Louisa May Alcott

Object Details

Exhibition Label: Born Germantown, Pennsylvania; Louisa May Alcott began to write professionally in her teens when her father, utopian theorist Bronson Alcott, left the family in dire financial straits. She published her first book, Flower Fables, in 1854. Her 1863 memoir, Hospital Sketches, reflects upon her service as a Civil War nurse. Asked by her publisher to write a book for girls, Alcott drew upon her own family experiences to pen Little Women (1868–69). This heartwarming novel about the lives of the four March sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—remains a literary classic.; Nacida en Germantown, Pensilvania; Louisa May Alcott empezó a escribir profesionalmente en su adolescencia, cuando su padre, el teórico utópico Bronson Alcott, dejó a la familia en la pobreza. Publicó su primer libro, Fábulas de flores, en 1854. Sus memorias de 1863, Escenas de la vida de un hospital, son reflexiones sobre su labor de enfermera en la Guerra Civil. Cuando su editor le pidió un libro para chicas, Alcott se inspiró en sus experiencias familiares para crear Mujercitas (1868–69). Esta novela conmovedora, que narra la vida de las cuatro hermanas March —Meg, Jo, Beth y Amy— sigue siendo un clásico literario.
Provenance: Artist’s daughter-in-law, Helen Chaffee Elwell; gift to NPG 1968

Credit Line: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift in memory of Alcott Farrar Elwell (1886-1962) by his wife, Helen Chaffee Elwell

1891 (cast 1967)

National Portrait Gallery

Topic: Louisa May Alcott: Female; Louisa May Alcott: Arts and Culture\Journalism and Media\Magazine editor; Louisa May Alcott: Arts and Culture\Literature\Writer\Novelist; Portrait

GUID (Link to Original Record): http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4fb7552cd-3d53-4aa7-b73c-11945bf52217