Separate and Unequal: How Do We Achieve Equity in Education?

Salons at Stowe

Separate and Unequal:

How Do We Achieve Equity in Education?

September 22, 2016

Robert Cotto of the Hartford Board of Education and Director of Urban Education Initiatives at Trinity College, Kate Busch Gervais, Executive Director of the Discovery Center, and José Colón, Principal at Hartford Public High School’s Law & Government Academy, led a conversation on education equity. The conversation took place on the heels of Connecticut Superior Court Judge Thomas G. Moukawsher‘s critique of the state’s education system. Ms. Busch Gervais defined equity as ensuring everyone has the resources needed to achieve success. She asked participants to envision what equity in education looks like. Responses included equal funding for all schools and students, curricula recognizing student body diversity, and schools that embrace different learning styles. Mr. Cotto and Mr. Colón described Hartford Public Schools‘ challenges. They highlighted two schools in Hartford’s North End: Clark Elementary School due to contaminants in the infrastructure; and the parents and students at M.L.K. School who advocated to keep the school open.

Inspiration to Action

Get involved in your neighborhood school and with your town/city’s Board of Education
Support students — tutor, volunteer, support initiatives led by students
Listen to the concerns of students and teachers
Allow those working in education — teachers, students, principals — to lead education reform
Know that equity is achievable, though we have not achieved it

Location Harriet Beecher Stowe Center

Doors Open 5:30 - 6 PM

Program 6 - 7:30 PM

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.