William Alcott
William Andrus Alcott (6 August 1798– 29 March 1859)was an American educator, educational reformer, physician, and author of 108 books. His works, which include a wide range of topics including educational reform, physical education, school house design, family life, and diet, are still widely cited today.
EARLY LIFE AND FAMILY
William Andrus Alcott was born in Wolcott, Conneticut. His father was a farmer, Obedience Alcox (1776-1847); in the 1820s, like many members of the family, he altered the spelling of his last name, which on his tombstone appears as "Obid. Alcott" [1]). His mother was Anna Andrus (1777-1864)who was the daughter of a Revolutionary War soldier and William's most important educational influence ([2] He attended schools local schools and became a close friend with his near neighbor Amos Bronson Alcott who would later enjoy wide fame as a philosopher and as the father of writer Louisa May Alcott. Although sometimes described simply as "cousins" the two were actually second cousins; William's grandfather David Alcott (1740-1841)was the brother of Amos Bronson Alcott's grandfather, Captain David Alcott. The two boys shared books, exchanged ideas, and started a small library together. Odell Shepard had written of Amos Bronson Alcott, "Indeed there is a sense in which nearly everything Alcott wrote and did is attributable to William" ([3]
EARLY TEACHING AND MEDICAL EDUCATION
At the age of 18 William began teaching in a school located just a few yards from his father's house. With brief interuptions, he would continue to teach for the next nine years. His experiences as a student country school teacher would later become the subject of many of his later publications. He observed that the benches used by students were often painful and, at his own expense built backs onto the benches; these became the ancestors of the later school desks. He campaigned for better heating and ventilation in schools. He labored to improve the intellectual content classrooms. While he was successful as a teacher [4] In the summer of 1824 he suffered an attack of the disfiguring dangerous skin infection erysipelas(Orcott 1873, p.268). and about this time was begining to suffer from tuberculosis. He would suffer symptoms of both for the remainder of his life [5]. Realizing that his health problems might bring an end to his teaching career, In 1824 he began on his to study medical texts. His formal study of medicine was brief. In the winter of 1825-26 he attended "a regular course of medical studies" in New Haven. In March of 1826 he was granted a license to practice medicine. In addition to teaching, he practiced medicine at least until 1829 [6] WORK WITH WILLIAM CHANNING WOODBRIDGE AND EARLY WRITING
In the spring of 1830 he met William Channing Woodbridge. Woodbridge had just returned from Europe and was in the process of revising his second geography. Alcott at first worked as an assistant to Woodbridge for wich he was paid twelve dollars a month to check facts and improve maps. The two became close friends. In 1831, when Woodbridge purchased the American Journal of Education and renamed it Annals of Education. The Two men then moved to Boston. William A. Alcott wrote many articles for the journal, especially those dealing with school design and physical education. Even after Woodbridge lost control of the Journal in 1836 and became its foreign editor, Alcott continued to write for the publication[7] He would later publish a poignant memoir of Woodbridge's life ([8] While still teaching he had begun to contribute articles to newspapers and started work on the book that would become The Young man's Guide [9]
LATER WRITING
William became one of the most prolific authors in early American History. He wrote frequentlymany books on the topics of education and health. In 1836 he wrote a letter to the editor of the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal titled "The Graham System" (May 4, p. 199-201); he signed it "M.D." The cause of greatest interest to Dr. Alcott throughout his life was vegetarianism. In 1850 he wrote three long letters on vegetarianism to the editor of the New-York Tribune - at the request of the editor (Aug. 14, Nov. 6). Here he shows clearly that his preference was for a diet that used no animal products - what would today be called a vegan diet.
