Louisa May Alcott was born in 1832 in Germantown, Pennsylvania. Her father, Amos Bronson Alcott was a transcendentalistand educator. She was the second of four daughters in the Alcott family. The family moved to Massachusetts in 1834 where her father started an experimental school. The family also lived in a commune, Utopian Fruitlands, for a period. Louisa was educated mostly at home by her father. She also was taught by family friends like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Margaret Fuller. The family was never well off and Louisa worked as a seamstressand a teacher to help with finances. She wrote her first book, Flower Fables, in 1849. During the Civil War she worked as a nurse in the Union Hospital at Georgetown, D.C.. Her letters home about her experience was published as Hospital Sketches in 1863. Her most famous work, Little Women, a semi-autobiographical story about four sisters growingup in Massachusetts, was published in 1868.
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Websites
The Woman Behind 'Little Women'
This companion site to the American Masters episode on Louisa May Alcott features biographical information about the author as well as selected scenes from the program and an article about the character of Jo March. Source: Orchard House Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School Teacher Section: Yes Searchable: No
Orchard House
Take a tour of Orchard House and learn more about Louisa May Alcott and her family. Source: Orchard House Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School Teacher Section: Yes Searchable: No
Louisa May Alcott
You'll find biographical information here along with access to primary source materials related to Alcott's life and time. Source: Library of Congress Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School Teacher Section: No Searchable: Yes
Online Books by Louisa May Alcott
You'll find links to online works by Louisa May Alcott including Little Women, Flower Fables, and Hospital Sketches. Source: Online Books Page Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Varies Teacher Section: No Searchable: No
Louisa May Alcott
This site has biographical information about the author. Source: Unitarian Universalist Historical Society Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School Teacher Section: No Searchable: No
Louisa May Alcott
This site has biographical information about the author. Source: National Women's Hall of Fame Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School Teacher Section: No Searchable: Yes
Louisa May Alcott
This site has biographical information about the author. Source: Biography.com Intended Audience: General Reading Level: Middle School Teacher Section: No Searchable: Yes
The Devilish,. Dutiful Daughter
This article from Humanities Magazine examines the relationship between Louisa May Alcott and her father. Source: National Endowment for the Humanities
Intended Audience: General Reading Level: High School Teacher Section: No Searchable: No
Critical Literacy: Women in 19th-Century Literature - Gr. 9-12
This unit introduces students to fundamental ideas of critical literacy through a reading and critical analysis of two pieces of literature from the 1800s, focusing on each author's intent and intended audience and begins with two selections from Louisa May Alcott. Source: Read Write Think
Acting Up, A Melodrama - Gr. 9-12
After reading the melodrama in Little Women, students are divided into five groups and assigned an act to interpret. They expand the lines, create melodies, and rehearse their act for presentation to the class. Source: ArtsEdge
Louisa May Alcott: Her Life, Her Times and Her Literature
In this unit students learn about the author's life and discover which elements of her family history she incorporates into her work.
Source: Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute
Louisa May Alcott
You'll find teaching ideas and resources designed to help celebrate Alcott's birthdate, November 29. Source: Read Write Think
Louisa May Alcott was born in 1832 in Germantown, Pennsylvania. Her father, Amos Bronson Alcott was a transcendentalistand educator. She was the second of four daughters in the Alcott family. The family moved to Massachusetts in 1834 where her father started an experimental school. The family also lived in a commune, Utopian Fruitlands, for a period. Louisa was educated mostly at home by her father. She also was taught by family friends like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Margaret Fuller. The family was never well off and Louisa worked as a seamstressand a teacher to help with finances. She wrote her first book, Flower Fables, in 1849. During the Civil War she worked as a nurse in the Union Hospital at Georgetown, D.C.. Her letters home about her experience was published as Hospital Sketches in 1863. Her most famous work, Little Women, a semi-autobiographical story about four sisters growingup in Massachusetts, was published in 1868. 
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The Woman Behind 'Little Women'
