ANOTHER ANOTHER UPDATE, Wednesday October 22, 2014: YAY! They–and you–did it; the goal was met yesterday afternoon, and the project has collected another $5,670 on top of the goal of $150,000 as of 9:47 a.m. PDT. So, the movie will be funded!
ANOTHER UPDATE, Tuesday October 21, 2014: Friends, with 35 hours to go we still need $3,801 to make the movie, or they get zero, zilch, nada bucks. Make it happen by the end of the day today!
UPDATE, Monday October 20, 2014: With just 54 hours to go, the Orchard House movie needs only $6,057!!! Yes, that’s just over six thousand bucks. Can you help make it happen? Friends, I’m going to have to throw away all of my pickled limes if this effort falls short after getting so close.
Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House is raising funds via Kickstarter to make a movie documenting the history of the house itself, because “many who wish to experience Orchard House may never be able to visit in person, and there are millions more that do not realize the house exists.” For more than a century, Orchard House has been preserved with little more than spit, Kleenex, and volunteer labor. They’re trying to make a documentary film about the house itself and the story of its preservation as a means to publicize its needs and gain more support, but at this point–4 days short of their October 22 goal–they’re still nearly $30,000 shy of their $150,000 goal.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/632439913/orchard-house/widget/video.html
I wrote about Little Women last November, and a number of you clearly have fond memories of the book and a high regard for its author.
I absolutely loved John Matteson’s book Eden’s Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and her Father , in part because he almost makes Orchard House a character in his joint biography of LMA and her brilliant but totally incompetent father Bronson. For example, he writes about the $20 bills that Ralph Waldo Emerson used to leave on the windowsills after visiting the family to help Louisa’s mother Abigail and her daughters make ends meet.
As in the Alcotts’ lifetimes, Orchard House is in need of more than a few $20 bills to help preserve it–helping this film might help ensure the long-term future of this vitally important American house museum and women’s history site. If you click on the above video, you’ll see Matteson make a pitch to help fund the movie.
Be like Emerson and Louisa May–if you can help, please send the cabbage now. The clock runs out on Wednesday, October 22–four days from today.
Historiann 
I just pledged $150. I heard from Penn Press that there might be a royalty check on its way to me soon–if there is, I’ll pledge the whole amount if it’s more than $150.
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I went there on my 40th birthday with a gaggle of literary ladies – so I kicked in something in memory of that lovely trip. Thanks for spreading the news!
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Orchard House was my first museum job. I spent years there as a guide and learned SO much, not just about history but about people, and the way to run a good organization. It really is the most extraordinary place you can imagine. I used to get there early, before my shift, so I could unlock the house and just sit on the stairs and breathe it all in. Thanks for sharing their campaign.
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Thanks, Kate and Amanda! I’m glad to hear a good report from behind the scenes, too.
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Delighted to hear about the good news from Penn Press, Historiann!! I can’t kick-start on this one as I’m rassling with finicky car syndrome right now, but it sure looks like a nice house, a very, very, very fine house!
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Just over $6k to go now. I’ll certainly be pledging! Thanks for sharing.
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No need to throw out the limes or the sausage, they made goal with 24 hours to go!
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Fantastic! Great news. Thanks for letting us know, Rachel.
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