Dr. Alcott wrote The Phisology of Marriage in 1856. He deplored free courtship manners. He specifically deplored "conversation which is too excitable", "presence of exciting books", "unnecessary heat", and many other courtship practices prevalent in 18th century America but steadily going out of fashion by 1856. He warned young people of the dangers of courtship. He is criticized by modern day feminists for his "rigidity".[citation needed]
William Alcott was a founding member (in 1850) and the first president of the American Vegetarian Society.[10] He was also the author of The Vegetable Diet As Sanctioned by Medical Men and By Experience in All Ages. He also founded the The American Physiological Society in 1837, the world's first physiological society.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).. In the 1840s William moved the town of Newton, near Boston. Eventually he would settle into a home in Auburndale, in the town of Newton. In the spring of 1859, he suffered a brief lung infection, and died. His vife and daughter were present. On the day before his death he was contining to dictate a letter on work at the local school house. William A. Alcott is buried in Newton Cemetery [11]
Books
- Confessions of a School Master 1839[12]
- The Young Man’s Guide 1834[13][14]
- The Young Woman's Guide[15]
- The Use of Tobacco: Its Physical, Intellectual, and Moral Effects on The Human System 1836[16]
- Vegetable Diet: As Sanctioned by Medical Men, and by Experience in All Ages 1838
- Art of Good Behavior 1848
- The Young Housekeeper 1842[17]
- The Young Mother Or Management Of Children In Regard To Health[18]
- Tea And Coffee: Their Physical, Intellectual And Moral Effect On The Human System And Are They Injurious?
- The Young Mother
- Adventures of Lot, the Nephew of Abraham[19]
- Familiar letters to young men on various subjects.: Designed as a companion to The young man's guide.[20]
- TRUST IN THE LORD; OR THE STORY OF ELIJAH AND THE RAVENS.[21]
- S T O R I E S Of ELIOT AND THE INDIANS.[22]
- Lectures on Life and Health, Or, The Laws and Means of Physical Culture 1853[23]
- The House I Live In The first Anatomy book for the general public.[24]
References
Alcott, William A."Memoir of William C. Woodbridge" American Journal of Education 5 (1858)51-64. Hyowitz, Carol; Weissman, Michaele: A History of Women In America
- ^ (Photographs are available on the coimmercial site Ancestry.com in several family trees
- ^ Orcutt, Samuel, History of the Town of Wolcott, Waterbury, Conn.: American Printing company, 1873)pp. 265-267, 435).
- ^ The Journals of Bronson Alcott, edited by Odell Shepard. Boston: Little Brown, 1958, p. xv).
- ^ ("Dr. William A. Alcott", Memoirs of Teachers, Educators and Promoters of Education Literature and Science, edited by Henry Bernard; New York Brownell, 1859a, pp. 249-267).
- ^ ("Dr. William Alcott," Historical Magazine, June 1859b, p. 193)
- ^ ("Dr. William A. Alcott, 1859a, p.257).
- ^ ("Dr. William A. Alcott", 1859a, pp. 163-164).
- ^ Alcott, William A. "William C. Woodbridge," Memoirs of Teachers, Educators and Promoters of Education Literature and Science, edited by Henry Bernard, New York: Brownell, 1859,51-64.)
- ^ ("Dr. William A. Alcott, 1859a, p.266).
- ^ International Vegetarian Union - History of Vegetarianism - American Vegetarian Society
- ^ (Orcutt 1873, p.276).
- ^ Old Sturbridge Village | Explore & Learn | OSV Documents - William Alcott’s First Day as a School Master
- ^ Old Sturbridge Village | Explore & Learn | OSV Documents - Advice on Choosing a Wife
- ^ http://www.nimbus.org/ElectronicTexts/YgMnsGde.1836.html online text
- ^ Project Gutenberg Edition of The Young Woman's Guide
- ^ Use of Tobacco: Physical, Intellectual, Moral Effects on Human System (1836), by Alcott, William A., M.D
- ^ Old Sturbridge Village | Explore & Learn | OSV Documents - The Ward Families and Their "Helps": Domestic Work, Workers, and Relationships on a New England Farm, 1787-1866
- ^ Project Gutenberg Edition of The Young Mother: or, Management of Children in Regard to Health
- ^ Electronic Text of William A Alcott's "The Adventures Of Lot"
- ^ http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=moa;idno=AJF2317 page images
- ^ Elijah the Tishbite - Alcott, Wm A
- ^ Stories of Eliot and the Indians
- ^ google books text
- ^ The Anatomical mission to Burma Sciencemag