SCHS Header
Link to Homepage
Link to About Us page
Link to Staff & Board page
Link to Wallace Learning Center page
Link to Exhibits page
Link to Events Calendar page
Link to Archives page
Link to Online Store
Link to Membership page
Link to Volunteer page
Link to Contact Us page
Historical photo show 100 years ago header


100 Years Ago


Agriculture
Black History
Canal
Civil War
Downtown
Education
Entertainment
Events
Gold Rush
Immigration
Indians
Industry
Landmarks
Law and Order
Organizations
People
Pioneers
Politics
Sports
Transportation
War
Women

Harriet Beecher Stowe

harriettbeecherstowe.gif (8880 bytes)
Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) - Author

Harriet Elizabeth Beecher, the seventh child of a leading Protestant preacher, was born on June 14, 1811. In 1836, she married widower Calvin Stowe, and to help support her family of 5 children she wrote 10 adult novels, poems, biographical sketches, children’s stories, travel books, and her most famous work, "Uncle Tom’s Cabin" (1852). It was serialized in the anti-slavery weekly, the "National Era", gaining her international recognition as an outspoken anti-slavery advocate. Her book has been translated and sold throughout the world.

Many of her impressions about slavery were gained during the eighteen years she lived with her parents, then later her husband and family, in Cincinnati. A city with its famous Underground Railroad connections, it was located across the Ohio River from Kentucky, a slave state. It is also reputed, that prior to the publication of her book she ran an Underground Railroad station in Walnut Hills, near Cincinnati.

Her preacher husband was an avowed abolitionist and together they made frequent visits to Kentucky to see the affects of slavery, and hear the terrible and moving stories recounted by runaway slaves. To refute critics who claimed the book was inauthentic, she wrote, "A Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin" (1853) that documented the realities on which the book was based. In 1856, she published, "Dred," a second anti-slavery novel. Harriet was a realist in her writings; detailing the complexities of the cultural social life and characters of her time, providing a unique insight into pre-Civil War America with its contradictions and dilemmas. Turning a bit eccentric in later years, Harriet Beecher Stowe died at the age of 85 in Hartford, Connecticut.

stowehouseincincinnatiohio.gif (22148 bytes) 

The Harriet Beecher Stowe House, 2950 Gilbert, Cincinnati, Ohio. 
It is operated by the Citizens' Committee on Youth and the Ohio Historical Society.

'Black History' segment written in June, 1998 by David Lodge

 

[ Back to Black History Index ]

Article Footer
SCHS footer Link to Home page Link to About Us Information Link to the Ross Center Information Link to our Events Calendar Information Link to our Archives Information Link to our Online Store / Products Information Link to our Membership Information Link to our Volunteering Information Link to our Contact Information Link to Staff & Board Information Link to our Current & Upcoming Exhibits Information Link to our Donation Information