We are eager to share an interactive, conversational tour that deeply considers history and today.

Adult Groups (10 or more)

Thank you for considering an adult group visit to the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center. We are eager to share an interactive, conversational tour that deeply considers history and today.

We require adult groups to reserve four (4) weeks in advance of their visit.

Please find descriptions of our different tour experiences below. Choose the date and time of your tour via the tour groups calendar below, then select your tour experience during checkout.

Please note, we can only accommodate adult groups between 27 and 40 people in our Thursday morning timeslot, and adult groups between 27 and 40 people must register for our half-hour “Writing Freedom” tour.

A “Group” is defined as 10 people or more. If you are a group fewer than 10 adult visitors, please book your visit on a public tour through our Calendar.

Size: Minimum of 10 adults in the group. Maximum of 40 people.

Payment is due at time of visit, 10% deposit is required two weeks in advance

  • General Admission (17-64): $20
  • Seniors (65 +): $15
  • Children (6-16): $10
  • Stowe Center Member, Hartford Resident, Children under 6: FREE
  • Museums for All (with a valid EBT card and Photo ID): $3
To inquire about availability, email our Senior Education Coordinator, Yateena Young at YYoung@StoweCenter.org or call 860-522-9258 ext. 381.
If you would like to book a tour with both the Stowe Center for Literary Activism and the Mark Twain House & Museum, please fill out this email link with your information. 

Tour Groups

October 1 @ 9:30 am - 11:30 am

Tour Groups

October 2 @ 9:30 am - 11:30 am

Tour Groups

October 2 @ 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm

Tour Groups

October 7 @ 9:30 am - 11:30 am

Tour Groups

October 7 @ 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm

Tour Groups

October 8 @ 9:30 am - 11:30 am

TOUR OFFERINGS

Tour Overview
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.

Enter Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 1870’s historic home for a 1-hour conversational tour about the power of words to change the world.

We’ll explore the life and writing of Harriet Beecher Stowe, best known for authoring Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852), a complex and controversial anti-slavery novel that had a massive impact on American history and culture. What made Stowe, a white woman from Connecticut, decide to write an anti-slavery novel? We’ll learn about Harriet’s childhood, her adult years in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the sources she drew on to write and defend Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a work that went to be the best-selling novel of the entire 19th century.

We’ll also use Stowe’s life as a jumping off point to tell a larger story about the U.S. abolitionist movement, exploring the influence of Black activists, storytellers, and enslavement survivors on Stowe’s views and anti-slavery writing. We’ll pay particular attention to the life and work of Josiah Henson, the 19th-century Black abolitionist who became the major source of inspiration for the titular character of Tom.

One tour, two stories! Enter Harriet Beecher Stowe’s 1870’s historic home for our 1-hour conversational tour about the Black abolitionist Frederick Douglass and the white anti-slavery author Harriet Beecher Stowe.

We’ll explore their stories from the time they were young children until they became famous authors, paying special attention to the importance of love, family, and education in their lives. Did you know that Frederick Douglass taught himself to read and write in secret as a child? Or that Douglass was aided in his extraordinary escape to freedom by his wife-to-be, Anna Murray? Did you know that Harriet Beecher Stowe’s famous work of anti-slavery fiction, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, was directly inspired by Frederick Douglass and other Black activists of the 19th century?

Our interactive, conversation-based tour is designed to explore some of the hardest moments in U.S. history in an empowering, age-appropriate way. Step back in time with us, touch and hold historical objects and documents that help this history come alive, and join in a conversation about how all of us have the power to create change.

 [Designed to be enjoyed by visitors ages 6 and above.]

Delve into the historic, social, and political context of the 19th century and explore the role of spiritualism in the lives of reformers, suffragists, and Black activists.

Guided audio tour exploring Stowe’s House.