Harriet Beecher Stowe
(1811-1896)
Harriet was born the seventh child of a famous protestant
preacher in Connecticut. In her early adult years she worked as a
teacher and helped to support her family financially by writing for
local and religious periodicals. the family moved to Cincinnati and she
married widower Calvin Stowe. While she wrote at least ten adult novels,
Harriet Beecher Stowe is predominantly known for her first, Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852). Begun as a serial for the
Washington anti-slavery weekly, the National Era,
it focused public interest on the issue of slavery, and was deeply
controversial. Stowe enlisted friends and family to send her information
and she scoured freedom narratives and anti-slavery newspapers for
first hand accounts as she composed her story. In 1852 the serial was
published as a two volume book. Uncle
Tom's Cabin
was a best seller in the United States, England, Europe, Asia, and
translated into over 60 languages. Following publication of the book,
she became a celebrity, speaking against slavery both in America and
Europe. She wrote two more books that focused on slavery. In 1862, when
she visited President Lincoln, legend claims that he greeted her as "the
little lady who made this big war": the war between the states. She
died in Hartford, Connecticut at the age of 85.