Stowe Center for Literary Activism

I stopped by the Stowe Center after a tour next door at the Mark Twain house. I didn’t fully know what I was signing up for but decided to join the hour long tour. I appreciate how fascinating and thought provoking the guides made this tour. They did a great job of highlighting the complexities of American history and the work of Harriet Beecher Stowe. The conversation had amongst the tour group were great, and I was very glad I stopped in. I highly recommend a stop for anyone in the area!

The guides were amazing! They were passionate, knowledgeable, and engaging. Chairs were offered as needed in the different rooms for my parents, which was much appreciated. I would do it again if ever in town.

Loved this experience. The staff, Anita, tina, and Versatile were knowledgeable, kind, engaging, and fantastic. The encouraged socratic style conversation, and guided in a way that made me feel welcome, respectful, and valued. How lovely to have this be the last thing we did on a 2 week road trip of New England. Would recommend to anyone.

U.S. history is complicated and so is Harriet Beecher Stowe. Not all positive or negative. Touring the grounds of the Stowe Center and speaking with the guides made that very clear. The tour did give a great overview of her life and the time in which she lived as well as her literary and social justice work and influences. It was very interesting to see her connections with other abolitionists of her day. The tour gives food for thought and can be provocative, which means you get to do your own research, your own thinking and formulate your own conclusions about her life. I highly recommend this tour. Mark Twain's house and museum is right next door and can be toured as well.

I have to be honest. The reason I stopped here is because it is right next door to the Mark Twain Museum and House, which was my main purpose in being here. But, after checking out the Twain Museum, decided to take a tour of the Stowe residence. Again, full disclosure...I haven't read "Uncle Tom's Cabin" or any other writings of Harriet. I knew who she was and what the book was about and it's implications on American history. However, after the guided tour, which is geared to answering the questions of those attending, I have a deeper and more profound respect for Harriet Beecher Stowe. I even purchased a copy of "Uncle Tom's Cabin". I especially liked how the guide connected Stowe's work to what is happening in our society today in the area of racial inequality. I highly recommend this tour for all but especially for families with children and teenagers. The guides really make history come to life and applicable to your own life!

Very much enjoyed the tour of the home and the education received. A bit expensive but the upkeep likely requires that cost. This woman did so much more than just write amazing and times challenging books. Check out the Katherine Day home next door too. Not open to the public but beautiful from the outside.

Excellent historical landmark. The guides are very helpful. You will get a deep look into America's dark past of slavery. The ticket counter offers a discount of $3 if you show them your ticket from the more famous Mark Twain museum. This place also has a restroom, so it's helpful for travellers. There are also a number of food joints nearby, a little up the street like Domino's Pizza and some others.

Great private tour with Breena and tour guide trainee!! My son Elijah and I had a nice history lesson. Tour was about 45 min. Breena was very knowledgeable about Harriet.

I've been to many historic home tours all over the country and none are quite like the tour of Harriet Beecher Stowe's home. The tour is not just about learning information and seeing historic items, but also becomes a conversation about race relations then and now. My tour had two tour guides. Right from the start at the gift shop they asked everyone's name and what made us decide to visit the home. We are informed that the tour will be more conversational than other tours. Once we enter the actual home of Harriet Beecher Stowe, we are in a room in the home filled with quotes from people like President Obama and President Lincoln regarding Harriet and her famous anti-slavery book Uncle Tom's Cabin. When we finished reading we met the tour guides in the dining room. They asked which quotes did we find most interesting or which quotes may have touched us. That starts off the conversation. This process is continued throughout the tour. Learn about a room in the house, read something of your choice, and then a discussion. I image that some people may not want to discuss the topic of race with strangers, but I had a good small mixed group willing to talk. The tour is not all talk, as you also get to see the actual desk Harriet wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin on. The Harriet Beecher Stowe Center is right next to the more famous Mark Twain House. My tour of that home was packed, and I wished more of the group had come next door to see Harriet's home as well. Although her home may not be as luxurious as Mark Twain's, it's the tour that ends up being more educational and memorable.

