SALONS AT STOWE: A HOUSE DIVIDED

Salons at Stowe

SALONS AT STOWE: A HOUSE DIVIDED

June 5, 2019

“Every American is affected by the divisions and outrage that prevent us from making progress on urgent problems. This issue guide is designed to help people deliberate together about how we should approach the issue. These are difficult questions, and there are no easy answers:

-Should we require more accurate, respectful discussion in the media and online, or would that stifle free speech?

-Should we reform politics and government to encourage compromise, or will that mean giving up on the changes we really need and want?

-Should local communities set policies in areas like health care and the environment, or would that risk the progress we’ve made and make further progress nearly impossible?

-Should we crack down on money in politics, or will people just find new ways to evade the rules?”

-What should we do to get the political system we want? What should we do to revive our ability to work together on the most urgent problems? What are we willing to give up in order to do so?”

Salons at Stowe is the 21st-century parlor conversation designed to inspire you to move from dialogue and debate to advocacy and action on current social justice issues.

Since 2008, the Stowe Center’s Salons have become a forum for lively discussion on contemporary topics that connect to issues that concerned Harriet Beecher Stowe. Featured guests provide a starting point for discussion and are a resource for the audience. At every Salon, the audience creates an “Inspiring Action” agenda – a list of specific actions that can be taken to address the issue at hand. Salon admission is FREE thanks to our members and donors.

Location Harriet Beecher Stowe Center 77 Forest Street Hartford, CT 06105

Doors Open 5:30 PM

Program 6 PM - 8 PM

Richard Frieder

Senior Associate, Everyday Democracy

Richard Frieder of Community Capacity Builders/Hartford Listens was Community Engagement Director at Hartford Public Library from 2001-2016. He is a Senior Associate with Everyday Democracy and is a Fellow at the University of Connecticut Humanities Institute in the Humility and Conviction in Public Life project.

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.