In 1847, she and her family helped on the Underground Railroad, when they allowed a runaway  slave to stay in their house for one week. Alcott believed that women should be treated better and became the first woman allowed to vote in Concord, Massachusetts. The 1850s were hard times for the Alcotts. At one point in 1857, Alcott was so sad that she thought about killing herself. Later that year, she learned about Charlotte Brontë and felt better. She was not longer close to her sisters because they died or got married.