A bridge between Minute Men and Little Women

American history and its important places, as well as its culture, were being placed on pedestals, literally and figuratively in the 19th century. Concord is the place to go and see this story.

Daniel Chester French’s Minute Man Statue is around the corner from where his art teacher, May Alcott, grew up. Her childhood wall drawings and framed paintings from her adulthood can be found throughout Orchard House (photos taken by the author…me not Louisa May Alcott).

A walk into classic literature

My wife and I have visited Concord, Massachusetts several times as it is only about an hour and a half down the road from our home in New Hampshire. She loves Little Women and so Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House is on our to-do list each time we go. Our son has recently shown interest in the story thanks to some of the movie versions we have watched as a family.

The tour of Orchard House is essentially a walk into Louisa May's famous book, as it is the setting for Little Women, just as her family is the inspiration for the March family in the text. Orchard House opened as a house museum in 1911, an era which saw some noticeable changes in how museums operated. House museums in particular matched up nicely to a society who was becoming more familiar each day with being invited into stories by way of motion pictures. This popular culture trend of the early 20th century, coupled with Little Women being in its second generation of inspiring readers, we can be sure that visitors to Orchard House came from all over the country and beyond, rather than just the greater Boston area.

Visitors walk inside Little Women, just as people have been doing for over 100 years now

The shot (eventually) heard around the world

Just down the street and around a corner from Orchard House is North Bridge, the site of April 19th, 1775 clash between British raiders and colonial militiamen, and now part of Minute Man National Historical Park. We followed those directions after buying some postcards at the museum gift shop. Lessons about the battle itself are taught through placards, but stories of how the residents of Concord have preserved and recognized the location’s significance through the years are on display as well.

The obelisk in the foreground was dedicated in 1837 in a ceremony which included Concord resident Ralph Waldo Emerson reading his “Concord Hymn.” Lines from the poem are found on the Minute Man statue on the far side of the bridge, which was planted on the centennial of the battle.