Because Louisa May Alcott and her family were sensitive and socially conscious, there is very little opportunity for Meigs's biography to be anything other than socially sensitive. The Alcotts were active abolitionists who found the concept of slavery absolutely intolerable.

They lived their ideals and exemplified the value of such commitments. Bronson was committed to quality education for children of all races; this unprejudiced attitude led to the closing of his Temple School, for not all of the citizens of Boston shared his views, and indignant parents withdrew their children when they discovered a black child among the students.

Invincible Louisa portrays several adults as sensitive to the rights, needs, and ideas of children. Louisa and her sisters, even when they were very small, always participated in philosophical discussions with their father and his peers.

Bronson respected children and felt they should have a voice in...