Harriet Beecher Stowe

Crusader in Crinoline - Victorian Cinderella - Domestic Goddess

Learn about the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin through story and song.

Programs for libraries, schools, museums, community groups, colleges, women's groups, and more.






To invite Harriet to visit your group, contact Edith Barnard at 309-922-9058.



Select from the following programs or a combination of them:
HARRIET & UNCLE TOM'S CABIN 
Meet Harriet Beecher Stowe, the bestselling author of Uncle Tom's Cabin. As Lincoln said, "So you're the
little lady whose book started this great war!"
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CIVIL WAR SPIRITUALS AS CODES OF ESCAPE 
Learn how various spirituals used secret messages about routes, timing, and warnings of danger.
Singing along is encouraged as Edith plays spirituals on dulcimer and guitar, accompanied by her husband, 
musician Wes Sedrel, on banjo and harmonica.

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HARRIET'S HIGHER TEA PARTY  (Great fundraiser!) 
Meet Harriet Beecher Stowe: Writer, Crusader, Victorian Cinderella, and Domestic Goddess! Stowe wrote 
more than 30 books over 50 years while raising seven children and running a household.
TRUMPETS OF JUBILEE! 
Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry Ward Beecher, Lyman Beecher, and Edward Beecher were colorful speakers.
Edward was President of Illinois College from 1830-1844, and pastor of the Galesburg Congregational Church 
from 1855-1871. As a minister's daughter like Harriet, Edith uses her training as an ethnomusicologist 
to share the impact of this family on the times, and specifically on the abolitionist movement.

Edith has played Harriet Beecher Stowe at:

Old North Church, Boston, Massachusetts
Sander's Theater, Harvard University
Constitution Hall, Boston, Massachusetts
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Pekin Public Library, Pekin, Illinois
Maine State Museum
Mark Twain Museum, Hartford, Connecticut
Mother-Daughter Banquet, Crossroads United Methodist, Washington, Illinois
Peoria Library North, Peoria, Illinois
USDA Ag Lab, Peoria, Illinois
Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine
The Apollo Theater, Peoria, Illinois
. . . and many, many more! 


Find out what inspired Edith to bring Harriet Beecher Stowe to life in this Peoria Journal Star article.​​​​​​​​​​​​



Call Edith Barnard now at 309-922-9058 to invite Harriet to your group!