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UNIDENTIFIED PHOTOS
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| Amos Bronson Alcott |
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| Born: 29/Nov/1799 Wolcott, New Haven, CT |
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| Married: 23/May/1830 Boston, Suffolk, MA |
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| Died: 04/Mar/1888 Boston, Suffolk, MA |
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FATHER
Joseph Chatfield Alcott
MOTHER
Anna Bronson
WIFE
Abigail, "Abba" May
b. 08/Oct/1800 Boston, Suffolk, MA
d. 25/Nov/1877 Boston, Suffolk, MA
| CHILDREN 1. Anna Bronson Alcott b. 16/Mar/1831
2. Louisa May Alcott b. 29/Nov/1832
3. Elizabeth Sewell (Lizzie) Alcott b. 24/Jun/1835
4. Abby May Alcott b. 26/Jul/1840
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Amos Bronson Alcott was born November 29, 1799. The son of a flax farmer in
Wolcott, Connecticut, he taught himself to read by forming letters in charcoal
on a wooden floor. Through sheer willpower and dedication to the ideal he
educated himself and guided his genius to expression as a progressive educator
and leader of the transcendentalists.
Transcendentalism was a term coined for a movement of New England writers and
thinkers in the 1830’s. They believed that people are born good, that they
possess a power called intuition, and that they can come closer to God through
nature.
Amos Bronson Alcott was unique in the way he embodied and lived out his
transcendentalist ideas. As an educator he believed that all knowledge and moral
guidance springs from inner sources and it is the teacher’s role to help these
unfold in a beneficial way.
His daughter Louisa, one of his most faithful pupils, wrote " My father taught
in the wise way which unfolds what lies in the child’s nature, as a flower
blooms, rather than crammed it, like a Strasbourg goose, with more than it could
digest."
Mr. Alcott taught in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Boston. He introduced art,
music, nature study, and physical education to his classes at a time when these
subjects weren’t taught. Many parents did not understand Alcott’s innovative
methods and withdrew their children from his schools. Because of this situation,
the Alcott family moved over 20 times in 30 years.
Alcott believed that the key to social reform and spiritual growth was in the
home, in family life. Essential values instilled in his children from an early
age were self-reliance, sense of duty, self-sacrifice, and charity.
Self-expression was cultivated and this extended to a keeping of journals. These
journals were shared in order to foster an openness of thought and feeling.
In his later years he went on lecture tours in the Midwest where his
enthusiastic talks on education and transcendentalism brought much recognition
to himself and fellow friends and Concordians, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry
David Thoreau.
From 1859-1864 he served as Superintendent of Schools in Concord. In 1879,
mainly through the support of his Western admirers, his lifelong dream for a
School of Philosophy in Concord was fulfilled. One of the first summer schools
for adults, The Concord School of Philosophy continued for nine summers and
closed in July 1888 with a memorial service to Alcott who had passed away on
March 4 of that year.
For more information see:
http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:W5_t88RSuisJ:www.vcu.edu/engweb/transweb/alcott.htm+Amos+Bronson+Alcott&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us
Amos Bronson Alcott was a 4th cousin to Sarah
Bronson
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