The Lawn Party at Nook Farm

June 8, 2024

Let’s Party

Saturday, June 8, from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM

The Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, Mark Twain House & Museum, and the Asylum Hill Neighborhood – AHNA invite you to join us for the Lawn Party at Nook Farm!

Gather your friends and family, pack your blankets and snacks, and get ready for a day full of excitement! Enjoy dancing, music, and a host of family activities including:

Free museum tours brought to you by CT Open House Day. Free station tours of The Mark Twain House (11am to 3pm). Free first floor station tours of the Harriet Beecher Stowe House (1:00 to 2:00 pm) and the Katharine Seymour Day House (11:00 am to 3:00 pm). Free admission to The Mark Twain Museum Center and Stowe Visitor Center exhibition spaces.
Courtesy of the Stowe Center, three hundred (300) lucky guests will receive a free one-hour, one-mile audio tour of the historic Nook Farm neighborhood that Stowe, Twain, and other luminaries called home.
Lawn games and art activities.
Wish Harriet Beecher Stowe and Clara Clemens a happy birthday with a cake cutting at 12:00 pm.
Complimentary Slushees and hot dogs.
Live performances of Susy Clemens’ original play The Love-Chase, performed by actors from The Mark Twain House Living History Ensemble at 11:00 am, 1:30 pm & 3:00 pm.
The debut of Anne Cubberly’s new Mark Twain giant puppet.
Engagements with local social justice organizations.

Location: 351 Farmington Ave., Hartford, CT

Admission: Free! (No RSVP required). Complimentary parking; restrooms available!

We’re also celebrating the birthdays of Harriet Beecher Stowe and Clara Clemens, Twain’s daughter. Join us for cake cutting and a chance to engage in meaningful conversations about civic engagement, continuing the storied legacy of Nook Farm.

About Nook Farm:

Once a hub of civic engagement, Nook Farm was famously described by Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Joan Hedrick as a place where “there was no pot left unstirred.” Neighbors like Stowe and Twain often engaged in spirited discussions here. Through the Lawn Party, we honor that tradition by bringing the community together for this special event. We look forward to seeing you there for an unforgettable day of community and celebration at Nook Farm!

Location 351 Farmington Ave. Hartford, CT

Doors Open

Program 11:00 - 3:00 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.)

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.