Anna Alcott Pratt

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Anna Bronson Alcott Pratt (March 16, 1831 – July 17, 1893) was the elder sister of American novelist Louisa May Alcott. She was the basis for the character Margaret "Meg" of Little Women (1868), her sister's classic, semi-autobiographical novel.[1]

Birth and childhood[]

Anna Bronson Alcott was born in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia on March 16, 1831.[2] She was the first of four daughters born to Amos Bronson Alcott and Abby May.[2] She was named after both her paternal grandmother (Anna) and her father (Bronson).[3] Amos Bronson Alcott was a schoolteacher and from the time Anna was born, he took detailed notes on his daughter's development.[4]

Anna was primarily educated at home although she attended her father's Temple School in the late 1830s.[5]

From an early age, Anna was "stage-struck" and secretly longed "to shine before the world as a great actress or prima donna."[2] In her youth, she and her sister Louisa created romantic melodramas which they performed for friends.[2] While Louisa was known among friends for her comedic acting, Anna "could cause handkerchiefs to come out and much swallowing of lumps in the throat."[2]

Between 1847 and 1849, Anna and Louisa coauthored a tragedy entitled Norna; or, The Witch's Curse.[6] It was published after Louisa's death in Comic Tragedies (1893) which featured an introduction by Anna titled "A forward from Meg."[6]

In 1850, Anna opened a small school in Boston with approximately 20 pupils.[5] In 1853, she accepted a teaching position in Syracuse, New York.[5]

Marriage and children[]

List of wedding gifts given to Anna Alcott and John Bridge Pratt

In 1858, the year they moved to Orchard House in Concord, Louisa and Anna helped form the . Another member of the group was John Bridge Pratt. He and Anna fell in love while playing opposite each other in a play called "The Loan of a Lover."[2]

The couple announced their engagement in spring 1858 and married at Orchard House in May 1860.[5] Their wedding provided the basis for the fictional marriage of Meg and John in Little Women.[2] Anna wore a grey silk dress to the wedding.[7] Guests included Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Lidian Jackson Emerson and Franklin Benjamin Sanborn.[7] The early years of the marriage are portrayed in Anna's diary (1859-1862).[8][9]

Anna and John had two sons: Frederick Alcott Pratt (1863-1910) and John Sewall Pratt (1865-1923).[5] John Sewall Pratt later changed his name to John Alcott "in deference to Louisa [May] Alcott's will."[1] Both worked in book publishing.[1]

Later life and death[]

John Bridge Pratt died unexpectedly in late 1870.[5]

After her husband's death Anna purchased the Thoreau-Alcott House on Main Street in Concord in 1877 with help from her sister Louisa.[2] Anna had $2500 in savings and the asking price for the house was $5,000.[10] Louisa offered $4500 which was accepted.[10]

Anna's last years were spent caring for those she loved, including her own sons, her sister Louisa, and "Lulu", the daughter of her late sister May Alcott Nieriker.[2]

Anna died in Concord, Massachusetts on July 17, 1893,[11] and she was buried in the family lot on Author's Ridge in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord.[12]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Anna B. Alcott Pratt Dead" (PDF). The New York Times. July 18, 1893. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i "Anna Alcott Pratt Text". www.louisamayalcott.org. Archived from the original on 2018-07-18. Retrieved 2018-05-27.
  3. ^ LaPlante, Eve (2013-11-19). Marmee & Louisa: The Untold Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Mother. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781451620672.
  4. ^ Anderson, William (1995-09-21). The World of Louisa May Alcott. Harper Collins. ISBN 9780060951566.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Shealy, Daniel (September 2005). Alcott in Her Own Time: A Biographical Chronicle of Her LIfe, Drawn from Recollections, Interviews, and Memoirs by Family, Friends, and Associates. University of Iowa Press. ISBN 9781587295980.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Alcott, Louisa May (2015-11-02). The Annotated Little Women. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 9780393248821.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b House, Louisa May Alcott's Orchard (2014-06-11). "Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House: Anna Alcott Pratt's 1860 Wedding Dress on Display". Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House. Retrieved 2018-05-27.
  8. ^ Pratt, Anna Alcott. "Anna Alcott Pratt Diary". Internet Archive. Ray Angelo. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  9. ^ Pratt, Anna (Alcott). "Diary 1860-1861". Harvard Library. Harvard University. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b Reisen, Harriet (2009-10-27). Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women. Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 9781429928816.
  11. ^ Louisa May Alcott Encyclopedia
  12. ^ Concord Patch

External links[]

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