One Person, One Vote; Voting Rights 50 Years Later

Salons at Stowe

One Person, One Vote; Voting Rights 50 Years Later

November 19, 2015

Secretary of State Denise Merrill and Khalilah Brown-Dean, Associate Professor of Political Science at Quinnipiac University, led a conversation on voting rights in Connecticut and beyond. Professor Brown-Dean described her experiences visiting Selma for the 50th anniversary of the voting march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. The anniversary was bittersweet; it marked a momentous event in the Civil Rights Movement, but occurred at a time when voting rights are being stripped away. In June 2014, the Supreme Court struck down section four of the Voting Rights Act, which mandated that states with a history of racial discrimination in voting had to get federal approval before making changes in voting laws. Secretary of State Merrill argued that this decision opened an avenue for states to pass strict voting laws, such as those requiring photo identification, which disproportionately affect students, low-income and older individuals, and people of color. Secretary Merrill said that Connecticut has progressive voting laws, though the state still lacks opportunities for early voting.

Inspiration to Action

VOTE!
Coordinate a voter registration drive and encourage others to vote
Lobby and act against voter registration laws that disproportionately affect people of color, young people, and poor people
Learn about the history of the Voting Rights Act
Talk to children and young people about voting and what it means to take part in democracy
Take children and young people with you to vote
Lobby and campaign for more accessible voting practices, e.g. Election Day on the weekend, national holiday for election day, early voting etc.
Get involved in local and national politics

Location Harriet Beecher Stowe Center

Doors Open 5-7 PM

Program 5-7 PM

School Group Interest Form

School Group Interest Form 2023

Thank you so much for your interest in a group tour at the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center! Please help us schedule your visit by answering the questions below.

School name:

Please suggest three dates and times when your group would like to visit. (Note: the Stowe Center is closed on Sunday and Tuesday.)

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The Stowe Center requires one adult per every 10 students.

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If yes, have you already contacted The Mark Twain House?

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Adult Group Interest Form

Group Tour Interest Form 2022

Thank you so much for your interest in a group tour at the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center! Please help us schedule your visit by answering the questions below.

Group Name:

Name of Primary Contact:(Required)

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What date would you like to visit? (The Stowe Center typically books group tours for Thursday through Sunday visits.)

Expected number of visitors:(Required)

Please enter a number from 20 to 42.

Please indicate the number of adults, seniors, and children expected in your group:

Are there special accommodations that can help us serve you best?

Are you interested in a joint visit with our neighbor, The Mark Twain House and Museum?

Yes, please.

No, thank you.

If yes, have you already contacted The Mark Twain House?

Yes

Isabella Beecher Hooker

Isabella Holmes Beecher Hooker (1822-1907)
An ardent member of the woman’s suffrage movement, Isabella Holmes Beecher Hooker joined in the cause along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.

Isabella was the first child of Lyman Beecher and his second wife, Harriet Porter Beecher.

Isabella began her education at Catharine Beecher’s Hartford Female Seminary and lived with her sister Mary Perkins. In 1841 she married John Hooker, a descendant of Thomas Hooker, the founder of Hartford. John Hooker was a lawyer and an abolitionist.

In the early 1860s Isabella got involved in the woman’s suffrage movement. Isabella joined Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony as a member of the National Woman’s Suffrage Association in 1869. She was a founding member of the Connecticut Woman’s Suffrage Association. Isabella’s ideas of equality were influenced by John Stuart Mills’ On Liberty and the Subjection of Women.

In 1871, Isabella organized the annual convention of the National Woman’s Suffrage Association in Washington D.C. and presented her argument before the Committee on the Judiciary of the United States Senate. Her husband, John Hooker, believed in his wife and supported her activities. He helped Isabella draft a bill to the Connecticut Legislature giving married women the same property rights as their husbands. The bill passed in 1877. Isabella annually submitted a bill granting women the right to vote, but it did not pass in her lifetime.