Salons at Stowe

The Great American Novel: Says Who???

May 22, 2024

Recently, The Atlantic magazine published their list of the “great American novels” of the last 100 years. In the introduction to the list, the editors pose that “the American canon is more capacious, more fluid, and more fragile than perhaps ever before. But what, exactly, is in it?”

In order to decide what to include on such as list, we must first decide on what being American is, certainly a “capacious and fluid” idea to begin with. Then, how do we decide on what books represent America? Are they the books that wielded the greatest influence? Books that show us who we are, or what we wish to be? Who should be included in the American canon and, by extension, America? And of course, who gets to decide?

In this Salons at Stowe, we will explore this list and the questions it raises. We will also consider how these types of lists have changed over time or based on who develops the list. And of course, we’ll debate what the Atlantic list got right and wrong! Join us for a lively discussion about our favorite books, the books we revere and revile, and how we identify the Great American Novels.

The Atlantic: The Great American Novels

(subscription needed)

Location Stowe Center, Day House

Doors Open 5:45 pm

Program 6:00 - 7:00 pm

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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.