It's common knowledge that Louisa May Alcott's tale of a family's home life during the Civil War, Little Women, was loosely based on her own growing-up.
But thank heavens clever scholars followed up on the real-life counterparts of the book's heroines, because Abigail May Alcott Nieriker ("Amy" is an anagram of "May;" get it?) really did go to Paris and made a moderate success of herself as an artist and writer.
Julia Dabbs is an Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Minnesota-Morris, and is the guest for the latest installment of UMD's Visual Culture Lecture Series. Her presentation, called "Black Subjectivity in the Life and Art of May Alcott Nieriker" will be held tonight (October 6) at 6pm via Zoom, and you can find more information about how to attend here.
