New England Author Tour (NEAT) Part 2.3: Harriet Beecher Stowe

"Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn. "

Harriet Beecher Stowe

 

 
Let's start this trip with some dialogue, shall we?


ROSE (in the car, filling us in on the short bio of the author's life):...and it was while she lived there that she really got thinking about abolitionism, because she learned that the family's servant was an escaped slave with a price on her head.

REGINA: What?!

ROSE and FAITH (in unison): A price on her head—because she was a slave.

REGINA: Ohhhh. I thought you said she had LICE on her head! And I was, like, what does that have to do with abolitionism?

Now if you're thinking Regina's a ditz, you're totally wrong. Honestly, it was really hard to hear; as you may recall from my previous posts about that day, it was pouring rain. And we all had a pretty bad case of the giggles. I include the story to illustrate a point: you don't always know as much as you think you do.

Basically, I had always admired Harriet Beecher Stowe. I read Uncle Tom's Cabin in high school and was as moved by it then as thousands of Americans were when it was first printed. But I was unprepared for how much I would be moved by visiting her home. I had expected the tour of Mark Twain's house to be the highlight of my day, but I found that the unassuming gray and white house next door to the Clemens mansion had more to offer than met the eye.

I wish I could have taken pictures to show you, but again there was a “no inside photos” policy...but the general feeling was one of amazement at how much of Harriet was in her home. It was no mansion, friendly or otherwise: it was a home. It was clear that Harriet Beecher Stowe was a woman who loved—that almost defined her—and that love and peace overflowed into her home. Despite being financially comfortable, Harriet took her role as mother and housewife very seriously: no nannies or maids for her, thank you. Her kitchen was functional but friendly (did you know she was a homemaking engineer—as the guide put it, the Martha Stewart of her time—and developed a more efficient kitchen design that is still in use today?); the parlor was pretty and welcoming; even the hallways were graced by Harriet's lovely but modest collection of books and artwork...several Madonna and Child paintings could be found on the first floor alone, which seemed very fitting with Harriet's motherly personality.

To conclude, I have a new hero. Harriet Beecher Stowe did so much of what I hope to: she was a talented, hardworking writer; she was a loving wife and mother; she was a happy and efficient housewife; she was a lover of learning and art; she believed in taking an active role in the world. And she was passionate about everything she did.

"It is this everlasting mediocrity that bores me."

-Harriet Beecher Stowe

If you're not impressed yet, let me finish with this fact: Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote all of Uncle Tom's Cabin while she was mothering seven children. Yep. To go back to Regina and borrow a phrase she likes: 'nuff said.