Safeguarding Harriet Beecher Stowe House Collections During Relocation and Renovations

FAIN: PG-52576-15

Harriet Beecher Stowe Center (Hartford, CT 06105-3243)
Cynthia Anne Cormier (Project Director: May 2014 to October 2016)

The purchase of materials for safe packing of collections in the National Historic Landmark Harriet Beecher Stowe House, an 1871 Gothic-style cottage that served as Stowe’s home for 23 years. Nearly 1,300 items that include Stowe’s paintings, furniture, photographs, books, and personal memorabilia are displayed in the home’s period rooms, and they must be moved to off-site storage in preparation for renovation of the structure. These collections are at the core of the center’s interpretive programming, which examines worldwide responses to Uncle Tom’s Cabin and 19th-century women’s history including suffrage, abolition, civic reform, and Stowe’s legacy as a writer.

The Stowe Center seeks funding for the purchase of conservator-recommended, preservation packing supplies for objects in the Harriet Beecher Stowe House, a National Historic Landmark and the home where Stowe lived for 23 years. The Center holds the largest collection of materials related to Stowe. The collections are nationally significant, illustrating Stowe’s life and impact and the worldwide response to Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The objects date from the late 18th century to the third-quarter of the 19th century. 85% of the household objects belonged to Stowe or her family. This project will secure, stabilize and pack each item in the 12 room, 5,000 sq. ft. Stowe House before removing collections to an off-site, secure storage facility for treatment during a larger preservation project upgrading environmental controls, installing fire suppression and renovating the Stowe House interior. The project is a strategic and conservation priority.