The Wayside - Concord, MA
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nomadwillie
N 42° 27.540 W 071° 19.988
19T E 308165 N 4703377
Bronson opened the home to many people, including Sophia Foord, a teacher with whom he hoped to open a school.He also offered the home as a site for the Underground Railroad.
Waymark Code: WMVVEV
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 05/29/2017
Views: 5
In March 1846, the family added a bedroom for their 13-year-old daughter Louisa May Alcott. It was the first room she had to herself. She wrote in her journal, "It does me very good to be alone, and Mother has made it very pretty and neat for me." In this home, Louisa and her sisters lived many of the scenes that later appeared in her book Little Women (1868–69), including the amateur plays they performed. She also began writing what would become her first book, Flower Fables (1854).
A plaque recognizes the role the Alcott family played as part of the Underground Railroad while living in this house.
Bronson opened the home to many people, including Sophia Foord, a teacher with whom he hoped to open a school. He also offered the home as a site for the Underground Railroad. The family likely hosted several escaped slaves; Louisa May, years later, referred to more than one, writing, "fugitive slaves were sheltered under our roof". Due to the requisite secrecy, however, few records of specific fugitives survive. Bronson referred to a 30-year-old man who was "athletic, dextrous, sagacious, and self-relying" who stayed there for a week in 1847 on his way to Canada. Bronson hoped the experience would serve as a lesson to his family.
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