Stowe, Harriet Beecher (1811-1896)

Stowe, Harriet Beecher (1811-1896)

American novelist, daughter of Lyman Beecher, best known for Uncle tom's Cabin (1852), the most famous example of antislavery literature in 19th-century U.S. Her other works include A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin ( 1853), a collection of factual material on slavery to justify the charges implied by her novel; Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands ( 1854), an account of a tour to England; Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp ( 1856), a second fictional attack on slavery; The Minister's Wooing ( 1859), Pearl of Orr's Island ( 1862), Oldtown Folks ( 1869), Sam Lawson's Oldtown Fireside Stories ( 1871), and Poganuc People ( 1878) local-color stories and novels of New England; Agnes of Sorrento ( 1862), an historical novel; Pink andWhite Tyranny White Tyranny ( 1871); My Wife and I ( 1871), on woman suffrage; We and Our Neighbors ( 1875).

Mrs. Stowe was brought up in an atmosphere of strict Calvinism, against which she later rebelled. She achieved unfavorable notoriety in England by the publication of Lady Byron Vindicated ( 1870), a book charging Lord Byron with incest, written after her acquaintance with the poet's widow. Cf. Crusader in Crinoline ( 1941), by Forrest Wilson.