Stowe living room
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s House, located in Cincinnati Ohio, is a historical site that is still up and running. The home was restored in the 1970’s, but no one currently lives there. It is opened during the day by friends of the Stowe family and survives today only on donations by those who see its historical significance. If it were not for the donations by friends, tourists, supporters, and family, the home would have been torn down years ago.
Harriet Beecher Stowe was born in Connecticut in 1811. Her family moved to Ohio in 1832 when her father became the pastor of the city’s Second Presbyterian Church and President of the Lane Theological Seminary. The Seminary was where Hariet’s father took part in several debates about the abolitionism and education for freeed slaves. She married her husband Calvin Stowe, a professor at the Seminary, in 1936. They moved near by the house and spent much of there time there.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a best-seller that created an awareness of the act of slavery. Harriet made it very apparent that the slavery was the total opposite of Christianity and that if you clamied to be a Christian, you could not possible support any kind of slavery. The book was written in 1852, as an anti-slavery reaction to the Fugitive Slave Law enacted in 1850. The book sold over half a million copies in it’s first five years and it was also translated into 37 different languages. The book is still in publication today, now published in 70 different languages. Within its pages, readers learned of the stuggles and hardships of slaves as they discovered the Underground Railroad.
The first level of the home is decorated in a Victorian style set up to be similar to the way it was in the 1800s. There is a study, a formal living room, and more of an informal living room that is for viewing. Each room is filled with information about the Beecher family, as well as the Stowe family. In the back of the home, there is a room with a large table and many chairs. It has information reguarding group visits, authors, artists, volunteering oppotunities, etc. It also contains some of the original writings of Harriot Beecher Stowe. The upper level of the home is set up as an art gallery demonstrating many of the Stowe family’s personal art. Each bedroom door has a sign posted on it infroming visitors who’s beroom it was.
Upon going upstairs, I noticed a sign posted on the wall from 1851 that said, “Caution Colored People of Boston.” The sign went on to say that black people should stay away from all policemen since they are ordered by law to return any fugitives. If they valued their liberty, or the liberty of their fugitive family members of friends, they would keep them far away from the police. Uncle’s Tom’s Cabin popularized the belief in anti-slavery and aided fugitives by influencing many people to become abolitionists.
I think that this was a great choice for a museum to visit. It seems that you really enjoyed your experience at the museum. I really like the pictures that you added into your post. I thought the post was really easy to read and understand. I thought you presented a lot of good information.
Great Job
Adam
Nice post. You had wonderful details and information about the home and life of Harriet B. Stowe. Thank you for sharing! One thing I noticed was the date when Harriet married her husband, I think it is supposed to be 1836 not, 1936.
I understand mistyping something eseically numbers on a laptop. The pictures are wonderful, but I was wondering, is that sign outside her house? Thats what I thought. I found it very interesting about the sign posted because it makes me wonder who saw it and where it was posted since one would think it would be torn down. Good job!