Description: Harriet Beecher Stowe was an abolitionist and author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Born in Litchfield, Connecticut, she later moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where she met her future husband, Calvin Stowe, a professor at Lane Theological Seminary. In 1852, she published "Uncle Tom's Cabin," an anti-slavery novel which depicted the harsh realities of slavery and helped fuel the abolitionist cause in the United States. This illustration appears in "Howe's Historical Collections of Ohio," published in 1907. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04185
Subjects: Authors, American--Ohio; Abolitionists; Slavery; Cultural Ohio--Literary Ohio; Lane Theological Seminary (Cincinnati, Ohio)
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: Seen here is a photograph of Edgemont Inn, the former Harriet Beecher Stowe residence, that was taken in November, 1936. Edgemont Inn is a 2-story gray painted brick building on the corner of Gilbert and Foraker Ave. This former Beecher Homestead was the home of Rev. Dr Lyman Beecher (1775-1863). His family included Harriet Beecher Stowe and it is reasonable to assume that she received some of her anti-slavery sentiments in this house where prominent abolitionists came to visit. Among them was Levi Coffin "President" of The Underground Railroad, whose residence was around the corner on 3131 Wehrman Ave. This structure was completed in 1833 to house the president of Lane Seminary, founded in 1830. Dr. Beecher was the first president of the seminary. Harriet Beecher Stowe's first two children, twins, Eliza and Harriet, were born in the house in 1836. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06015
Subjects: Ohio History--Slavery, Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights; Women abolitionists - Ohio; Hotels
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: Picture of Harriet Beecher Stowe, who was an American author and abolitionist in the years before the American Civil War. Born on June 14, 1811, in Litchfield, Connecticut, Stowe became an abolitionist during the 1830s. She is best know for her novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin." The work of fiction sought to humanize slavery and educate readers about the brutalities of the institution. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06016
Subjects: Ohio History--Slavery, Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights; Women abolitionists - Ohio
 

Description: In 1838, Samuel Lewis was named the first Ohio Superintendent of Common Schools. He was tasked with helping the Ohio legislature establish standards that teachers and public school districts needed to meet to ensure that students received a quality education. He also played an important role in determining how Ohio should fund its public schools. After resigning as Superintendent of Common Schools due to health reasons, he remained in politics, running unsuccessfully for governor of Ohio in 1846 on an abolitionist platform. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04134
Subjects: Education--Ohio; Educators; Schools--Ohio; Abolitionists
Places: Ohio
 

Description: Photograph of John Mercer Langston (1829-1897), an African American lawyer, congressman, and university official from Virginia and Ohio. Langston was born in 1829 in Virginia, the son of a wealthy white planter and an emancipated slave. His parents died in 1834, leaving Langston a sizeable inheritance. He moved to Ohio, living first in Marietta, and then in Cincinnati before attending Oberlin College, graduating in 1849. Although he was prohibited from attending law school because of his race, Langston read law and became the first African American lawyer in Ohio, passing the bar in 1854. He settled in Brownhelm, Ohio, where he was elected town clerk in 1855, becoming one of the country's first African American elected officials. Not long after, he moved to Oberlin, where he served on city council and the board of education. During his long career Langston explored many interests, including law, politics, public service, and education. He was a leader in the anti-slavery and African American rights movements, and was also sympathetic to the temperance and women's rights causes. During the Civil War he helped recruit African Americans to serve in Ohio regiments. He died in 1897. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05836
Subjects: Langston, John Mercer, 1829-1897; African American Ohioans; Lawyers; Elected officials; Civil War; Education; Underground Railroad--Ohio; Abolitionists
Places: Brownhelm (Ohio); Oberlin (Ohio); Lorain County (Ohio)
 

Description: Jane Robinson (1783-1875?) was an Underground Railroad Operator at Emerson (now Mt. Pleasant) in Jefferson County, Ohio. The image was collected by Ohio State University professor Wilbur H. Siebert (1866-1961). Siebert began researching the Underground Railroad in the 1890s as a way to interest his students in history. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03143
Subjects: Women abolitionists - Ohio; Underground Railroad; Ohio History--Slavery, Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights
Places: Mount Pleasant (Ohio); Jefferson County (Ohio)
 