Most visitors pass by this house after touring the Twain mansion next door. Don't pass up a tour of this little gem of a museum! The guides were very knowledgable and they spend a lot more time with you as opposed to the rather rushed tours next door. I loved everything here! You can take photos, ask questions, and really dive into the history of Harriet Beecher Stowe and her writing. You will not regret visiting this place!

My friend and I had a fantastic time at the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center! We did a tour with three amazing tour guides. The group was small so we were able to have conversations with one another about some of the complexities of Harriet's writing of Uncle Tom's Cabin. It was so wonderful to hear new or different perspectives on how this book influenced our country. Truly, the guides were so lovely and what really made the trip special. So informed, yet sensitive to the heaviness of some of the topics discussed. I learned so many new things and enjoyed my time there. This tour was more about the impact of the book and less on the house and decor itself.

This woman challenged us all both in her life time as well as even today. This home is an American landmark and to me should have plaque on the front, and I can't emplore you enough to visit. Our docent Jasmine was outstanding, and one of the most knowledgeable individuals, I have ever experienced on any tour! She was Informative, inspiring and challenging on all levels both on works of Mrs Stowe, as well as in the history of that time and where we are today! I hope to return to see the house again very soon!

It's right next to Mark Twain Museum & House. Our tour guide Rodrigo was very helpful and knowledgeable about Harriet Beecher Stowe's social background. You'll get a deep look into America's dark past of slavery.

This is a cool bonus at the Mark Twain house. It is on the same property. It is very little. But, a cool piece of history.

Yes, this is not your average historical tour. And it is all the better for it. Tours depart at the half-hour so prepare for that. Parking can be found right outside and on surrounding streets. Rather than parade you through yet another old house, the tours at the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center are designed to challenge your thinking, and right from the beginning. The first room you enter has a number of quotes from notable public figures and authors from across the political spectrum. Surprisingly, some of them are not necessarily kind. How often do you see that at a historical site? The tour becomes more of a conversation as you bounce between current rooms and those still decorated and appointed with the furnishing's of HBS's time. Thankfully we had a good group and conversation came easily; our tour guide, Chris, was great at moving things forward without sounding scripted or goading anyone into talking that wasn't interested in doing so. Most illuminating is that after 150 years, the issues that our country is struggling with really have not changed. Perhaps if everyone would take a tour here at the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, that would change.

Before you pay a penny for tour admission, you are told in no uncertain terms that this is a different kind of tour. And truth be told, it may not be for everybody. So, if you are looking for a traditional house tour where the guide walks you through every room and does most of the talking, well, this tour isn't for you. This is a very non-traditional tour. As you walk through the house and learn about Harriet Beecher Stowe's life, your guide leads group discussions with the tour customers, in some cases sitting everyone down as a focus group. You'll be encouraged to draw and discuss parallels between the state of affairs that led Harriet Beecher Stowe to write her watershed book (Uncle Tom's Cabin), and today's state of affairs concerning contemporary race, class, gender, and social relations. This tour really flips the script. It's a lot like attending a political seminar, and the seminar definitely is leaning to the left. The tour is meant to encourage dialogue and a free exchange of ideas. So if you are uncomfortable talking about the subject matter --- be forewarned. You really have to know that before you go in, or you might not enjoy your time here. Some folks have stormed out of the house mid tour. Our tour guide, Anita, was terrific and did a good job in asking provocative questions that challenged us to think and talk to one another. I enjoyed the tour, enjoyed hearing about the author's life, enjoyed reading the quotations from many public figures about the ripple effects of her book, enjoyed the display room with many foreign language translations of Uncle Tom's Cabin and memorabilia from its various stage show and filmed adaptations. I enjoyed some of the honest dialogue our tour group shared. But I guarantee that this tour is not for everybody. I know some people that would have stormed out of the tour pretty darned fast. Go see for yourself, and bring an open mind.

