Louisa May Alcott was born on November 29, 1832 in Germantown, Pa. She was the second daughter of Amos Bronson Alcott and Abigail May Alcott. The family moved to Boston, Ma. in 1834. Her father opened an experimental school based on his Transcendentalist beliefs. They later moved to Concord, Ma.

Louisa May Alcott had many different jobs in her young life to help support her family, including teacher, governess, maid and writer. Her first book, Flower Fables,  was published in 1855. In 1860, she was a regular contributor to the Atlantic Monthly.

The book Louisa May Alcott is most identified with, Little Women, was published in 1868. It is a semi-autobiographical novel based on her childhood in Concord.

Louisa May Alcott never married; she died on March 6, 1888.