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Primary sourcePhotographc. 1850

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Southworth and Hawes · c. 1850

A daguerreotype portrait of Harriet Beecher Stowe taken around 1850, close to the time she wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin.

This daguerreotype shows Stowe herself, made close to the time she was writing Uncle Tom's Cabin.

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Sepia daguerreotype portrait of a seated woman with dark hair in center-parted ringlets, wearing a dark dress with a white lace collar. She rests one hand on her lap beside a table holding a potted plant with a patterned cloth.
Southworth & Hawes, Harriet Beecher Stowe, c. 1850. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

About this source

What it is

This is a daguerreotype photograph of Harriet Beecher Stowe, made around 1850 by the studio of Southworth & Hawes. It is now held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Why it matters

Taken from life around the time Stowe was writing her famous novel, this photograph is considered the most important image of her from that period, showing how she looked to her contemporaries just before she became internationally famous.

  • What does Stowe's pose and clothing suggest about how she wanted to be seen?
  • Why might a photograph taken

This photograph is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Harriet Beecher Stowe on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Title page of Uncle Tom's Cabin, Vol. I, by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Boston, John P. Jewett & Company, 1852. Engraved vignette shows a log cabin with several figures in front, including a standing man and children.Book

Primary source

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Harriet Beecher Stowe · 1852

Handwritten manuscript on aged paper with cursive text and crossed-out words, showing the resolutions of the Compromise of 1850, including provisions on California statehood and slavery in the territories.Document

Primary source

Compromise of 1850

Henry Clay · 29 January 1850 (resolutions); statutes enacted September 1850

Oval portrait painting of a woman with dark hair in ringlets, wearing a black dress with white lace collar, gold clasp, and lace cuffs, arms crossed, with a red drape at right against a gray background.Painting

Primary source

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Alanson Fisher · 1853

Handwritten manuscript page of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, headed 'Thirty-third Congress of the United States, First Session, begun and held at the city of Washington, December 1853,' with the title 'An Act to organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas' in ornate script.Document

Primary source

Kansas-Nebraska Act

United States Congress · 1854

Document

Primary source

A Reply to 'The Affectionate and Christian Address of Many Thousands of Women of Great Britain and Ireland'

Harriet Beecher Stowe · 1863

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