"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." – These are the words of young Louisa May Alcott, a determined woman who sought to pull her family from poverty in a time when women rarely did such a thing. Much like her literary counterpart, Jo March, Louisa was a rebel with a fundamental cause—to feed her parents and sisters. The Alcott family struggled most of their lives, and if it weren't for Louisa, they likely would have continued to do so. 

Born November 29th, 1832, to transcendentalist parents Abigail May and Amos Bronson Alcott, Louisa worked from an early age to help the family's ongoing financial crisis. She proved to be a force in the literary world with her novel, Little Women , which skyrocketed her fame and cemented her place in classic literature.

Many women and some men have fond memories of the first time they read the book—the cozy feelings they felt when escaping in the loving warmth of the March’s home. I certainly have those memories. 

But life for Louisa and her family was much more challenging than the charming novel described. 

Music by Kevin MacLeod and Epidemic Sound.

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Music by Katie Coughran.

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