2024 Semi-Colon Club Book Discussion Group
The Semi-Colon Club was a literary discussion group Harriet joined while living in Cincinnati. Our Semi-Colon Club discusses the issues that make up Harriet’s legacy--from the 19th century until the present day.
Many thanks to series sponsor Donna Salyers Fabulous Furs.
- Call 513-751-0651 or email friends@stowehousecincy.org to place a book order that supports the Friends of Harriet Beecher Stowe House.
- To catch up on any conversations you may have missed, check out our YouTube channel HERE .
Many thanks to series sponsor Donna Salyers Fabulous Furs.
Upcoming Discussions:
Driving the Green Book by Alvin Hall
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Saturday, August 24, 2024 at 12pm
Northwood Cider Company 2075 Mills Avenue, Norwood, OH 45212 Can't make this date? The Norwood Branch Library is discussing the same book for their book club Saturday, August 10th at 10:30am. Discuss Alvin Hall's "Road Trip Through the Living History of Black Resistance" and don't miss the stories about Cincinnati and Norwood. Discussion will be facilitated by HBSH volunteer Velda Smiley and HBSH Board Member Faith Cargile. Part of a series of events connecting Cincinnati and Norwood local history to the national story of The Negro Motorist Green Book. See more on our Upcoming Events page. Facilitators:
Faith Cargile Faith Cargile is a member of the Board of the Friends of Harriet Beecher Stowe House. She has been a volunteer docent a the House for almost 5 years, is a history nerd and has been a long time road traveler since the 1970s. Velda Smiley Velda Smiley has been a volunteer and educator at the Harriet Beecher Stowe House for 9 years. She is an East Walnut Hills resident and loves to keep learning new facts and stories about the history of the Stowe House and our community. |
The Poetry & Fiction of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
About the Discussion Facilitator:
Dr. Cheli Reutter is professor in the Department of English at the University of Cincinnati. Her research and education focus on American and African American literature, medical humanities, and disability literature. Dr. Reutter has also been a member of the Board of the Friends of the Harriet Beecher Stowe House for several years. |
Saturday, October 26, 2024 at 10:30am
Walnut Hills Branch Library 2533 Kemper Lane, Cincinnati, OH 45206 Abolitionist, teacher, social reformer, poet, and writer Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was born in Baltimore also but had significant Ohio connections. Educated at her uncle’s school where she learned Bible, literature, and public speaking, she taught at Union Seminary in Columbus from 1850 to 1854. After moving to Pennsylvania and lecturing on a national circuit, she married Fenton Harper in Cincinnati in 1860, bought a farm, and gave birth to her daughter Mary. After the Civil War and death of her husband, Harper toured the South where she saw appalling injustices. She then joined the Christian Women’s Temperance Union and the American Women’s Suffrage Association and co-founded the National Association of Colored Women. Her influential 1883 World’s Fair speech “Women’s Political Future” deserves study by contemporary audiences. For Semicolon Club, we’ll look at this speech, her influential abolitionist poem “Bury me in a Free Land” and her nine poems selected by the Poetry Foundation, including one based on Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. We will also talk about chapters 11, 12, 31 and 32 of Harper’s novel Iola Leroy. Links for all material are provided. Selected Readings: |
Past Discussions:
Paul Laurence Dunbar: Beyond the Mask
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Join us for a screening of Paul Laurence Dunbar: Beyond The Mask, a documentary on the life and legacy of the first African American poet/writer to gain international fame. Born to former slaves in Dayton, Ohio, Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906) is best remembered for his poem “We Wear The Mask” and for lines from “Sympathy” that became the title of Maya Angelou’s famous autobiography “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.” Dunbar’s story is also the story of the African American experience around the turn of the century. In addition to poetry, Dunbar wrote widely published essays critical of Jim Crow laws, lynching, and what was commonly called “The Negro Problem.” More than eight years in the making, “Beyond The Mask” received major funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities with additional support from Ohio Humanities. About the Filmmaker Writer and director Frederick Lewis is a professor in the School of Media Arts & Studies at Ohio University. His independent documentaries have been seen on PBS stations throughout the U.S. and been screened at more than 100 cultural/educational venues, including the Library of Congress, the National Gallery of Art, and the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis. |
The Shaping of Black America by Lerone Bennett, Jr. with illustrations by Charles White
About the Discussion Leaders
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"In the preface to this book, Lerone Bennett Jr. explains his intentions: "This is an essay towards a new understanding of the long and continuing attempts of Africans and African descendants to possess themselves and the new land....I have been interested here in the forces and events that made black America what it is today. And since black America was of central importance in the shaping of white America, I have dealt at some length with some of the forgotten pages of white and [Indigenous] history." "There is no final chapter. The final chapter is being written by men, women, and children who are groping for new directions in one of history's hard places.""In 1974, the Johnson Publishing Company commissioned White to produce the cover image and chapter-opening illustrations for Lerone Bennett Jr.'s landmark publication The Shaping of Black America (1975). This project was a summary of White's steadfast commitment to communicating with the public about the matters that most concerned him: the legacies of racism and oppression, the nobility and aspirations of ordinary people, the heroes who fought for freedom and equality, and the accomplishments of Black Americans." (text from Charles White: A Little Higher exhibit, Cincinnati Art Museum, Nov 2023- Feb 2024) |
Series Sponsor
Born from a love of animals and the idea that fashion could be cruelty-free, Donna Salyers founded Fabulous-Furs over 30 years ago. Headquartered in Covington, KY., Donna Salyers Fabulous-Furs designs and manufactures luxury faux fur coats, vests, throws and much more. Visit their website to learn more.