Harriet Beecher Stowe Reading List
If you want to delve deeper into the rich history of the Beecher and Stowe families or the abolitionist movement, pick up one of these books!
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
By Harriet Beecher Stowe
If you haven’t read this classic, it’s a great place to start. Pick up a copy in our gift shop, or find a free, downloadable version of many of Harriet’s works, including Uncle Tom’s Cabin, here: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/115
Harriet Beecher Stowe: The Story of Her Life
By Charles Edward Stowe and Lyman Beecher Stowe
This account of Harriet’s life was written by her son and grandson. Access it for free here: https://www.questia.com/read/1239233/harriet-beecher-stowe-the-story-of-her-life
Crusader in Crinoline
By Forrest Wilson
This is the first Pulitzer Prize-winning biography about Harriet, but not the last. This book was published in 1941.
Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Life
By Joan Hedrick
This biography also won the Pulitzer Prize, and includes a detailed account of Harriet’s eighteen years in Cincinnati.
Tempest-Tossed: The Spirit of Isabella Beecher Hooker
By Susan Campbell
This is the first full biography of Harriet’s youngest sister, who was an influential suffragette. Pick up a copy of Isabella’s story in our gift shop!
Passionate Liberator- Theodore Weld and the Dilemma of Reform
By Robert Abzug
This book details the Lane Seminary debates, which left an indelible mark on Harriet.
Beyond the River: The Untold Story of the Heroes of the Underground Railroad
By Ann Hagedorn
Set in Cincinnati and Ripley Ohio, this book describes life in the area during Harriet's time.
The Grimke Sisters- Pioneers For Women's Rights and Abolition
By Gerda Lerner
An in-depth look into the lives of the sisters who turned away from comfort and privilege in South Carolina to attack slavery at its core. Sarah and Angelina Grimke, the future wife of Theodore Weld, met in Connecticut before Harriet moved to Cincinnati.
All on Fire: William Lloyd Garrison and the Abolition of Slavery
By Henry Mayer
Michael Winston of The Washington Post writes, "Henry Mayer has written one of the best accounts we are ever likely to have of how one man's idealistic belief in the possibility of moral regeneration and political transformation came to be realized . . . a monumental work of historical biography.”
Who was Harriet Beecher Stowe? (ages 8-12)
By Dana Meachen Rau
A simple chapter book with line drawing illustrations covering Harriet's Connecticut childhood in the busy Beecher household and life as a student and teacher, all the way through writing Uncle Tom's Cabin and the fame that followed.
Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Beecher Preachers (ages 10-14)
By Dana Meachen Rau
Publisher's Weekly says, "Fritz's picture of Stowe, however, isn't so much that of an influential writer as it is of a woman struggling to make her voice heard in a family where boys were seen as assets and girls as, simply, not boys. The Beechers, headed by the prominent, iron-willed preacher Lyman Beecher, were both an influential and a tragic family, and they shaped many areas of American thinking and politics. Fritz captures their public and private careers magnificently, in the process unfolding the major events of the Civil War."
Other Resources
Below is a collection of primary sources and other interesting tidbits that can be accessed online. Get a picture of what life was really like in Harriet’s time by exploring these links.
Two Letters and a Speech
A letter from Henry B. Stanton, before he married Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the speech James Thome delivered before the American Antislavery Society in May 1834, and a letter from Reverend Samuel Cox, who renounced his views on "colonization" in favor of immediate abolition, were published by William Lloyd Garrison's firm. These are perhaps the earliest accounts of the earth-shaking events in Cincinnati which led the near demise of the Lane Seminary, of which Harriet's father Lyman Beecher was President. Thome's speech, as the son a wealthy slaveholding family in Augusta, Kentucky (50 miles southeast of Cincinnati), described the dehumanizing effects of slavery on both masters and those who were held in bondage. http://archive.org/details/debateatlanesemi00thom
The Western Monthly Magazine
This magazine, published in Cincinnati in the 1830s, was the work of James "Judge" Hall, a veteran of the War of 1812. Hall was a member of the Semi-Colon Club, meeting weekly along with Daniel Drake, Salmon Chase, Professor Calvin and Mrs. Eliza Stowe, and the Beecher sisters, Catharine and Harriet. This collection features narratives, poetry, current events, notices, and reviews of other works.