This might be one of the worst house tours I've been on, and I love me some house tours. They did tell me they were remodelling and some things wouldn't be viewed as normal, so in their defense, I was warned. Maybe this place is really awesome when you come when things are all set. Basically there is a house next door that belong to Harriet's niece (I think) that's usually used in as offices that they moved all the furniture into while they work on Harriet's house. There were a few personal items, but the tour mainly talks about the abolitionist movement and has copies of historical documents and in another room there are a bunch of old figurines from Uncle Tom's cabin. Obviously she didn't decorate her house with those. It wasn't really about her as much as it was about the movement she supported. Why not both? Maybe because she only lived at this location at the end of her life and didn't write her book here, this house isn't that significant to her life. Then we were taken into Harriet's house, which was barren but I guess they thought people would want to look at a couple empty rooms. And a portrait of Harriet's father that had been restored. Money well spent? Neither space had very much authentic of replication furniture. I would think the money would be better spent on making a house look genuine vs. a portrait that's not even of the woman whose house it is. And in house tours, you tend to get the downstairs public areas, the upstairs bedrooms, and sometimes servants quarters and/or kitchen areas. In neither house did you really get any sense that someone lived in either of these places and you definitely didn't get to go upstairs. It was more "small museum to the abolitionist movement" as opposed to really a "this is a significant woman who really lived and wasn't just a textbook figure." Then they ask for more donations. If you go to the Mark Twain House, you get a discount here, and it's literally next door so it's hard to say "don't bother" if you came to do one, you might as well I guess? Just know it's a much less interesting, informative, fulfilling in comparison.

My husband and I took a tour of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center today during Connecticut Open House Day 2018, and loved it! Since this was a special day/promotion, the tour was shortened a bit to 35 minutes (perfect amount of time in my opinion). In that time, our guide was incredibly informative, explaining the rooms and artifacts, answering our questions and keeping our attention. She had the perfect tone and personality to be a guide, I wish I remembered her name for a shoutout! There were 9 in our group, including us, which allowed for plenty of room to walk around each room. In the home, you'll find period furniture and household items, almost all of which belonged to Harriet herself. You'll also learn about the history of the time period that Harriet lived in, her family background, and information about her famous book "Uncle Toms Cabin". The outdoor gardens at the center were beautiful, and you can pick up a brochure in the garden center, that will inform you about each garden. There was ample parking in the private lot, and the center is located very close to the Mark Twain house - it's a great way to make an entire day of exploring Hartford's Nook Farm Neighborhood.

The tour itself was a bit boring. I would have loved more info on the house and items in it. However I read online it's not truly meant to be that. More of a reflection type place. What shined here was the staff. I was traveling all day and the nice lady selling tickets brought me down a water when I couldn't find the water fountain in the MT house. They opened a slot on the tour too when something funky happened online. I truly appreciated their hospitality. The only room for improvement is sprinkling more info in on the house. Wouldn't hurt to have a little more of it.

I have vague memories of reading Uncle Toms Cabin in school and to visit the authors house was quite exciting. Learning about Stowe's life and the five deaths in that house was "THE" way to take on the spirit of Halloween. The tours take place in the dark.. dim to no lighting...looking for paranormal activity using K2 meters. And whenever there were spikes in the K2 meter... i felt a cold swift of air like the presence of something around. It was so spooky, I was paranoid for days.. the memories haunted me. Not for the faint hearted I suppose.

My grown daughter and I decided to do something touristy locally. Neither of us had been to the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center/home in Hartford before today (we live about 25 minutes away). We were told right away that it is a different kind of tour, they want a dialogue about what is being talked about and how it applies in contemporary times. Since I am talkative, no problem for me. I did find the price of $16 a little steep but that is the price. Our tour guide, I am sorry I don't remember her name, was very informative and good at bringing about discussion. It was interesting to see some parallels between what was going on during the civil war and our times. Also, to hear the details of Harriet Beecher Stowe's life and what brought her to write Uncle Tom's Cabin. There is definitely a liberal bias in the conversation but that works perfectly fine for me. The home is a mix of well maintained rooms as they stood during HBS's time and rooms modernized for the tour. The tour is approx. one hour with stopping for conversation. I am very glad we visited the HBS Center and took the tour. Sometimes it is good to be a tourist in your own backyard.

