Learn about the story behind the tea kettle that Louisa May Alcott used while serving as a nurse for the Union Army in Washington, D.C. during the Civil War. Alcott is most famous as the author of Little Women, but years prior she wrote “Hospital Sketches,” based on her now-lost letters home which she reported were “written on inverted tea kettles, waiting for gruel to warm, or poultices to cool, [or] for boys to wake and be tormented.” This spotlight talk delves in Louisa May Alcott’s experiences nursing soldiers during the Civil War and the lasting impact it had on her writing and life.

About Object Spotlight Talks: During these brief talks, Museum Interpreter showcase a fascinating story behind an item in the Concord Museum collections.

Free with Museum admission | Members visit free.

This talk will take place in the At the Center of the Revolution gallery at 11:00-11:30 am

Tea kettle, England, 1830-1850. Concord Museum Collection, Gift of Cummings E. Davis, H1416.