Introducing The Characters

The Young Emeline Letters is a collection of correspondence written to and by Emeline Emes Joslin between 1857 and 1878. The bulk were written between 1859 and 1863. At the age of 17, Emeline left this house that was her family home to go to college in 1859. Upon graduating from Framingham Normal School in 1863, she en- tered one of the few professions open to women in the second half of the 19th century—teaching. Emeline was a contemporary of .

With a backdrop of the American Civil War, Emeline’s letters reveal many of the same social concerns of young women of that time period and help to authenticate Louisa May Alcott’s themes in .

Emeline Emes Joslin Born in Dublin, New Hampshire in November of 1842, Emeline was the only child of Elias and Maria Emes Joslin. As a young girl of five years, she moved to this large Federal house on Main Street, Keene with her parents. She at- tended Keene Academy, earning the honor of being the youngest student ever accepted there. Emeline advanced to Framingham Normal School to study to become a teacher. Her course work enabled her to teach at Powers Academy in Bernardston, Massachusetts.

Emeline married Horatio Colony I at the Unitarian Church in Keene in December of 1863. Emeline and Horatio I had three children, John, Charles and Kate. Emeline succumbed to typhoid fever in October of 1907.

Maria Emes Joslin Eighth child of Beriah Marshall and Alexander Emes, Maria was born September 29, 1808 and lived with her family in Dublin, New Hampshire. She married Elias Joslin on May 28, 1840. Their only child, Emeline Joslin, was named after Maria’s younger sister, Emeline Emes.

Although Maria appears to have had no formal education, she was accomplished enough to help her daughter through school and give her some astute guidance. Maria was an accomplished artist and needle worker. Maria died in 1882.

C. Maria Townsend Cynthia (C.) Maria Townsend was the spirited, fun-loving daughter of Emeline Emes and Charles Townsend who spent her early childhood at Emes farm in Dublin. Then she resided for a time with her aunt and uncle, Maria and Elias Joslin, in this house while attending Keene Academy, then followed her cousin, Emeline, to Framingham Normal School to be trained as a teacher. Emeline Emes Joslin Although there are no images of C. Maria, her features were very similar to Emeline’s. In an 1861 letter to her parents, Emeline writes that a visitor 1842—1907 to their boarding house in Framingham “wanted to know if Maria (C. Maria) and I were sisters – he said we looked enough alike for twins! ”

Louisa May Alcott Louisa May Alcott was an American novelist, short story writer and poet best known as the author of the beloved novel Little Women and its sequels and Jo's Boys.

Although her mother Abigail (Abba) May came from a prominent family, Louisa and her siblings led a poor childhood and the family was forced to move many times. This was mainly due to her father Amos Bronson Alcott’s lack of success as an educator. However, the Alcott girls were well educated by their parents and were coached in the social skills of proper young women. In the early 1840’s the family lived in Concord, Massachusetts where Louisa grew up among many of the well-known intellectuals of the day such as , , and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. After ten tumultuous years moving from one dreary dwelling to another, Bronson and Abba were offered a home free of rent from cousin Benjamin Willis in Walpole, New Hampshire. The family lived in that duplex on High Street from 1855 through 1857 before moving back to Concord. Louisa worked as a domestic servant and teacher to help support her family from 1850 to 1862. She was also a devoted writer. Early in her career, she wrote novels for young adults that focused on spies and revenge under the pen name of A. M. Barnard. She began to receive critical success for her writing in the 1860s. in Concord became the family’s most permanent home, residing there from 1858 through 1877. During this time Louisa wrote her most popular work, Little Women which was set in Orchard House and was loosely based on Alcott's childhood experiences with her three sis- ters, Abigail May Alcott Nieriker, , and . Louisa May Alcott When the American Civil War broke out, she served as a nurse in the Union Hospital in Georgetown, DC, for six weeks in 1862–1863. Louisa became 1832—1888 an abolitionist and feminist. She remained unmarried throughout her life. She was active in reform movements such as temperance and women's suffrage. She died from a stroke two days after her father died, in Boston on March 6, 1888.

Marmee The March girls’ mother in Little Women. Marmee as a moral role model, she counsels her girls and runs the household while her husband serves as a chaplain for the Union Army during the Civil War.

Josephine March Jo is the protagonist of the novel who wants to be a writer. Her character is based on Louisa May Alcott herself. Jo has a flashing temper and quick tongue, but tries to control both. She is a tomboy, and reacts against the many limi- tations placed on Victorian women and girls. She hates romance and fears it will breakup her family.

Meg March Responsible, kind and oldest child, Meg mothers her younger sisters. She yearns for luxury and fashion, but she possesses gentility and Victorian morality. Like her mother, Meg represents strong maternal qualities, the conventional and good. Meg sometimes tries to change who she is to please other people, illustrated in the scene when she allows other girls to dress her up like a rich girl at her friend Annie Moffat’s house. But she ends up seeing the hollowness of this life style; overcomes her weakness for material things; and ends up marrying a poor man for love.

Beth March The third March child, Beth is gentle and shy. Typical of a young educated Victorian girl, she loves music and excels at piano. Like Meg, she always tries to please other people, and like Jo, she is concerned with keeping the family together. Beth struggles to overcome minor faults.

Unlike her other sisters who are strong enough to live in the changing world, Beth was too frail and virtuous to survive .

Amy March The youngest March sibling, Amy is an artist who is drawn to visual beauty and yearns for pretty fashions and possessions. She is vane and temperamental but attempts to improve herself. She enjoys acting lady-like and refined. Because she excels at manipulating people, she achieves her goal of marrying a rich man, Laurie, the March’s neighbor.

Amy is a foil for Jo’s character. Jo refuses to submit to Victorian conventions of feminine charm in fashions and mannerism. And she refuses to marry well for financial comfort for herself and her family.

Both sisters struggle to balance society’s expectations with their own natural inclinations.