Re-Discover Harriet Beecher Stowe

HARTFORD — Harriet Beecher Stowe, her sisters Isabella Beecher Hooker and Mary Beecher Perkins, daughter Hattie Stowe and neighbor Willy Gillette will greet visitors on Saturday, June 11, from noon to 5 pm, at the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center. The occasion will be the annual free celebration of the birthday of Hartford’s anti-slavery author, mother, painter, gardener and domestic “engineer,” Harriet Beecher Stowe.

The 2½-acre grounds of the Stowe Center will be a bevy of fun activities for all ages — with main stage performances, crafts activities, puppetry workshops and more. Visitors can try their hand at Victorian lawn games with costumed role-players and see just what they have to say about the burning issues of the day in 19th Century Nook Farm. Horse-drawn wagon rides will offer a perspective on the full range of birthday fun.

The first floor of the Stowe House will be open for tours, with historic interpreters in every room, to answer questions.

In the Stowe Visitor Center, the American Magic-Lantern Theater Show will offer performance this year of 1890’s version of the Victorian Magic-Lantern Uncle Tom’s Cabin — with live singing and acting. Shows are at 1, 2:30 and 4 pm.

Connecticut’s state Troubadour, Thomasina, will sing in the Stowe Visitor Center from 1:30 to 2:15 pm between Magic-Lantern shows.

Outside activities range from Victorian games to garden tours, crafts, music and dance on the tented main stage. Professional puppeteer Marilyn O’Connor Miller will introduce kids to the world of puppets in a workshop at 1:30 pm.

Christine Boudreau, a local visual artist specializing in children’s art created from throw-away items — old shoes to tree branches — will engage children in free art-making activities throughout the afternoon.

Guided tours of the Victorian gardens will be led by garden guru Rob Fuoco, who promises a hands-on, dirt in the fingernails style. Tours will begin at 1 pm, 2:30 and 4 pm.

Birthday cake and lemonade will be served starting at 2 pm and are free until supplies are exhausted.

The Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, a museum, program center and research library, is located at 77 Forest Street in Hartford. Take Exit 46 from I-84 and follow signs. Full details on the celebration are available at www.HarrietBeecherStowe.org or 860-522-9258 extension 317.