Skip to main content
Massachusetts State Seal
Commonwealth Museum   Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin
Commonwealth Museum Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin

Suffragist of the Month: Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888)


Louisa May Alcott:   Download the PDF

The author Louisa May Alcott is beloved by generations for her novel Little Women. Her own family life was more complicated.

“

“Most heartily yours for woman suffrage and all other reforms” was one of Louisa May Alcott’s favorite salutations.

– Amelia Bloomer

”
Louisa May Alcott as a young woman. At the age of fifteen she wrote: “I will do something by and by… Don’t care what, teach, sew, act, write, anything to help the family; and I’ll be rich and famous and happy before I die, see if I won’t.”
Louisa May Alcott as a young woman. At the age of fifteen she wrote: “I will do something by and by… Don’t care what, teach, sew, act, write, anything to help the family; and I’ll be rich and famous and happy before I die, see if I won’t.”
-  NYPL Digital Gallery

Louisa’s mother, Abigail May Alcott, had distinguished and wealthy relatives but endured a life of poverty. Her central role in supporting, nurturing, and developing her daughters’ talents has often been overlooked.
Louisa’s mother, Abigail May Alcott, had distinguished and wealthy relatives but endured a life of poverty. Her central role in supporting, nurturing, and developing her daughters’ talents has often been overlooked.
- Unknown
Amos Bronson Alcott: Louisa once said of her father that a philosopher is “a man up in a balloon with his family and friends holding the ropes, trying to haul him down.”
Amos Bronson Alcott: Louisa once said of her father that a philosopher is “a man up in a balloon with his family and friends holding the ropes, trying to haul him down.”
- NYPL Digital Gallery
The family moved into Orchard House in Concord when Louisa was in her twenties. It is revered by visitors as the setting for the fictional March family in Little Women.
The family moved into Orchard House in Concord when Louisa was in her twenties. It is revered by visitors as the setting for the fictional March family in Little Women.
- Unknown
After attaining wealth and fame as an author, Louisa May Alcott bought a townhouse at Number 10 Louisburg Square in Boston. Alamy
After attaining wealth and fame as an author, Louisa May Alcott bought a townhouse at Number 10 Louisburg Square in Boston.
- Alamy
❮ ❯

Fruitlands
Fruitlands in Harvard, Massachusetts was a utopian community promoted by Bronson Alcott. It quickly failed, as chronicled in Louisa’s later account, Transcendental Wild Oats. Her father attained wider recognition as a lecturer after his daughter became famous from Little Women.

Louisa May Alcott’s name and her occupation of “writer” appear on a passenger list for the ship S. S. Africa, returning to Boston from a European voyage on July 7, 1866.

Louisa May Alcott’s . . .

Literary Career
 While aspiring to be a writer, Louisa worked in a variety of difficult jobs, including service as a Civil War nurse. Using assumed names to hide the fact that she was a woman, she wrote “lurid” stories for adults. Although tame by 21st century standards, her stories reflect anger at the limitations placed on women and their efforts to overcome them. After Little Women became a sensation, she focused on children’s stories and became America’s best-selling author. 

Louisa May Alcott died at the age of 55, two days after her father. Perhaps disillusioned by her parents’ marriage, she concluded that it was not possible for a woman to marry and pursue a career

Louisa May Alcott died at the age of 55, two days after her father. Perhaps disillusioned by her parents’ marriage, she concluded that it was not possible for a woman to marry and pursue a career.

Suffragists: Like Mother, Like Daughter
 In 1853 and 1875 Abigail May Alcott submitted petitions to amend the Massachusetts constitution and allow women’s suffrage. One petition was “set aside with as little regard as the stump of a well-worn cigar,” she wrote. Daughter Louisa May Alcott wrote articles advocating female suffrage in The Woman’s Journal, based in Boston. In 1879 she was the first woman to register to vote in Concord after women were allowed to vote in school committee but not general elections.