"The truth is the kindest thing we can give folks in the end." - Harriet Beecher Stowe
Born in Litchfield, Connecticut, in 1811, Harriet Beecher Stowe grew up in a family that believed in the importance of making a positive impact in the world. Raised with that mindset and well-educated, Harriet found her way to contribute. She had a gift for words and the courage to use them. With vigor she wrote books in which she would voice what she believed was right when seeing wrongs in society.
Throughout her life, Harriet would write thirty books and numerous articles. But it was her most famous work, Uncle Tom's Cabin, that helped shift society. The story, written about slavery in the U.S. and the impact of enslavement on people, was published first in serial form in 1851 and then as a book in 1852. It had an initial print run of five thousand copies. Three hundred thousand copies were sold within a year, and about two million copies within five years. While unconfirmed, President Lincoln reportedly said, "So this is the little lady who made this big war," upon meeting Harriet in 1862.
Shortly before writing Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet wrote, "I feel now that the time is come when even a woman or a child who can speak a word for freedom and humanity is bound to speak... I hope every woman who can write will not be silent."
Sources:
Hedrick, Joan D. (1994). Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Life. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-506639-5. / Photograph taken circa 1870s, 1880s - National Archives and Records Administration
The Pearl of Orr's Island : A Story of the Coast of Maine (1862) - Wikiquote, Wikimedia Foundation, https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harriet_Beecher_Stowe
Wikimedia Commons, Wikimedia Foundation, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Beecher-Stowe.jpg
“Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/june-05/