MY AUNT JO
(The story of Louisa May Alcott)
by Amy Nichols
grade 4-5
Hello! My name is Lulu! I was born in London, England on November 8, 1879. I am now 15 years old. I would like to tell you about a very important person in my life. For now, I will just refer to her as Auntie.
She was born November 29, 1832 in Germantown Pennsylvania. Her sister, Anna, was only one year old when she was born. In 1833, my grandma, grandpa, and two aunts moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Only one year later, their family moved again to Boston, Massachusetts. They moved a lot when they were growing up! My grandma had another little girl, Elizabeth, in 1835. During this time, my grandpa established The Temple School in Massachusetts. My grandpa was a firm believer that school should be fun and I would have to agree with him! I wish he could have taught me in school! He wanted to change a lot of things in the schools at that time, but no one else saw his point of view and soon his school was shut down. Once again, my grandma, grandpa, and three aunts moved. This time they moved to Concord, Massachusetts. They were very poor. So when they moved, one of my grandpa's good friends, Mr. Emerson, helped them move into their new house.
When my aunt lived in Concord, she used to write plays with her sisters and act them out in the old barn out back. Grandpa encouraged all of the girls to write, but Auntie loved to write most of all. She used to sit in her picture box window and write in her journal. She also loved to walk in the woods with her sisters and her good friend, Henry David Thoreau. Mr. Thoreau was one of grandpa's good friends too. He and grandpa both really liked nature and did not like all that was happening in the cities at that time. They were part of a movement called transcendentalism. Mr. Thoreau talked my grandpa into moving again. This time they moved to a place called, Fruitlands. It was a place where they could get away from the city life and enjoy nature. While at Fruitlands, my mother, May, was born. They did not stay there very long when my grandma, grandpa, three aunts, and my mother moved back to their house in Concord in 1845 and lived in a place called Hillside. It was at Hillside that my grandma began a deep depression. This caused much stress, especially on my Auntie. My grandpa's idea of living was not providing for their family, so the girls had to work and earn some money for the family. Grandpa continued to encourage the girls to write, and they did! Some of their journal entries were happy, but most were very sad. They worked a lot and didn't have time for fun things that most other children their age were doing. A few years later, grandpa moved his family back to Boston again. I'm glad I didn't move that many times! My two oldest aunts started working many jobs including, washing, mending, teaching, and even professional writing. My Auntie wrote her first published poem in 1852. It was called "Sunlight." She didn't sign her name to it though, she signed it "Flora Fairfield." This was the beginning of my aunt's career in writing.
A few years later, my aunt published her first book. It was called, Flower Fables. The rest of her family moved to New Hampshire, but my aunt decided to stay in Boston. It was during this time, when my Auntie was in Boston, that my aunt Lizzie got really sick and died. They called it scarlet fever. It was a hard time for my Auntie, but shortly after that came along good news that my aunt Anna was to be married! In 1860 my aunt Anna married John Bridge Pratt and they moved to a place called Orchard House. When my aunt Lizzie died, my Auntie moved to New Hampshire with my mom and grandparents. They still didn't have much money, but the girls continued teaching and my Auntie continued writing. She was working on two books, Moods and Success when she decided to volunteer as a nurse in Washington D.C.. She was only there for a year when she got typhoid fever and had to return home. While at the hospital, they treated her with very strong medicine that caused mercury poisoning. Although she had to come home, this experience in a hospital gave her new ideas on writing a book. It was called Hospital Sketches and was published in 1863. Her book, Moods, was published in 1864. These books helped bring in a little more income, but her publisher, Tom Niles, wanted her to write a "girls story." My aunt figured that would be an easy topic to write about. After all, she grew up with three sisters and she had a very unique childhood. It was at that time that she decided to write a book about her sisters and her childhood. She decided to change their names in the book though so they soon became, Jo, Meg, Beth, and Amy. She called this book, "Little Women." This book quickly became a best seller and my Auntie could finally afford to care for her family. Deciding that she and her sister (my mom) needed a break from all the stresses of supporting their parents, they journeyed over to Europe in 1970. During this time in Europe, my aunt continued to write more books that were best sellers like, "Little Men, Work, Eight Cousins, and Rose in Bloom." She also became part of a group that thought women should be able to vote. In fact, in 1879, she became the first woman in Concord to register to vote in the school committee election.