The first link is to the May, 1833 issue, which includes "A Scene in the Dark and Bloody Ground" an account of the Battle of Blue Licks Kentucky in 1782. At the bottom of the inside cover appears an ad for a new book: a "Geography for Children" upon an improved plan, by Catharine E. Beecher and Harriet E. Beecher, Principals of the Western Female Institute. The work was Harriet's but she wasn't quite ready to take sole credit.
http://www.archive.org/details/westernmonthlyma15hall
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s First Work of Published Fiction
The 1834 issue of the Western Monthly Magazine contains what is considered to be Harriet's first work of published fiction. Titled "The Prize Tale" (beginning on page 169), it's a step back into Harriet's memory of her native New England. She was awarded a "prize" of $50 for submitting the winning entry in a contest sponsored by Hall.
Later in the same issue, Hall's "Meteorological Observations" (page 224) detail the weather for each day in February, 1834, the exact time of the debates at the Lane Seminary. Hall's response to the debates begins on page 266. Titled "Slavery and Education," he took the students to task for daring to discuss issues he felt were best left for adults. This article led to a heated exchange, in person and in print, with Theodore Weld, who was then trying to put into practice the principles adopted by the students' newly formed Abolition Society.
http://archive.org/details/westernmonthlyma02hall
The link below contains Theodore Weld's blistering reply to Hall's editorial. Some of the most colorful and eloquent pleas for freedoms of speech and intellectual inquiry ever composed.
http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/abolitn/abestwbt.html
The Escape of the 28
The link below contains the story of the "Escape of the 28,” which occurred in April 1853, one year after the publication in book form of "Uncle Tom's Cabin". At the time, it was one of the most widely publicized flights to freedom, involving several people in four different states and two countries, and was occasioned by much media coverage in both free and slave states. Some of the most harrowing moments took place in what are now the northern suburbs of Cincinnati. Uncle Tom's Cabin was read by and to fugitive slaves before they set out.
http://hamiltonavenueroadtofreedom.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Escape-of-the-28-final.pdf.
Antebellum Cincinnati: Social Intersections in the Queen City
This website was created by students at Xavier University in Cincinnati to explore interactions among Cincinnati’s diverse groups in the time before the Civil War. http://curiosity.cs.xu.edu/blogs/antebellumcincinnati/
The Life of James Bradley
Here is the life story of James Bradley, Lane Seminary's only African American student, whose testimony at the "Lane Debates" in 1834 helped turn the tide in favor of abolition. http://oberlin.edu/external/EOG/LaneDebates/BradleyLetter.htm
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
By Harriet Beecher Stowe
If you haven’t read this classic, it’s a great place to start. Pick up a copy in our gift shop, or find a free, downloadable version of many of Harriet’s works, including Uncle Tom’s Cabin, here: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/115
Harriet Beecher Stowe: The Story of Her Life
By Charles Edward Stowe and Lyman Beecher Stowe
This account of Harriet’s life was written by her son and grandson. Access it for free here: https://www.questia.com/read/1239233/harriet-beecher-stowe-the-story-of-her-life
Crusader in Crinoline
By Forrest Wilson
This is the first Pulitzer Prize-winning biography about Harriet, but not the last. This book was published in 1941.
Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Life
By Joan Hedrick
This biography also won the Pulitzer Prize, and includes a detailed account of Harriet’s eighteen years in Cincinnati.
Tempest-Tossed: The Spirit of Isabella Beecher Hooker
By Susan Campbell
This is the first full biography of Harriet’s youngest sister, who was an influential suffragette. Pick up a copy of Isabella’s story in our gift shop!
Passionate Liberator- Theodore Weld and the Dilemma of Reform
By Robert Abzug
This book details the Lane Seminary debates, which left an indelible mark on Harriet.
Beyond the River: The Untold Story of the Heroes of the Underground Railroad
By Ann Hagedorn
Set in Cincinnati and Ripley Ohio, this book describes life in the area during Harriet's time.
The Grimke Sisters- Pioneers For Women's Rights and Abolition
By Gerda Lerner
An in-depth look into the lives of the sisters who turned away from comfort and privilege in South Carolina to attack slavery at its core. Sarah and Angelina Grimke, the future wife of Theodore Weld, met in Connecticut before Harriet moved to Cincinnati.
All on Fire: William Lloyd Garrison and the Abolition of Slavery
By Henry Mayer
Michael Winston of The Washington Post writes, "Henry Mayer has written one of the best accounts we are ever likely to have of how one man's idealistic belief in the possibility of moral regeneration and political transformation came to be realized . . . a monumental work of historical biography.”