Visited after the Mark Twain House. Not your usual artifact house tour, and that's a good thing. This tour is more about stories than the house. Definitely worth the visit, and a great change in tone from the Twain House that makes doing them in succession enjoyable and not burdensome. Our tour guide was very personable and knowledgeable. We never felt rushed, and felt it was a true learning experience.

Five years ago I brought my daughter and her friend on a tour of HBSC and we had such a wonderful time that we decided to visit yesterday. The girls (13 years old) plus another friend came with me. We were told at the visitor center that this was not a "conventional house tour" but what I was not told was that this would be a discussion of liberal agendas such as white privilege, how the police are and should be feared, scandals of the current administration, women's rights today as viewed by the liberal viewpoint. Now perhaps it steered this way because everyone but myself and the girls had extremely liberal opinions but the conversation was also directed to that agenda by the guide (look at these documents from her time and apply them to the social justice plights still happening today). I chose not to speak out with my opinions as I had the girls with me and I did not want an incident to occur plus the girls were so very uncomfortable that I did not want to add to it. At the end of the tour, we were invited to write down our thoughts on what we learned of HBS and the social justices of today. We were invited to share the thoughts. I declined to write, but the girls did - they wrote messages of not condemning people for other views, that all lives matter and are important, and to be open-minded. This is where the discussion turned to "breastfed babies being ripped off the breasts of their mothers," the scandals of the current administration being so often that the email newsletter has a hard time choosing what to put, etc. I was really shocked by this new tour and did not in any way feel that there was room for an honest and open discussion as the Center touts they welcome. It was very clear, at least from our tour, that liberal agenda is pushed here. If you truly want to be an inclusive, open-minded center than perhaps you should have the tour guides play devil's advocate such as HBS's father did with his own children. Instead of constantly directing the discussion down the liberal path, introduce varying viewpoints which may make people feel more open to having the type of discussion the Center alleges to welcome. Otherwise, please make it very clear that "this is a liberal political agenda based tour discussion where we guide you to apply the struggles of the mid-1800's to those of 2018 as viewed by liberal machine."

We were told this was not a traditional house tour. Boy, was that true. VERY liberal agenda with our tour guide, Rodrigo, barely taking a breath during his 75 minute monologue. There was very little about HBS discussed only in light of the guide's topics of racism, gender inequality, and police state of the US. There was no room to discuss topics openly as the center touts. It was very uncomfortable on the tour as we are retired military and felt our service was denigrated.

If you're already in the neighborhood to visit the Mark Twain House, there's no excuse not to visit the Stowe House too. Today, Stowe's importance is summed up in that one book that "started" that little war but, as it turns out, she was much more prolific. Other members of her family were equally interesting too. The house itself is nice and, if I recall, most of the furnishings were original. Ultimately, I don't recall being excited or blown away by the house or its artifacts - nothing stands out. This is one of those sites where the tour guide can make or break your experience. Having known only the basics of H. B. Stowe going into the tour, I learned a bit, but not much. I'm sure the story of a successful woman writer of the 19th century should be intriguing. It could have been better, certainly, but I did enjoy the visit. Spend some time in the gift shop too. They had fairly decent offerings.

This is a must stop if you're into history . We enjoyed the whole area . The Gardens of Harriet Beecher Stowe Center has a self-guided walking tour. The Gift Stop the gift shop has a lot of information and great books. The staff was very friendly. Thank you for a great afternoon.

Combine the visit with Mark Twain house. Not as grand as its famous neighbor but the guides make it up with their enthusiasm and treasure trove of information.

Ripoff. No house tour. House being renovated. Tour consists of a grade-schoolish presentation of slavery and women's rights. Avoid.

