HARRIET BEECHER STOWE CENTER INC
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Mission Statement
We encourage social justice and literary activism by exploring the legacy of Harriet Beecher Stowe and all who advocate hope and freedom then and now.
About This Cause
At the Stowe Center, we nurture the change makers of today and the future by exploring the life and work of literary activists such as Harriet Beecher Stowe, Josiah Henson, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, and Sojourner Truth. These authors all provided readers with books intended to change hearts and minds, to end slavery and to emphasize shared humanity. Stowe's anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, was the only international best seller of the century and greatly influenced the abolitionist movement as white readers experienced empathy for Stowe’s characters. Stowe's fiction was based on the true stories of Henson, Douglass, Jacobs, and Truth among others, which Stowe chronicled in her Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin. Their stories are important to read in full, which we encourage. We award the Stowe Prize for Literary Activism annually to celebrate a contemporary author whose work has significant social justice impact. Winners include Percival Everett, Bryan Stevenson, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Bettina Love, Ruha Benjamin, and Michelle Alexander. We preserve and protect the largest collection of Stowe/Beecher materials and those of other social influencers of the time, such as the Hooker and Gillette families. The collection contains over 6,000 objects and the library has over 225,000 items in its print and archive collection. This collection is available to researchers by appointment--innumerable books, including two Pulitzer Prize winners, were researched in this collection. As a museum, program center, and international tourism destination in Hartford, Connecticut, the Stowe Center activates its mission with dialogue-based tours and programming that link the past to the present and honor the lived experiences of those participating in the conversation. We greatly value our local community and serve a multi-generational audience ranging from children to educators, scholars, and lifelong learners of all ages. In 2025, we completed our ADA, Site, and Structural Improvement plan, making our campus more accessible to all visitors. We also launched our Harriet's Backyard: From Private to Public, which includes improvements to our outdoor space as specified by community focus groups. This project also includes preservation of the Day House, the Stowe House exteriors, and improved bathrooms throughout the campus. In 2016, the Stowe Center launched major preservation work in the 1871 Harriet Beecher Stowe House. The home where Stowe lived for 23 years was updated with a new climate control system, modern fire suppression, and renovation of historic windows, all vital to preservation of the home and its historic collections. Recognized in 2013 as a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Stowe Center is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, is an Affiliate of the American Writers Museum, is a member of the American Association for State and Local History and New England Museum Association, an affiliate of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, a National Park Service Underground Railroad Freedom Network site, a member of Connecticut Historic Gardens, a Connecticut Women's Heritage Trail site, and a Connecticut Freedom Trail site.