While my mom and my Auntie were in Europe, my uncle died. At this time, my mom and aunt came home and took care of his boys. This is when she wrote the book, "Jo's Boys", for my two cousins. A year later, my mom went back to Europe with my aunt. My mom met and married my dad that year in London! At this time, my aunt was working on a book called, "Jack and Jill." The best thing happened a year later in 1879! Can you guess what that was??? I was born! Things were more joyful again until December 29th when my mother died. It was at that time I got to know my Aunt Louisa. I was named after her, well, the first two names anyway! Her name was Louisa May Alcott and I am Louisa May Nieriker (but everyone calls me Lulu). We moved back to Concord after my mother died. My aunt Louisa's health was very poor and my grandpa was also failing health wise. My grandpa got really sick and died on March 4, 1888. I was very sad, but things got worse when only two days later, my dear aunt Louisa died. I was only eleven when my aunt Louisa died but I will always remember her and the stories of my family when they were my age because she wrote it all down in good books like, "Little Women, Little Men, Jo's Boys, and Eight Cousins," just to name a few. Well, I need to go, but thanks for letting me tell you a little about my aunt!
LuLu Nieriker
(Louisa May Nieriker)
All of the facts in the above story are true. It was written from a child's perspective to make it more enjoyable to the reader. To build suspense, I used the name "Auntie" to refer to Louisa.
Worksheet
1) What movement did Lulu's grandfather support and what kind of environment were they trying to stay away from?
2) What was Louisa's pen name for her first poem "Sunlight"?
3) What two famous authors were friends of the Alcott's when Louisa was younger?
4) What experience triggered the writing of the book, "Hospital Sketches"?
5) Where did Louisa grow up most of her life?
6) Louisa became the first to do something in the history of women, what was it?
7) Whichi one of Louisa's sisters died at a young age?
8) Where did Louisa get the ideas for the characters in Little Women?
Amy Nichols
My Aunt Jo (The Story of Louisa May Alcott)
Outline:
- Lulu begins story
1. Childhood
- moved a lot
- worked at a young age
- father encouraged her to write
2. Middle years
- published first book
- worked in Washington D.C. (Hospital Sketches)
- Little Women became a best seller
3. Adult
- moved to Europe
- women's suffrage
- more books written (Little Men, Jo's Boys, etc...)
- deaths (sister, mom, dad, herself)
Props:
- books written by Louisa May Alcott, pictures of family, older dress, journal and pen
Answers:
1) transcendentalism, they wanted to get away from what was happening in the city
2) Flora Fairfield
3) Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau
4) worked as a military nurse in Washington D.C.
5) Massachusetts
6) first woman to vote on the school election committee
7) Lizzie
8) her life with her sisters
Sources:
Saxton, Martha. Louisa May. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 1977.
MacDonald, Ruth K. Louisa May Alcott. Twayne Publishers, Boston, Massachusetts. 1983.
Stern, Madeleine B. Louisa May Alcott. University of Oklahoma Press, Oklahoma. 1950.
Meigs, Cornelia. Invincible Louisa. Little Brown and Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 1933.
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/ALCOTT/ABOUTLA.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bookworm/lastseries/alcott-biography.html
http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/exhibits/treasures/american/alcott.html
http://www.tetranet.net/users/stolbert/alcott/lma-bio.html
http://www.coppersky.com/louisa/
http://canoe1.ca/JamBooksFeatures/alcott.html
http://www.theatlantic.com/atlantic/atlweb/aandc/alcott/alcott.htm