Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811 - 1896) was an American author. Her most well known work is Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- Harriet Beecher Stowe: BritannicaHarriet Beecher Stowe, née Harriet Elizabeth Beecher, (born June 14, 1811, Litchfield, Connecticut, U.S.—died July 1, 1896, Hartford, Connecticut), American writer and philanthropist, the author of the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which contributed so much to popular feeling against slavery that it is cited among the causes of the American Civil War.
- Harriet Beecher Stowe CenterWe preserve and interpret Stowe’s Hartford home and the center’s historic collections, promote vibrant discussion of her life and work, and inspire commitment to social justice and positive change.
Research & Reference
- Harriet Beecher Stowe: Credo ReferenceA Credo Reference landing page on Harriet Beecher Stowe. This page includes links to reference works, journal articles, and a mind map.
- Harriet Beecher Stowe and Uncle Tom's Cabin & The Beecher Family and the Civil WarThe Beechers were one of the most influential families of their time. Its members had written and preached about the immorality of slavery for decades and had taken action in various ways, including the purchase and freeing of slaves. When the war began, they supported it. Like other abolitionist families, they sent family members into the war as soldiers, officers, chaplains and teachers: Harriet Beecher Stowe’s son, several nephews, two half-brothers, a brother-in-law, and a sister-in-law served in some capacity. Some Beechers survived the war intact, several were injured, and at least two suffered lasting psychological damage.
- The Harriet Beecher Stowe CenterThe Harriet Beecher Stowe Center holds the largest collection of materials related to Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896), author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the influential anti-slavery novel and 19th century best seller, and multiple other books. Decorative arts, works of art, furniture, memorabilia, rare manuscripts and print material, images and visual media –- 228,000 items — illustrate the lives and times of Stowe and her family.
- Stowe, Harriet Beecher: American National BiographyAn American National Biography page on Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Streaming Media
- Uncle Tom's CabinHarriet Beecher Stowe's famous novelization of the harsh realities of slavery was a catalyst for the anti-slavery movement and remains a landmark in American literature. Conceived as a super production on the scale of Foolish Wives and The Phantom of the Opera,this 1927 adaptation of Stowe's famous book cost $1.8 million and took two years to film.
- Harriet Beecher Stowe and Harriet TubmanUncle Tom's Cabin was a blockbuster novel that depicted the flight to freedom. Consider this depiction from two very different vantages: the world of the author, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and the life of Harriet Tubman, who was at the center of immediate and decisive steps being taken by enslaved people.
- Uncle Tom--The Hero as MartyrThe name “Uncle Tom” has complex associations today, but Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel had a truly powerful impact when it was published in 1852. Explore the historical circumstances of slavery that inspired Stowe’s novel, and then consider the fortitude that makes this meek, long-suffering character a hero.
Author's Works & Perspectives
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Easily the most controversial antislavery novel written in antebellum America, and one of the best-selling books of the nineteenth century, Uncle Tom's Cabin is often credited with intensifying the sectional conflict that led to the Civil War. In his introduction, David Bromwich places Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel in its Victorian contexts and reminds us why it is an enduring work of literary and moral imagination.