The Harriet Beecher Stowe center is a smaller establishment than the Mark Twain House. It also represents a less essential part of it's former owner than the Mark Twain's house. I wish I had known going in that the Harriet Beecher Stowe center showcased a house that was essentially a retirement home for Harriet Beecher Stowe. It's still interesting to look at, but a lot more homier thank you might expect for such an influential and relatively wealthy author. You do get a sense of who Harriet Beecher Stowe was, but perhaps not as cohesive a story of the woman herself as the people at Mark Twain's house managed to create. On the plus side, the reconstruction effort seems much more successful for the Harriet Beecher Stowe house-- they managed to obtain much of her original paintings and furniture-- the house was also never made into an apartment complex. The staff working at the house do a nice job of trying to make the center as interactive and interesting as possible. They have a very small exhibit on Harriet Beecher Stowe (that was a bit confusing... never really did figure out from the exhibit where she was born and raised). They had a short film running about Harriet Beecher Stowe and when I visited, they had an interactive quilt where you can add something that gives you courage to speak out. There was also another exhibit on Us vs Them in a nearby center that we were taken to after the tour. The exhibit was fairly interesting and included many more examples of racism than the mainly African-American centered racism shown at the Mark Twain House's race exhibit. Overall, this was a very interesting experience, but it's pretty obvious why the admission is about half the price of the Mark Twain's House.

Absolutely loved it. Very informative tour. A must if your in Connecticut. Not in such a great neighborhood but well worth it. Plus you can tour Mark Twains home right next door.

Disappointing. The tour was explained as "interactive." Unclear what this meant exactly. Our experience was that the tour was aimed at promoting the political opinions of those that run the Center. It was awkward, uncomfortable and disappointing.

This house is right next door to the Mark Twain house. We did a combined tour of both houses for $25 which was 90 minutes long in total. Our tour guide was very knowledgable about the house and was very interested in telling us the historical significance of Uncle Tom's Cabin. The house is less impressive than the Mark Twain house, but the tour was great.

This "house tour" consists of two rooms where the tour guide sat us down to share her personal perspectives on current politics. My kids asked when we left the house who Harriett Beecher Stowe was, because aside from the room full of Uncle Tom movie posters and books, the tour guide hardly mentioned her. Our guide showed us one picture of the Beecher family in room one, and the rest of the tour was, as one in our party put it, "like group therapy." We learned nothing more than Stowe's father was a minister and she was highly educated. If you are looking for a house tour, even though it's right next to Twain's house, skip this. If you are looking for a political discussion group, pay for the tour.

We took this tour together with the tour of the Mark Twain home. Our guide was truly a well informed speaker of Stowe. He provided so many little known facts and tidbits that made the tour that much more enjoyable. The home is very well preserved and her story as an author is just fascinating. I highly recommend this tour and suggest taking it together with the tour of the Mark Twain home next door. The fee for both tours combined was $23 each for adults and $15 for youth (12 year old).

A famous author's house worth visiting! The Harriet Beecher Stowe house is modest but we had a good guide and the tour was informative about her extraordinary life and her impressive cultural impact. We particularly liked the floral paintings that Stowe did in her later years, and suggested to the gift shop that they create a set of notecards based on them. Allow one hour for the tour, plus time to explore the small interpretive center. We took advantage of the discounted combo ticket with the Mark Twain House, which is right next door.

Spent a fun evening last night at the HBS House , taking the "Spirits at Stowe" tour. This tour is given only in October on Fri and Sat nights. Our tour guide, Alex, was very knowledgable and informative about this famous author. While we didn't see any ghosts, we did learn a lot of interesting and spooky history of the woman and her life, and the spiritualism of the era. Perfect for the Halloween season!

Since we were at Twains house, we decided to do this tour as well. It's a lot more humble than Twain's house. The house and history of Stowe and the house were interesting and I learned a lot about her life. The tour guide, however, made the tour disappointing. He talked and behaved through his body language as if he was bored and didn't want to be there. He also had a lot of pauses during his story telling, which made the tour longer than necessary. We passed by another tour during ours and their guide was much more animated. If it wasn't for our guide, I would have rated this a 5.