I visited Concord, MA on my vacation and saw the various author's homes that have been turned into museums there. These include Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau. I learned a lot about how these folks were interconnected and the culture of that time. I learned that Alcott's father was a writer and philosopher, specializing in the areas of children and education. He actually composed a list of rules for teachers, which I think is very appropriate even for today.
Of course, all of these folks were Transcendentalists, which I would not subscribe to. However, considering how they lived their lives, it should be acknowledged that they strove to promote the value of human life at every turn. They participated in the underground railroad and Alcott's schools were among the first to teach Blacks how to read and write.
The letters on the side were found in a newspaper in this era, that attempted to define the evils of the institution as they fought against it.