Louisa May Alcott once wrote:

“Women have minds and souls as well as just hearts, and they’ve got ambition and talent as well as just beauty. And I’m sick of people saying that love is all a woman is fit for. I’m so sick of it! But - I’m so lonely!”

There’s something about reading that quote from her acclaimed novel, Little Women, that will perpetually resonate with me. The fact that in 1868, a woman was not just writing novels, but writing words and talking about themes that still hit home in 2023, speaks volumes. It means; we’ve come far, just not far enough.

Given Alcott was so ahead of her time, we think it’s only right that we reveal some lesser known facts about this absolute powerhouse.

Did you know that the reason Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women was to help her father? In 1868, Alcott’s father was attempting to publish a work on philosophy with publisher Thomas Niles. As part of the negotiations, he mentioned that his daughter Louisa could write him a book (Niles had been looking for a someone to write a story ‘for girls’ as he put it at the time). The year before, Louisa had declined the offer as she felt too much of a tomboy to write such a novel. However, in exchange for getting her father’s manuscript published with Niles, she decided to accept the offer. And she wrote the whole of Little Women in just THREE MONTHS!
She was an early suffragette and feminist. Born and raised in Concord, Massachusetts, in the 1870s when the thought of voting became a possibility for women, Alcott went door to door to encourage women to cast their vote throughout Massachusetts. By 1879, the state had passed a law that allowed women to vote and Alcott was actually the first woman in Concord who voted.
She fought against slavery. An early abolitionist, and perhaps as a result of seeing her passionate father who founded an anti-slavery society in 1850, Alcott was a firm believer and supporter of racial equality. In fact, Alcott’s family helped fugitive enslaved people. Her childhood home known as The Wayside residence, was home to an Underground Railroad which was a place used by enslaved people who were on the run.

Thanks to you, Louisa. For paving a way for women’s rights and helping to fight the cause to abolish slavery in America, for delighting us with your stories and words that ring true (even now), and for generally being a bad ass.

I’m going to leave you with another fabulous quote from Louisa herself.

“I want to do something splendid…something heroic or wonderful that won’t be forgotten after I’m dead. I don’t know what, but I’m on the watch for it and mean to astonish you all someday.”

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Founder of The C Word Magazine, Emily is currently living in London. She is passionate about art, travel, culture, cinema, fashion, sports, feminism and a whole lot more. She is currently working on her own podcast with a friend and also dabbles in graphic design, when not doing her day job as an Associate Director of Media Planning. Find her on Instagram @emlrking or chatting on Confession Sessions, The C Word Mag’s own podcast.

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