Harriet Beecher Stowe To Visit The Newtown Historical Society

Harriet Beecher Stowe was one of the most important American women of the Nineteenth Century. A literary giant, a strong feminist within the context of her times, a major force in the slavery controversy, President Lincoln is reported to have greeted her at the White House in 1862 by saying, “So you’re the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war.”

Uncle Toms Cabin is reported to have sold 300,000 copies within a year of its 1852 publication, an undreamed of number for antebellum American publishing.

On May 10 at 7:30 pm, in the community room of the Booth Library, 25 Main Street, the Newtown Historical Society will present a first person characterization of this fascinating woman’s life, performed by Jane Sabatelli.

Born into the family of popular preacher Lyman Beecher, Harriet’s mother died when she was 5, leaving her sister Catherine as the major female influence in her life.

Harriet was educated at the Litchfield Female Academy, a school founded “to vindicate the equality of female intellect.” She was to teach at her sister’s Hartford Female Academy, and after the family’s move to Cincinnati, at Catherine’s Western Female Academy.

It was there that Harriet began to write for the Western Monthly Magazine, stories later compiled into her first book of fiction. Other than these stories, and a popular geography text, Harriet had little experience with writing for publication, and she put aside the literary life entirely after marriage to theology professor Calvin Stowe in 1836.

The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 had a profound influence on her, as did the death of her son Charles at 18 months, an event Harriet said later gave her the understanding of a slave mother’s feelings on the separation of her family. Although she continued her writing career after 1852 with both popular and critical regard, she is known today largely for Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which has never been out of print since its original publication.

Jane Sabatelli is a member of the Connecticut Civil War Roundtable, and a Civil War reenactor. She has done demonstrations on Victorian costume and mourning customs at various venues, including a cable television presentation with the Litchfield Historical Society.

She has been a fifth grade teacher for 30 years, and raises Monarch butterflies for schools from her home in Torrington.

Ms Sabatelli has been doing first-person characterizations for six years, and her presentation will include memories of growing up in the difficult Beecher family, her relationship with Catherine and her teaching career in Catherine’s schools, her marriage and raising her own family, and the background for her most famous novel and its affect on the world and attitudes toward women writers.

All historical society programs are free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served following the presentation. For further information call 426-5937.