Louisa May Alcott is recognized around the world for her novel Little Women, but few know Alcott as the bold, compelling woman who grew up in the innermost circle of the Transcendentalist and antislavery movements, served as a Civil War army nurse, and led a secret literary life writing pulp fiction. Louisa May Alcott was her own best character and her life was her own best plot.
The Broward County Library’s public programs shed light on Louisa May Alcott by exploring her life and the historical and cultural context that inspired her remarkable body of work. Alcott’s childhood was characterized by chronic economic difficulties and frequent uprooting due to her father’s utopian experiments. Despite her family’s financial hardships, Alcott experienced a rich intellectual life influenced by family friends such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Margaret Fuller. When slavery threatened the nation, the Alcott home was an Underground Railroad stop for fugitives; during the Civil War, Alcott wanted to fight, but as a woman she could enlist only as a nurse.
To support Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women, a documentary film co-produced by Nancy Porter Productions, Inc. and Thirteen/WNET New York’s American Masters, Broward County Library will present six programs from May through September 2011. The six series program will re-introduce audiences to Louisa May Alcott’s story. Louisa May Alcott programs in libraries are sponsored by the American Library Association Public Programs Office with the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional sponsors are the Florida Center for the Book, the Broward Public Library Foundation, the Friends of the Fort Lauderdale Libraries and WPBT2.
The six programs are located at the following libraries in Broward County:
Saturday, May 7th, 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Alvin Sherman Library, Research and Information Technology Center at Nova Southeastern University, 3100 Ray Ferrero Jr. Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Gallery 2nd Floor
Louisa May Alcott: Through Her Eyes. A community-wide library event focusing on the life, works, and 
times of Louisa may Alcott. View film clips from the documentary film, Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women with commentary by Nova Southeastern University Scholar Dr. Christine Jackson.
Wednesday, June 8th, 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm
Main Library, 6th Floor, 100 S. Andrews Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Louisa May Alcott Wrote That? Reading and Discussion of Louisa May Alcott’s lesser know works with Scholar Dr. Christine Jackson of Nova Southeastern University. The project scholar will facilitate a discussion exploring these short works, which together help display the range of Alcott’s writing and exemplify her strong and dynamic connections to the culture in which she lived. Copies of her stories will be available at the program.
Tuesday, August 9th, 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm
South Regional/ Broward College Library, 7300 Pines Blvd. Pembroke Pines
Louisa May Alcott: Literary Phenomenon and Social Reformer
Scholar led program with Dr. Chrisitine Jackson of Nova Southeastern University focusing on Louisa May Alcott as a self-trained and successful professional writer. The discussion will center on how Alcott used her writing to advance many of her era’s ideas for social reform, such as Abolitionism and women’s rights.
Thursday, September 15th, 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm
Main Library, 6th Floor, 100 S. Andrews Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Reading and discussion of the biography – Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women.
A scholar-led discussion by Dr. Christine Jackson of Nova Southeastern University of the biography; documentary film clips will be presented during the discussion.
Wednesday, September 21st, 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm
West Regional Library Auditorium, 8601 West Broward Blvd, Plantation, Florida
Film Screening and Discussion – Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women. Discussion led by scholar Dr. Christine Jackson of Nova Southeastern University.
Thursday, September 22nd, 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Main Library, 6th Floor, 100 S. Andrews Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Make your personal Louisa May Alcott journal with writer and artist Susan Buzzi. Susan Buzzi will talk about Louisa May Alcott as a young writer and have teens decorate and design their own journals.
WPBT2 will broadcast the documentary Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women during the libraries program series. The first presentation of the 1-1/2 hour documentary is May 1st at 6:00 pm on WPBT2.2 Create (Comcast 202).
