Harriet Beecher Stowe (c. 1870)
Harriet Beecher Stowe was an American author and abolitionist who used her skills in writing to leave powerful words we have come to know and love today. She wrote books such as Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which was a detailed reality of the life of slaves and the idea of the practice being very much sinful. To note, she was a stern Christian who followed the doctrine to the core. The book became very popular and garnered much success to the point Stowe toured the US to promote her work as well as her abolitionist missions. But, while slavery was getting a flashback, the need for women’s rights was almost on the back burner. Their rights were so much that they were banned from speaking to large groups, especially one that contained a lot of men. As such, her husband, Calvin, and one of her brothers did the talking for her. Here is a cropped photo of her with her brother, Henry Ward Beecher.
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Harriet Tubman (c. 1868)
One of the most powerful women in history, Harriet Tubman, was born Araminta Ross in 1822 and lived a life with many to tell. Tubman was an escaped slave who also served as a nurse, advocate for women’s suffrage, a Union spy, and the conductor for the Underground Railroad that managed to channel a lot of enslaved people to freedom. This photo of Tubman was taken sometime around 1868 or 1869 by Benjamin F. Powelson while she was in Auburn, NY. The original photo owned by Emily Howland, a famed philanthropist, had Tubman’s signature attached at the bottom. So, what does seeing her photo do for you, knowing you had a piece of her history in school?
Harriet Tubman
