Alcott, Abigail May, 1800-1877

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Abigail "Abba" Alcott (née May; October 8, 1800 – November 25, 1877) was an American activist for several causes and one of the first paid social workers in the state of Massachusetts. She was the wife of Transcendentalist Amos Bronson Alcott and mother of four daughters, including Civil War novelist Louisa May Alcott.

Abigail May came from a prominent New England family. On her mother's side, she was born into the families of Sewall and Quincy. Her mother, Dorothy Sewall, was the great-granddaughter of Samuel Sewall, a presiding judge of the Salem witch trials. Her father, Colonel Joseph May, was a lauded Unitarian layman. As a child she did not regularly attend a formal school. Rather, she was educated in history, languages, and sciences by her tutor Abigail Allyn in Duxbury, Massachusetts. She was introduced to her future husband, Amos Bronson Alcott in Brooklyn, Connecticut. Abigail May later applied for an assistant position in Alcott's school in Boston. They married in 1830 and collaborated on projects such as the failed utopian community Fruitlands and the Temple School.

Abigail May Alcott's personal writings were first collected and published in 2012, under the title My Heart Is Boundless: Writings of Abigail May Alcott, Louisa's Mother (Free Press). The collection was edited by her great-niece Eve LaPlante (descended from Abba's brother Samuel Joseph May), the author of the dual biography Marmee & Louisa: The Untold Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Mother (Free Press, 2012).

She compiled a collection of vegetarian recipes (her husband was a vegetarian and cousin of William Alcott who was a student of the dietary reformer Sylvester Graham). The recipes were similar to the diet depicted in Transcendental Wild Oats (1873), Louisa May Alcott's fictionalized account of Fruitlands.

The death of Elizabeth "Lizzie" Sewall, the model for Beth in Little Women, on March 14, 1858, made Abba depressed and sad. Nineteen years after Lizzie's death, Abba herself died in November 1877. Louisa wrote in her journal: "I never wish her back, but a great warmth seems gone out of life... She was so loyal, tender, and true, life was hard for her and no one knew all she had to bear but her children." Abba is buried in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, Concord alongside her husband and three of her daughters.

