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.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

At National Book Festival, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" still considered a book that "shaped the world"

Shortly after posting yesterday's piece on Banned Books Week, a friend of the Stowe Center sent us the photo below from last weekend's 2013 Library of Congress National Book Festival. The white board encouraged visitors to the National Mall to share their response to "What book do you think shaped the world?" Our favorite banned book made it on to the board! Can you find Uncle Tom's Cabin below?


Notice how many titles written on the board are books that are frequently banned, both historically and today. Is it a coincidence that books that go against what is deemed "acceptable" are often those that create the most change and "shape the world"?

Imagine our country without the texts above. Which book listed do you consider most influential on American or world history? Do you see this board as an inspiration to keep fighting for what you believe in, even when others try to silence your words? When have you felt banned?

(Thanks to Luke Boyd for sharing the photo!)
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