Description: Platt Rogers Spencer was an educator best known for creating a popular style of penmanship known as the "semi-angular" or "Spencerian" system. Spencer developed his swirling handwriting technique in the 1850s while working as a clerk in local stores and businesses. By the latter part of the 19th century, schools throughout the United States had adopted the Spencerian system of penmanship, and it became the preferred style for clerks working for the United States government. In addition to opening schools in Geneva and Cleveland, Ohio, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he also was a strong supporter of the temperance and abolitionist movements. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04179
Subjects: Educators; Education--Ohio; Penmanship; Schools--Ohio; Abolitionists; Temperance
Places: Ashtabula County (Ohio)
 

Description: Affadilla Deaver (b. 1808?) worked with the Underground Railroad in Deavertown, Morgan County, Ohio. The image was collected by Ohio State University professor Wilbur H. Siebert (1866-1961). Siebert began researching the Underground Railroad in the 1890s as a way to interest his students in history. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03166
Subjects: Women abolitionists - Ohio; Ohio History--Slavery, Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights
Places: Deavertown (Ohio); Morgan County (Ohio)
 

Description: Jane Gift (b. 1823?) helped with the Underground Railroad in Deavertown, Morgan County, Ohio. The image was collected by Ohio State University professor Wilbur H. Siebert (1866-1961). Siebert began researching the Underground Railroad in the 1890s as a way to interest his students in history. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03167
Subjects: Women abolitionists - Ohio; Ohio History--Slavery, Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights
Places: Deavertown (Ohio); Morgan County (Ohio)
 

Description: Reproduction of a portrait depicting Rebecca Millhouse Cope (b. 1808), who kept a station on the Underground Railroad with her husband Joseph in Smithfield in Jefferson County, Ohio. The image was collected by Ohio State University professor Wilbur H. Siebert (1866-1961). Siebert began researching the Underground Railroad in the 1890s as a way to interest his students in history. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03138
Subjects: Women abolitionists - Ohio; Underground Railroad; Ohio History--Slavery, Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights
Places: Smithfield (Ohio); Jefferson County (Ohio)
 

Description: Dated ca. 1940, this is a drawing of the Harriet Beecher Stowe House located at 2950 Gilbert Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45206. Born in Litchfield, Connecticut, on June 14, 1811, Harriet Beecher Stowe was a prolific author and abolitionist. She moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, to stay with her father, Reverend Lyman Beecher, a prominent religious leader, and his large family, a prolific group of religious leaders, educators, writers and antislavery and women's rights advocates. Harriet lived there during her formative years which later led her to write the best-selling novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin, " a fictionalized account of the pain slavery imposed on its victims and of the difficult struggles of slaves to escape and travel via the Underground Railroad to freedom in the northern states or Canada. The Harriet Beecher Stowe House is an Ohio History Connection site managed locally by the Friends of the Harriet Beecher Stowe House, Inc. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: P365_B13_F09_06
Subjects: Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896; Historic houses; Historic preservation; Women abolitionists - Ohio; Authors
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: Dated ca. 1940, this is a photograph of the Harriet Beecher Stowe House located at 2950 Gilbert Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45206. Born in Litchfield, Connecticut on June 14, 1811, Harriet Beecher Stowe was a prolific author and abolitionist. She moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, to stay with her father, Reverend Lyman Beecher, a prominent religious leader, and his large family, a prolific group of religious leaders, educators, writers and antislavery and women's rights advocates. Harriet lived there during her formative years which later led her to write the best-selling novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin," a fictionalized account of the pain slavery imposed on its victims and of the difficult struggles of slaves to escape and travel via the Underground Railroad to freedom in the northern states or Canada. The Harriet Beecher Stowe House is an Ohio History Connection site managed locally by the Friends of the Harriet Beecher Stowe House, Inc. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: P365_B13_F09_05
Subjects: Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896; Historic houses; Historic preservation; Women abolitionists - Ohio; Authors
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)