Stowe Center for Literary Activism

Inspiring Stowe: The Real Josiah Henson
2026-09-11 12:30 - 13:30, 2026-09-11 15:30 - 16:30, 2026-09-12 12:30 - 13:30, 2026-09-12 15:30 - 16:30, 2026-09-16 12:30 - 13:30, 2026-09-16 15:30 - 16:30, 2026-09-17 12:30 - 13:30, 2026-09-17 15:30 - 16:30 (America/New_York) and 7 more dates | Stowe Center for Literary Activism, 77 Forest Street, Hartford, CT, 06106, United States
On this tour, we explore how Harriet Beecher Stowe came to author Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852), a complex and controversial anti-slavery novel with a massive impact on U.S. history and culture. We’ll discover what Stowe learned, read, and witnessed that made her want to speak out against enslavement in her own time, with special attention to the life of Josiah Henson, the real-life Black abolitionist who inspired the character of Tom in Stowe’s novel.

Writing Freedom
2026-09-11 14:00 - 14:30, 2026-09-12 11:30 - 12:00, 2026-09-12 14:00 - 14:30, 2026-09-16 11:30 - 12:00, 2026-09-16 14:00 - 14:30, 2026-09-17 11:30 - 12:00, 2026-09-17 14:00 - 14:30, 2026-09-18 11:30 - 12:00 and 7 more dates
Enter Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 1870’s historic home, where we’ll make space for powerful stories from history.
What is a Freedom Narrative? Historically referred to as a “slave narrative,” a freedom narrative is a true, firsthand account of liberation by a Black storyteller, describing their efforts to free themselves from slavery and to build a life in freedom. Thousands of freedom narratives were written, dictated, and shared before and after slavery legally ended in the United States. Their creators used the power of their words to speak out against injustice, assert their humanity, and record the truth of our nation’s history.
On this tour, we’ll learn about three 19th-century Black abolitionists: Harriet Jacobs, Frederick Douglass, and Josiah Henson. Each of these authors had a direct connection to and impact on the writing of Harriet Beecher Stowe, but this tour focuses on their lives and activism. We’ll have the opportunity to hear portion of their stories, told in their own words, and to consider the lessons these stories hold for our own time.