Who was Harriet Beecher Stowe? (ages 8-12)
By Dana Meachen Rau
A simple chapter book with line drawing illustrations covering Harriet's Connecticut childhood in the busy Beecher household and life as a student and teacher, all the way through writing Uncle Tom's Cabin and the fame that followed.
Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Beecher Preachers (ages 10-14)
By Dana Meachen Rau
Publisher's Weekly says, "Fritz's picture of Stowe, however, isn't so much that of an influential writer as it is of a woman struggling to make her voice heard in a family where boys were seen as assets and girls as, simply, not boys. The Beechers, headed by the prominent, iron-willed preacher Lyman Beecher, were both an influential and a tragic family, and they shaped many areas of American thinking and politics. Fritz captures their public and private careers magnificently, in the process unfolding the major events of the Civil War."
Other Resources
Below is a collection of primary sources and other interesting tidbits that can be accessed online. Get a picture of what life was really like in Harriet’s time by exploring these links.
Two Letters and a Speech
A letter from Henry B. Stanton, before he married Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the speech James Thome delivered before the American Antislavery Society in May 1834, and a letter from Reverend Samuel Cox, who renounced his views on "colonization" in favor of immediate abolition, were published by William Lloyd Garrison's firm. These are perhaps the earliest accounts of the earth-shaking events in Cincinnati which led the near demise of the Lane Seminary, of which Harriet's father Lyman Beecher was President. Thome's speech, as the son a wealthy slaveholding family in Augusta, Kentucky (50 miles southeast of Cincinnati), described the dehumanizing effects of slavery on both masters and those who were held in bondage. http://archive.org/details/debateatlanesemi00thom
The Western Monthly Magazine
This magazine, published in Cincinnati in the 1830s, was the work of James "Judge" Hall, a veteran of the War of 1812. Hall was a member of the Semi-Colon Club, meeting weekly along with Daniel Drake, Salmon Chase, Professor Calvin and Mrs. Eliza Stowe, and the Beecher sisters, Catharine and Harriet. This collection features narratives, poetry, current events, notices, and reviews of other works.
The first link is to the May, 1833 issue, which includes "A Scene in the Dark and Bloody Ground" an account of the Battle of Blue Licks Kentucky in 1782. At the bottom of the inside cover appears an ad for a new book: a "Geography for Children" upon an improved plan, by Catharine E. Beecher and Harriet E. Beecher, Principals of the Western Female Institute. The work was Harriet's but she wasn't quite ready to take sole credit.
http://www.archive.org/details/westernmonthlyma15hall
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s First Work of Published Fiction
The 1834 issue of the Western Monthly Magazine contains what is considered to be Harriet's first work of published fiction. Titled "The Prize Tale" (beginning on page 169), it's a step back into Harriet's memory of her native New England. She was awarded a "prize" of $50 for submitting the winning entry in a contest sponsored by Hall.
Later in the same issue, Hall's "Meteorological Observations" (page 224) detail the weather for each day in February, 1834, the exact time of the debates at the Lane Seminary. Hall's response to the debates begins on page 266. Titled "Slavery and Education," he took the students to task for daring to discuss issues he felt were best left for adults. This article led to a heated exchange, in person and in print, with Theodore Weld, who was then trying to put into practice the principles adopted by the students' newly formed Abolition Society.
http://archive.org/details/westernmonthlyma02hall
The link below contains Theodore Weld's blistering reply to Hall's editorial. Some of the most colorful and eloquent pleas for freedoms of speech and intellectual inquiry ever composed.
http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/abolitn/abestwbt.html
The Escape of the 28
The link below contains the story of the "Escape of the 28,” which occurred in April 1853, one year after the publication in book form of "Uncle Tom's Cabin". At the time, it was one of the most widely publicized flights to freedom, involving several people in four different states and two countries, and was occasioned by much media coverage in both free and slave states. Some of the most harrowing moments took place in what are now the northern suburbs of Cincinnati. Uncle Tom's Cabin was read by and to fugitive slaves before they set out.
http://hamiltonavenueroadtofreedom.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Escape-of-the-28-final.pdf.
Antebellum Cincinnati: Social Intersections in the Queen City
This website was created by students at Xavier University in Cincinnati to explore interactions among Cincinnati’s diverse groups in the time before the Civil War. http://curiosity.cs.xu.edu/blogs/antebellumcincinnati/
The Life of James Bradley
Here is the life story of James Bradley, Lane Seminary's only African American student, whose testimony at the "Lane Debates" in 1834 helped turn the tide in favor of abolition. http://oberlin.edu/external/EOG/LaneDebates/BradleyLetter.htm
|
Web Hosting by iPage