Harriet Beecher Stowe

Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811–1896) was an American author and abolitionist best known for her influential novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Born on June 14, 1811, in Litchfield, Connecticut, she grew up in a family deeply involved in religion, education, and social reform. She attended the Hartford Female Seminary, founded by her sister Catharine, and later taught there. As an adult, she moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where she married theology professor Calvin Ellis Stowe. Stowe Center for Literary Activism

Stowe used fiction to expose the cruelty of slavery and encourage readers to oppose it. Uncle Tom’s Cabin, serialized beginning in 1851 and published as a book in 1852, became an international bestseller and helped strengthen antislavery sentiment. Her other works include Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp and The Minister’s Wooing. She died in Hartford, Connecticut, on July 1, 1896, at age 85. National Park Service