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Schlesinger, Elizabeth Bancroft, 1886-1977. Papers, 1910-1977 (inclusive). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Alcott books : books from the libraries of Amos Bronson Alcott, Louisa May Alcott and members of their immediate family, 1824-1887. Concord Free Public Library, Special Collection
referencedIn Autograph File, B, ca.1500-1982 Houghton Library
creatorOf Alcott, Abba May, 1800-1877. Alcott family papers, 1830-1888. Houghton Library
creatorOf Alcott, Louisa May, 1832-1888. Louisa May Alcott additional papers, 1839-1888. Houghton Library
creatorOf Alcott, Louisa May, 1832-1888. Additional papers, 1845-1944. Houghton Library
creatorOf Alcott, Abba May, 1800-1877. Alcott-Nieriker-Pratt family correspondence, [1856]-1912. Concord Free Public Library, Special Collection
referencedIn Ralph Waldo Emerson additional papers, ca.1835-1891. Houghton Library
referencedIn Alcott family additional papers, 1724-1927. Houghton Library
referencedIn Alcott family additional papers, 1707-1904 (inclusive), 1821-1888 (bulk). Houghton Library
creatorOf Alcott, Louisa May, 1832-1888. Papers, 1849-1931. Houghton Library
referencedIn Autograph File, A, 1518-2002. Houghton Library
referencedIn Alcott family additional papers, 1724-1927. Houghton Library
referencedIn Phillips, Wendell, 1811-1884. Papers, 1555-1882 (bulk: 1833-1881) Houghton Library
referencedIn Alcott family additional papers, 1820-1886. Houghton Library
referencedIn Alcott family papers, 1830-1888. Houghton Library
referencedIn May, Samuel J. (Samuel Joseph), 1797-1871. Samuel Joseph May diary, 1868. Cornell University Library
referencedIn Letters from various correspondents, 1861-1872. Houghton Library
creatorOf Alcott family. Additional papers, 1820-1886. Houghton Library
referencedIn May, Samuel J. (Samuel Joseph), 1797-1871. Samuel J. May diary, 1869. Cornell University Library
referencedIn Hawthorne, Sophia Peabody, 1809-1871. Letters, 1837-1868, to Elizabeth Palmer Peabody. Ohio State University Libraries
referencedIn Emerson family papers, 1699-1939. Houghton Library
referencedIn Houghton Library printed book provenance file, A-D Houghton Library
referencedIn May, Samuel J. (Samuel Joseph), 1797-1871. Samuel J. May diary, 1867. Cornell University Library
creatorOf Lane, Charles, 1800-1870. Papers, 1842-1851. Fruitlands Museums (Harvard, Mass.)
referencedIn Louisa May Alcott additional papers, 1839-1888. Houghton Library
creatorOf Alcott, Louisa May, 1832-1888. Papers consisting of correspondence, literary manuscripts, legal documents, book reviews, and photocopies [manuscript] 1856 (1863-88) 1910. University of Virginia. Library
referencedIn Ward, Prudence, 1795-1874. Correspondence of Prudence Ward and Anne J. Ward, 1839-1906. Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens
referencedIn May, Samuel J. (Samuel Joseph), 1797-1871. Samuel J. May diary, 1860. Cornell University Library
referencedIn Amos Bronson Alcott papers, 1799-1888. Houghton Library
creatorOf Alcott, John Sewall Pratt, 1865-1923,. Papers of the Alcott family [manuscript] (1845-1915) 1932. University of Virginia. Library
referencedIn May, Samuel J. (Samuel Joseph), 1797-1871. Samuel Joseph May diary, 1865. Cornell University Library
referencedIn Emerson family correspondence, ca. 1725-1900. Houghton Library
creatorOf Alcott family. Alcott family additional papers, 1707-1904 (inclusive), 1821-1888 (bulk). Houghton Library
creatorOf Alcott, Abba May, 1800-1877. [Letter, 1871?] Jul. 20, Concord, [Mass., to] Sophia Thoreau, [Concord, Mass.] / Abba Alcott. Smith College, Neilson Library
referencedIn Additional papers, 1845-1944. Houghton Library
creatorOf Brooks family. Brooks family papers, 1803-1899. Concord Free Public Library, Special Collection
referencedIn May, Samuel J. (Samuel Joseph), 1797-1871. Samuel J. May diary, 1870. Cornell University Library
referencedIn Alcott family. Alcott family additional papers, 1724-1927. Houghton Library
referencedIn Papers, 1910-1977 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
creatorOf Alcott, Abba May, 1800-1877. List of visitors at Fruitlands [1914?]. University of Michigan
referencedIn Books from the library of Amos Bronson Alcott, 1579-1893. Houghton Library
referencedIn Ralph Waldo Emerson letters from various correspondents, ca. 1814-1882. Houghton Library
referencedIn Samuel Joseph May diary, 1861. Cornell University Library
referencedIn Louisa May Alcott papers, 1849-1931. Houghton Library
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
spouseOf Alcott, A. Bronson (Amos Bronson), 1799-1888 person
childOf Alcott, Elizabeth Sewall, 1835-1858 person
memberOf Alcott family (Louisa May Alcott, 1832-1888) family
grandparentOf Alcott, John Sewall Pratt, 1865-1923 person
parentOf Alcott, Louisa May, 1832-1888 person
associatedWith Brooks family. family
associatedWith Dix, Dorothea Lynde, 1802-1887 person
associatedWith Elizabeth (Bancroft) Schlesinger, 1886-1977 person
associatedWith Emerson family. family
correspondedWith Emerson family. family
correspondedWith Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1803-1882 person
associatedWith Hawthorne, Sophia Peabody, 1809-1871. person
associatedWith Houghton Library. corporateBody
associatedWith Houghton Library. corporateBody
associatedWith Lane, Charles, 1800-1870. person
associatedWith May, Samuel J. (Samuel Joseph), 1797-1871. person
parentOf Nieriker, Abigail May Alcott, 1840-1879 person
child-in-law of Nieriker, Ernest, 1856-1935 person
correspondedWith Phillips, Wendell, 1811-1884 person
childOf Pratt, Anna Bronson Alcott, 1831-1893 person
grandparentOf Pratt, Frederic Alcott, 1863-1910 person
child-in-law of Pratt, John Bridge, 1833-1870 person
grandparentOf Rasim, Louisa May "Lulu" Nieriker, 1879-1975 person
associatedWith Sanborn, F. B. (Franklin Benjamin), 1831-1917. person
associatedWith Schlesinger, Elizabeth Bancroft, 1886-1977. person
associatedWith Thoreau, Sophia E., person
associatedWith Ward, Prudence, 1795-1874. person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Concord MA US
Fruitlands (Harvard, Mass.)
Boston MA US
Subject
Suffrage
Social work
Temperance
Occupation
Activist
Social Worker
Suffragists
Activity

Person

Birth 1800-10-08

Death 1877-11-25

Female

Americans

English

Information

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Ark ID: w6jf5n58

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