A Message from the Stowe Center

June 3, 2020

“This horror, this nightmare abomination! Can it be in my country?”

Stowe wrote those words in 1852 to fellow writer and abolitionist Eliza Cabot Follen; they feel so present now. The needless deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and far too many others show us the devastating and appalling consequences of racism and white supremacy.

Stowe’s response to the horror of slavery was powerful and inspiring. Stowe used her writing to cultivate empathy and understanding among her white readers and in doing so she galvanized a movement. Fortunately, such courage and inspiration isn’t restricted to the past. All around us, individuals are taking to the streets, petitioning their elected officials—and yes—picking up their pens to demand justice.

Still, we ask, if over 150 years ago Stowe and her generation stood up against the evil of slavery, why must protestors today face tear gas and rubber bullets to stop the devaluation and dehumanization of Black lives by the public institutions that are supposed to serve them? Why have Black Americans disproportionately borne the economic and health consequences of the coronavirus pandemic?

The answer is, of course, that that ending slavery was not the same as ending racism.

As an organization that places Stowe’s story in the service of social justice and positive change, the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center recognizes that Stowe herself held racist views and saw Black Americans as lesser. We confront such facts, not to demonize Stowe or repudiate her contributions, but because we have been shown, again and again, that unseen and unacknowledged racism persists and festers. This is equally true when racism goes unnoticed in our history books, our institutions, and in ourselves.

The video that captured George Floyd’s death has forced us to see. Let our eyes and hearts remain open.

Respectfully,

Briann Greenfield

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.)

Contact Teacher Name:

Contact Teacher Email:(Required)

Contact Teacher Phone Number:(Required)

Number of students expected to attend:(Required)

Please enter a number from 8 to 40.

Please identify the grade level(s) of attending students:(Required)

Likely number of chaperones (including other teachers):

The Stowe Center requires one adult per every 10 students.

Are there special student, teacher, or chaperone accommodations that can help us serve you best?

Do you plan to have lunch on site?

Yes, please.

No, thank you.

Are you interested in scheduling 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

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)

Contact Email:(Required)

Contact Phone Number:(Required)

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.