You Can Help

“White lives matter.”

That is what a visitor said as he walked up to a Stowe Center tour guide on a recent afternoon. He was looking at the guide’s Black Lives Matter handbag as he spoke.

This type of interaction is not unusual at the Stowe Center. The topics visitors discuss—enslavement, racism, women and gender, class—often elicit discomfort, which sometimes manifests in comments that are biased, and sometimes downright aggressive.

At the Stowe Center we lean-in to comments such as these to help us all move forward. Our willingness to discuss difficult topics is one of the defining aspects of the Stowe Center—it differentiates us from other house museums (although more and more historic sites are taking our lead) and it helps us fulfill our mission to inspire commitment to social justice and positive change. It is not easy work and it requires great skill.

Harriet Beecher Stowe was strategic when she chose to voice her protest as a sentimental novelist. She honed her craft in the salon, reading out passages to see their effect on her audience. If they were moved, if they cried, she noted her success in touching their hearts as well as their minds. Harriet knew that taking on an entrenched culture—slavery—would require evoking empathy.

Today, we face ongoing untenable consequences of a history of slavery and racism. The Stowe Center—with its tools of respectful dialog, primary historical artifacts, prize-winning social justice literature, and unflinching willingness to engage—continues the legacy of Harriet as an inspiration for positive change.

You can help. Your donation today will inspire an ongoing commitment to social justice and positive change through vibrant discussion of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s life and legacy.

The issues Harriet was trying to address persist today. We also need to persist. There is no rest for each and all of us who are working to promote a more equitable world.

And thanks to an anonymous donor, who has issued a challenge grant of $20,000, you can double the impact of your gift today by donating during Harriet’s birth month, June.

Your generous gift will support Harriet’s legacy of action.

So how did the Stowe Center guide respond to the man who said “White lives matter.” First, she took a breath to compose herself. Then she said: “Yes, and Black people want everyone to realize that their lives matter, too.”

The visitor considered and then decided to take the tour with his wife, instead of waiting for her outside. He was a quiet tour participant, the Stowe Center guide said, but he listened.

That is a great first step. But we need your help now, so that others have the opportunity to take this first step too.

Please consider a gift today. Your contribution will give more people the opportunity to come together and share open, honest, and difficult dialogue. Through these conversations, together, we can and will create a more equitable world.

PS: You can double your impact and make a difference with a gift, no matter the size, by supporting this generous challenge grant opportunity. DONATE TODAY. Thank you!

“IF A MIND WILL GROW AND RISE, MAKE WAY AND LET IT.”

Harriet Beecher Stowe, Dred; A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp. Vol. II. (1857)

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

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.