Stowe Center for Literary Activism

Yours Truly: 19th Century Letters from Our Archive
2026-03-25 18:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Stowe Center for Literary Activism, 77 Forest Street, Hartford, CT, 06106, United States
Our archive holds a wealth of fascinating correspondence, scrapbooks, diaries, and other materials that offer unique perspectives into the interior lives of some of the most influential people of the 19th century. We invite our public into close contact with some of our most insightful, curious, enlightening, and humorous archival holdings for monthly gatherings where we read letters from our collection. We hold letters from Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, William Lloyd Garrison, and other progressive thinkers of the 19th century, in addition of course to those written by the extensive and active Beecher family. This gathering will meet and read copies of historic letters from our archive, with the original on display. Together, we will work through not only 19th century handwriting (transcript will be available) but the topics, thoughts, emotional reactions these writers held. 19th century correspondence was both a semi-private and semi-public affair, and letters offer a unique glimpse into the personality and interiority of individuals. We hope you’ll join Cat White, Director of Historic Collections, as we bring our letters out of the archives!

Discovering Stowe
2026-03-26 14:00 - 14:30, 2026-03-27 14:00 - 14:30, 2026-03-28 14:00 - 14:30
This succinct historical tour focuses on Harriet’s childhood, her time in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the impact of free and enslaved Black people on her life and legacy. This tour moves through the first floor of the Stowe House where we invite guests to learn more about the influence of the abolitionist movement on Stowe’s famous anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

Make the World Write!
2026-03-28 10:00 - 12:00
History is happening before our eyes, and with our new program, the Stowe Center wants to give you the space to use your words to make your impact. Make the World Write! allows you to write in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Hartford home. For two silent hours in Stowe’s parlors, be with history and let it empower and guide you to write for our times. Be with history. Be a literary activist!
For the best protection and care of the historic items and room you will be writing in:

Computers and pencil are welcome, please no pens
Bags smaller than 16” x 20” are allowed
Capped water bottles only, please leave food outside of our historic house
And please, don’t touch the objects on display
