Alice James - Life

Life

Born into a wealthy and intellectually active family, Alice James soon developed the psychological and physical problems that would end her life at age 43. The youngest of five children, she lived with her parents until their deaths in 1882, when she was 33. She taught history from 1873 to 1876 for the Society to Encourage Studies at Home, a Boston-based correspondence school for women which was founded by Anna Ticknor. James never married and instead sought affection from her brothers and female friends. By 1882 she had suffered at least two major breakdowns and would experience several more before her death from breast cancer.

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