William Alcott | |
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| Born | William Andrus Alcott (1798-08-06)August 6, 1798 Wolcott, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Died | March 29, 1859(1859-03-29) (aged 60) |
| Other names | William Alexander Alcott |
| Education | Yale School of Medicine |
| Occupation(s) | Educator, physician, author |
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William Andrus Alcott (August 6, 1798 – March 29, 1859), also known asWilliam Alexander Alcott, was an American educator, educational reformer, physician, vegetarian and author of many books. His works, which include a wide range of topics includingeducational reform,physical education,school house design, family life, anddiet, are still widely cited today.
William Alcott was born inWolcott, Connecticut.[1] His father, Obedience Alcox (1776–1847), was a farmer; 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".[a] His mother was Anna Andrus (1777–1864), who was the daughter of aRevolutionary War soldier and William's most important educational influence.[2] He attended local schools and became a close friend of his near neighborAmos Bronson Alcott, who would later enjoy wide fame as a philosopher and as the father of writerLouisa 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 John 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]
Alcott lived inDedham, Massachusetts, where he was the superintendent of the Sunday School at theAllin Congregational Church.[4] He was known to walk barefoot on summer mornings from his home in the village up to Federal Hill to obtain a bucket of milk.[4]
At the age of 18 Alcott began teaching in a school located just a few yards from his father's house. With brief interruptions, 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 of classrooms. While he was successful as a teacher,[5] in the summer of 1824 he suffered an attack of the disfiguring, dangerous skin infectionerysipelas,[6] and about this time was beginning to suffer fromtuberculosis. He would suffer symptoms of both for the remainder of his life.[7] He began studying medicine, with the thought that the extra knowledge would aid his teaching.[8] His formal study of medicine was brief. In the winter of 1825–26 he attended "a regular course of medical studies" inNew Haven, Connecticut. In March 1826 he was granted a license to practice medicine. In addition to teaching, he practiced medicine at least until 1829.[9]
In the spring of 1830 he metWilliam 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[10] for which he was paid twelve dollars a month to check facts and improve maps. The two became close friends. In 1831, Woodbridge purchased theAmerican Journal of Education and renamed itAmerican Annals of Education And Instruction. The two men then moved to Boston. 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 became its Editor in 1837.[11] He would later publish a poignant memoir of Woodbridge's life.[12] While still teaching he had begun to contribute articles to newspapers and started work on the book that would becomeThe Young Man's Guide.[13]
On June 14, 1836, he married Phebe Lewis Bronson (June 14, 1812 – November 9, 1907). They had three children. For a time they shared a house, Cottage Place, with the family of his old friend and cousin Amos Bronson Alcott. In the 1840s William moved to the town ofNewton, Massachusetts, just outside Boston. Eventually he would settle into a house inAuburndale in the town of Newton. He died here[10] of a lung infection. He worked until the day before he died. William Alcott is buried in Newton Cemetery.[14]
Alcott publishedVegetable Diet: As Sanctioned by Medical Men and By Experience in All Ages in 1838. It is his best known work[15] and is significant to the medical literature about a vegetarian diet.[16] A second edition was published in 1849 "with an added cookbook and medical testimonies supporting what today would be called a vegan diet."[17]
In his book,Eating History: Thirty Turning Points in the Making of American Cuisine, Andrew F. Smith attributed Alcott'sVegetable Diet as being "America's first vegetarian cookbook."[18] In 2020, journalistAvery Yale Kamila wrote: "The book is considered a seminal work in the cannon of Americanvegetarian literature."[19] The book contains letters written by physicians, includingHorace A. Barrows, about vegetarian diets. The book is still in print.[20]
The book is included in the American Antiquarian Cookbook Collection.[21] In 2012, the book was republished by Andrews McMeel publishing with an introduction byAnna Thomas.[22]
Alcott became one of the most prolific authors in early American history. He wrote frequently on the topics of education and health. In 1836, he wrote a letter defendingGrahamism to the editor of the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, published on May 4, 1836. Alcott titled the letter “The Graham System” and signed the article with the name “M.D.”[23] In 1850, Alcott wrote three letters on vegetarianism for the New York Daily Tribune (one published on April 14 and the other two on November 6).[24][25][26]
Alcott opposed the consumption ofalcohol,coffee,meat,spices, andtea.[27] He argued against the use ofcondiments, which were "stimulating" substances. He rejected the use of ginger, fennel, cardamom, mace, nutmeg, and coriander. He believed thatgarlic,horseradish,molasses, andsauces were disgusting and indecent "drugs".[27]
Alcott wroteThe Physiology of Marriage in 1856. He deplored freecourtship 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]
In Boston, Alcott edited theMoral Reformer (1835–1839), a journal dedicated to eliminating intemperance, gluttony, and licentiousness.[28][29] He was the editor of the vegetarianLibrary of Health journal.[30] In 1840, theMoral Reformer andThe Graham Journal of Health and Longevity were merged in theLibrary of Health.[28]
Alcott andSylvester Graham founded theAmerican Physiological Society (ASP) in 1837, with the purpose of “integrating a Grahamite lifestyle into a larger physiologically focused ideology.”[31] The ASP sought to make the study of health access to all citizens and promoted a vegetarian diet.[32] On May 15, 1850, Alcott, Sylvester Graham, andWilliam Metcalfe founded theAmerican Vegetarian Society, with Alcott serving as the first president.[33]
In all, he wrote about one hundred books, which were influential in reforming educational methods and improving people's physical and moral well-being.[10]
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