Before Your Visit

Accessibility

Because the Stowe Center is comprised of 19^th century landscape and buildings, some ADA adjustments require advance arrangements for the best experience for your group. Please indicate if we can provide accommodations and services in advance by calling 860.522.9258, or send an email to tickets@stowecenter.org

The first floor of the Visitor Center (which includes the ticketing desk and museum store) is wheelchair accessible, but restrooms are only accessible via stairs to a lower level.

The first floor of the Stowe House is accessible to non-electric wheelchairs. A portable ramp allows visitors to bypass the porch steps to access the building. The house tour itself includes one flight of stairs, and so the second story of the home is not accessible to wheelchair users. For folks unable to use stairs, we offer an alternative tour that provides digital images and information about the upper floor, provided by a staff member.

The Stowe Center is undertaking a major renovation to our grounds and Visitor Center that will vastly improve the accessibility of our campus.

General Information

Large backpacks, gum, food, and beverages are not permitted in the Stowe House. Visitors are welcome to picnic on the grounds.

PHOTO POLICY

No flash photography is allowed in the Stowe House.
No videos are allowed to be taken inside the Stowe House.
All images taken on tour must be for personal use.
- If any images are taken for commercial purposes (news outlet, tv segment, documentary, etc), please email research@stowecenter.org for Permission to Photograph contract.

Musem Store

Allow time for shopping in the Stowe Museum Shop for your social justice souvenirs.

For more FAQs, head HERE.

School Group Interest Form

School Group Interest Form 2024

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.