Louisa in Style: Conversation with Lauren Stern about May Alcott Nieriker and Historical Dress Artwork

Let Genius Burn

Louisa May Alcott may be best known for the beloved book Little Women, but her story doesn’t begin or end with her famous novel. On Let Genius Burn, a new podcast series coming July 12, we’re separating the layers of Louisa’s life to learn more about who she really was--and all the ways her legacy continues to resonate today.We’ll explore the traumatic year of her childhood spent in an experimental utopian community, her service as a Civil War nurse, her final years of wealth and celebrity as a children’s author--and more intimate details and little-known stories of Louisa’s life.Instead of a retelling of Louisa May Alcott’s biography, each episode in the 8-part series examines Louisa's life through a different lens--Louisa as a celebrity, writer, activist, daughter, and more-- highlighting her complexity as a person, woman, and historical figure. Ahead of her time, Louisa railed against the limitations of her gender and fought for women’s suffrage. She craved literary greatness, but was weighed down by the financial needs of her family. Through writing scandalous Gothic thrillers, she found a way to voice her own inner turmoil. In the end, she achieved extraordinary financial success, but creative fulfillment remained elusive.We’ll examine all of this and more on Let Genius Burn. Find more on Instagram and Facebook @letgeniusburn or at letgeniusburn.com.

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Let Genius Burn

Louisa in Style: Conversation with Lauren Stern about May Alcott Nieriker and Historical Dress

May 23, 2022 • Jamie Burgess & Jill Fuller • Season 2 • Episode 4

Meet Lauren Stern: a researcher interested in social and material history. She has been a staff member at Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House since 2006, where she has worked to bring New England history alive through summer camps, museum tours, and living history programs.

In this episode, Lauren discusses her experiences at Orchard House as well as her research on the life of May Alcott Nieriker. As an expert in historical fashion, Lauren also discusses the fashion trends during the decades of Louisa May Alcott's adulthood, from Victorian sleeve trends and bustles, to corsets and the Alcott's involvement in dress reform.

Lauren is also a dance historian and performer with the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers, where she gets to wear all those ball dresses she makes. She blogs about her research and experiments at plaidpetticoats.blogspot.com, and makes short-form dance history videos on tiktok (@plaidpetticoats). She has also made her own pickled limes.

In addition to Lauren's personal website, she recommends the following resources: