Welcome to the conversation!


Welcome to the conversation!

Harriet Beecher Stowe's (1811-1896) best-selling anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), made her the most famous American woman of the 19th century and galvanized the abolition movement before the Civil War.

The Stowe Center is a 21st-century museum and program center using Stowe's story to inspire social justice and positive change.

The Salons at Stowe programs are a forum to connect the challenging issues (race, gender and class) that impelled Stowe to write and act with the contemporary face of those same issues. The Salon format is based on a robust level of audience participation, with the explicit goal of promoting civic engagement. Recent topics included: Teaching Acceptance; Is Prison the New Slavery; Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North; Creativity and Change; Race, Gender and Politics Today; How to be an Advocate

This blog will expand the reach of these community conversations to the online audience. Add your posts and comments to keep the conversation going! Commit to action by clicking HERE to stay up to date on Salon and social justice news.

For updates on Stowe Center programs and events, sign up for our enews at http://harrietbeecherstowe.org/email.

Friday, March 21, 2014

March 22: National Education and Sharing Day

First inaugurated by President Jimmy Carter in 1978, "National Education and Sharing Day is a day that was made by the United States Congress in honor of  Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902 – 1994).  It honors his efforts for education and sharing for Jews and non-Jews alike.  During his lifetime, the Rabbi opened many centers of education."

President Barack Obama has continued this long-time tradition of National Education and Sharing Day, and in 2009 stated in his proclamation:

 “We also know that learning does not stop when students leave the classroom. Whether at the dinner table or on the field, it is our task as parents, teachers, and mentors to make sure our children grow up practicing the values we preach. We have an obligation to instill in them the virtues that define our national character — honesty and independence, drive and discipline, courage and compassion.” 

President Obama's message is particularly important in remembering museums as institutions of both culture and education. At the Stowe Center, we seek to educate visitors on Stowe's life and impact, and the ability each of us has to - like Stowe - create positive change in our world. In honor of National Education and Sharing Day, we hope you will explore our public programs at www.HarrietBeecherStowe.org, and our educational programming for kids which instill those above-mentioned values of honesty and independence, drive and discipline, courage and compassion


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