Bronson Alcott

Amos Bronson Alcott (1799–1888) was an American educator, writer, and reformer associated with Transcendentalism. Born in Wolcott, Connecticut, he pursued innovative, conversation-based teaching methods and founded experimental schools, including the Temple School in Boston. His educational ideas, emphasizing moral development and the child’s inner life, drew both admiration and controversy. Alcott was part of the Concord, Massachusetts, intellectual circle and was connected with figures such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. He also joined the utopian community Fruitlands in 1843. He kept extensive journals and published essays and books. He was the father of novelist Louisa May Alcott.