavery paper Commonwealth and later in Hospital Sketches. She received much critical recognition for her observations and humor in her letters. In 1868, Alcott published the first part of Little Women, which was a semi-autobiographical account of her life growing up with her sisters. The novel was an immediate success. Since its publication, the book has been adapted several times for film, television and theater.

How are you related to Louisa May Alcott? Explore her family tree and discover your connection to the author!