In Mrs. Stowe's case, her book helped shine a huge light on the injustice of slavery in the United States.
One of 11 children, she had seven brothers and three sisters.
All of the brothers became ministers.
She was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, and her mother died when she was just five years old.
Her father, Lyman, was a Calvinist minister.
The home of which he was head was very progressive.
He encouraged his brood of children to be thinkers and movers.
He also condoned the education of girls which, in that time, was rarely encouraged.
Harriet first saw mistreatment of slaves when the family moved to Cincinnati.
She saw a baby wrenched from the arms of its mother and the scene disturbed her greatly.
She married her husband, Calvin, a professor of theology, and they had seven children.
She wrote "Uncle Tom's Cabin," which was translated into several languages, while her children were still growing up.
Actually, it was after one of her own young children died that she began writing the book.
She identified with the pain that slave mothers felt when their babies were taken from them.
From 1873 to 1896, Ms. Stowe's neighbor in Hartford was another well known American author, Mark Twain.
Hers was a retirement home in a very wealthy, prominent neighborhood.
She was more famous than Twain, having written 30 books.
Today, visitors can tour both Harriet Beecher Stowe's house, as well as Twain's. Both tours are quite fascinating.
We took a tour of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center and house recently and our guide, Christina, was terrific and full of detailed information about the author.
There will be another post tomorrow showing photos of the bedroom, kitchen and more in Mrs. Stowe's home so, if interested, stay tuned.
ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH HARRIET BEECHER STOWE? HAVE YOU READ 'UNCLE TOM'S CABIN?'
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