Contact: Mariangie Pena, Stowe Center for Literary Activism
Phone: 860.522.9258 Ext. 321
Email: MPena@StoweCenter.org
Stowe Center for Literary Activism Launches First-Ever Stowe Symposium
“Stowe in Context & Conversation” to Convene Scholars and Public Readers on April 18, 2026
HARTFORD, Conn.– The Stowe Center for Literary Activism will host its inaugural Stowe Symposium on Saturday, April 18, 2026, convening scholars, students, educators, and readers for a day of inquiry centered on Harriet Beecher Stowe in her historic context and ours. Presented in partnership with Trinity College and The New England Quarterly, the symposium brings together academic rigor and public conversation in a shared exploration of Stowe’s enduring legacy.
Held at Trinity College, the 2026 theme “Stowe in Context & Conversation” situates Stowe within the moral, political, theological, and literary currents of the nineteenth century while examining how her work continues to shape public life today.
The day-long symposium bridges scholarship and civic dialogue, featuring four academic panels, a lunchtime roundtable, recognition of outstanding new Stowe scholarship, and a keynote address by National Book Award–winning historian Tiya Miles.
“This first symposium invites us to place Stowe back into the vibrant world she inhabited,” said Cat White, Director of Historic Collections at the Stowe Center. “By situating Stowe within the context that she worked and lived within, we are better able to understand that she was responding to and interacting with a larger society and gives us a broader, more relational, lens with which to view her and her work.”
The Stowe Symposium establishes a forum for rigorous scholarship and shared reflection, reinforcing Hartford’s place in national conversations about literature and social change.
Event Details:
Stowe Symposium 2026: Stowe in Context & Conversation
📍 Trinity College, 300 Summit Street, Hartford, CT 06106
🗓 Saturday, April 18, 2026
⏰ 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (Registration opens at 8:00 a.m.)
Lunch and refreshments included with registration
Registration is now open. For more information, visit Stowecenter.org/Symposium
The Stowe Center encourages social justice and literary activism by exploring the legacy of Harriet Beecher Stowe and all who advocate hope and freedom—then and now. We envision a world in which engagement leads to empathy, empowerment, and change for good.
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For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact Mariangie Pena, Director of Marketing, at MPena@StoweCenter.org or (860) 522-9258 ext. 321.
