(1799-1888), philosopher, educational reformer, and writer. Alcott in his writings and lectures advocated idealistic plans for schools and communities. His investments in failed projects caused his family to live in poverty; they included Temple School in Boston, a cooperative vegetarian community called Fruitlands, and Brook Farm, a cooperative experimental community. Alcott was a key member of the transcendentalist movement in American philosophy; his friends and colleagues included
Ralph Waldo Emerson,
Margaret Fuller,
Nathaniel Hawthorne, and
Henry David Thoreau.
