Salons at Stowe: Curator Talk with Katie Heidsiek

Salons at Stowe

Salon at Stowe: Ask the Curator

Presentation and Q & A with Katie Heidsiek, Curator of Connecticut’s Bookshelf

November 29, 2023

Katie Heidsiek, curator of the exhibit Connecticut’s Bookshelf on view at the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History, will discuss aspects of the exhibit followed by an audience Q &A and/or conversation with Cat White of the Stowe Center. The exhibit explores the many authors and literary forms to come out of Connecticut, including not only Harriet, but her sisters Catharine and Isabella as well. Heidsiek will discuss the development of the exhibit, the literary history of Connecticut that’s represented in the exhibit, and the process of putting this exhibit together.

Our program will be a lunchtime salon on Wednesday, November 29^th, when Katie Heidsiek will discuss her recently curated exhibit, Connecticut’s Bookshelf. This exhibit explores Connecticut’s extensive literary history, which includes classic authors such as Harriet Beecher Stowe and Mark Twain, comic book greats, children’s authors, and more. This inventive and delightful exhibit features portals to literary sites throughout the state, including the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center. The Stowe Center loaned items for the exhibit that represent the Beecher family and their work specifically, as well as the 19^th century domestic settings generally. The exhibit features the work not only of Harriet, but highlights the literary output of her sisters Catharine Beecher and Isabella Beecher Hooker. Catharine authored pioneering works on education and Isabella’s writing focused on women’s rights and the growing suffrage movement.

Heidsiek will discuss how this exhibit came about-what motivated the creation of the exhibit and how she and her team decided which authors to include; the literary history of Connecticut; and the process of bringing the exhibit together which required to coordination of various literary sites throughout the state.

Her virtual discussion will be followed by an audience Q & A with Cat White of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center.

Connecticut Museum of Culture and History, Connecticut’s Bookshelf Exhibit

REGISTER HERE

Confirmation email will contain Zoom link

Location Zoom

Doors Open Virtual

Program 12:00 - 1:00 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.)

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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.