AMOS BRONSON ALCOTT ( 1799 – 1888)

Educator

Educator and philosopher, Amos Bronson Alcott was born November 29, 1799 in Wolcott, Connecticut to an illiterate flax farmer.  With the encouragement of his resourceful mother, Alcott was almost completely self-educated, teaching himself to read and write by forming letters in charcoal on the kitchen floorboards. He is remembered for founding short-lived and unconventional schools as well as a utopian community known as "Fruitlands", and for his association with Transcendentalism.

As a young man,, Alcott worked as a peddler, handyman, and gardener. He began teaching in Bristol, Connecticut in 1823 and in 1830 he married Abigail May.
Over the next few years, the couple moved several times as Alcott opened experimental schools.  His theory on education was that "early education is the enduring power" in forming the imagination and moral life of a human being. In his schools he introduced art, music, nature study, field trips, and physical education into the curriculum, while banishing corporal punishment. Alcott taught through dialogue and example and encouraged children to ask questions. 

Alcott fathered four daughters and one son who died shortly after his birth. Alcott’s second daughter, Louisa, became a world-famous writer and his youngest daughter, May, was a critically acclaimed artist.

In his later years, Alcott traveled throughout the Midwest on lecture tours, where he achieved recognition for his ideas on education and transcendentalism.

SUSAN B. ANTHONY ( 1820 - 1906)

Reformer/Women’s Rights Leader

American civil rights leader, Susan B. Anthony was born February 15, 1820 in Adams, Massachusetts, the second of eight children. A precocious child, Anthony learned to read and write at the age of three. When Anthony was six years old, her family moved to Battenville, New York where Anthony was sent to attend a local district school.  When a teacher refused to teach her long division due to her gender, Anthony’s father placed her in a group homeschool that he had set up. A teacher there, named Mary Perkins, conveyed a progressive image of womanhood to Anthony, fostering her growing belief in women's equality.

In 1839, Anthony left home to teach and help to pay off family debts. Her occupation inspired her to fight for wages equivalent to those of male teachers, who, at the time, earned roughly four times more than women for the same duties. Anthony continued to teach until 1849 when she moved to the family farm in Rochester, New York. It was in New York State that she first began to take part in conventions and gatherings related to the temperance movement. In 1852, Anthony took the opportunity to attend the women’s rights convention held in Syracuse, New York. It was around this same time that she began to gain widespread notoriety as a powerful public advocate of women's rights, and as a new and stirring voice for change.

Success Stories

Thumper Nagasako, In-Line Skater

Thumper recently qualified in in-line skating (rollerblading) for the August 2004 X Games in Los Angeles. His mom Gail homeschooled him until he was 16, at which time he started attending a local high school where he maintained a 3.8 GPA.

Thumper Nagasako has made the leap from his solitary practice on an island in the Pacific to competing in huge events such as the X-Games, Gravity Games and World Championships. His passion has taken him all over the US and all the way to Germany and England. Since he was 11 years old he wanted to become pro and once he started he never looked back. His career hasn't been easy. He has had many broken bones, torn ligaments, and the huge disadvantage he has had from training away from other pros to inspire him. Thumper Nagasako's unrelenting tenacity brought him from grass roots to world renowned skater.