On Wednesday, June 29, starting 5:45, Brownell Library invites everyone for Louisa May Alcott-style festivity, Louisa May Alcott: Through Her Eyes. For those who come even earlier, there is croquet on the lawn and games that readers recall from the Camp Laurence chapter of Little Women. For instance, in Rigmarole, “One person begins a story, any nonsense [s/he] likes, and tells as long a s/he pleases, only taking care to stop short at some exciting point, when the next takes it up and does the same.”
The pot-luck supper under the tent on the front lawn features 19th century fare—prizes for the most authentic dishes—serenaded by renowned Vermont fiddler Pete Sutherland who plays traditional melodies familiar to Alcott.
Summoned to the parlor, the Main Reading Room, at 7:00 p.m., there is a living-history performance by Marianne Donnelly, Louisa May Alcott: Beyond Little Women.
Donnelly’s Louisa May Alcott: Beyond Little Women is a carefully researched portrayal of writer and activist Louisa May Alcott. Emphasizing her suffragist and abolitionist involvement, Civil War nursing experience and unique childhood, Louisa is accurately and passionately brought to life. Following the 40-45 minute performance, the audience may engage Alcott with questions.
These festivities occasion the launch of the Louisa May Alcott Writers’ Challenge, funded by a donation from an employee of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc., (GMCR) as part of the Company’s matching donation program, offered to all GMCR employees.
This program supports “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, and a biography of the same name written by Harriet Reisen. 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. Vermont Public Television and the Vermont Humanities Council are in concert with Brownell Library. We are also grateful for the assistance of Brownell Library Foundation, Inc., and Friends of Brownell Library.