About Stowe Center for Literary Activism

Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811–1896) was born in Litchfield, CT, and is best known as the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852), a novel that helped galvanize the anti-slavery movement. Stowe’s literary activism changed hearts and minds—and also through the Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin, drew attention to the Black writers and abolitionists who inspired her story.

In 1873, the Stowe family moved into the cottage on Forest Street in Hartford, currently known as the Stowe Center. (A year later, Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, and his family moved into an elaborate house just across the lawn; the two families were friendly and often visited each other.) The gardens around the house reflect Stowe’s fondness for the plantings of the Victorian era. Stowe lived in the house until her death in 1896.

Stowe loved flowers and was an enthusiastic flower gardener. On this urban site you’ll find eight distinct historical gardens, including the woodland garden, the blue cottage garden, the wildflower meadow, a high Victorian texture garden, antique rose garden, formal color-coordinated gardens, and more. The site includes Connecticut’s largest magnolia tree and a 100+-year-old dogwood believed to be from Stowe’s time..

For more information, visit https://www.stowecenter.org/