Katherine D. Kane was appointed Executive Director of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center in December 1998. As the Center's fourth director, she is the chief spokesperson, advocate and representative of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, directing programs, exhibits and outreach using three historic buildings in 2.5 acres in Hartford, Connecticut.
The Stowe Center's mission is to preserve Stowe's Hartford home and its historic contents, provide a forum for the vibrant discussion of Stowe's live and work, and inspire people to embrace a commitment to social justice, working toward positive change in their communities. Important collections and programming areas include women's and African American history, the context of contemporary issues, and the interrelationships of races, ethnic groups, class and gender.
In her time at the Stowe Center, Ms Kane and the board of Trustees have developed a multiyear strategic plan to implement programming around the new mission. June 2001-the 150th anniversary of Uncle Tom's Cabin-inaugurates a year of programming around this important anniversary. Family programs, a teacher institute, a symposium, a new exhibit, special tours, and book discussion groups foster dialogue on the critical issues raised by the book and connect the legacy of Uncle Tom's Cabin and its themes to current topics of concern.
Prior to her appointment at the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, Ms. Kane was Director of the Collections Services and Access Division at the Colorado Historical Society in Denver. Among Ms. Kane's accomplishments were major capital projects (including the construction of the largest articulated glass wall in Colorado, for visible storage), the centralization of collections access and visitor services, the creation of a commercial sales program which produced revenue of more than $1 million, the development and implementation of a strategic technology plan, and the production of an interactive videodisc and exhibits using 15,000 still images, film, and database on Denver's history.
She developed a vocational program for conservation and restoration with the Colorado Department of Corrections. She also participated with the Colorado Historical Society's neighbors, the Denver Art Museum and the Denver Public Library, on master planning.
Ms. Kane has a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Denver and an M.A. in Anthropology from the University of Colorado. In 1993, she participated in the Getty Trust's Museum Management Institute. A lecturer at the University of Colorado, Metropolitan State College, and Colorado College, she is active with the American Association for State and Local History, the American Association of Museums, and with Hartford community organizations.
Chat Transcript
Club Leader: Thank you for joining the Book Club discussion on Harriet Beecher Stowe. Today's chat question is Can White authors effectively write about the experience of Blacks? Let's start of the discussion with a look at Harriet Beecher Stowe. What promoted her to write the book Uncle Tom's Cabin?
Katherine D. Kane:
She was motivated by two main things: the death from cholera of her infant son; and the fugitive slave act
Club Leader: Can you describe the slave act?
Katherine D. Kane: The 1850 fugitive slave act was part of the Missouri Compromise and had the effect of encouraging the kidnapping of African Americans
Club Leader: So, slavery was encouraged in the development of new territories?
Katherine D. Kane: slavery was always an issue as the US moved west and led to Congressional compromise
Club Leader: What did she hope to gain from writing her book?
Katherine D. Kane: she hoped to motivate the nation to action against slavery
Club Leader: What did she consider her role to be in the abolitionist movement?
Katherine D. Kane: when the country was discussing the fugitive slave act, her sister in law encouraged her to take up her pen--which she did to great impact with Uncle Toms Cabin
Club Leader: How did she hope her book could make the impact she intended? What specifically about Uncle Tom's cabin would make a difference?
Katherine D. Kane: she thought that white America did not understand the impact of slavery on families, so she focused on that theme
mksmith in salisbury, MD asks: How many copies of her book were sold, when it was first published, and how would those numbers translate today?
Katherine D. Kane: 3,000 copies the first week, 300,000 in the US in the first year; 1 million in Britain in the 1st year. It was first published in an antislavery paper the National Era, in 1851-2. I'm not sure how the numbers translate today--but the only book to sell more in the 19th century was the Bible.
greenpartyteen in Hammonton, NJ asks: I read Uncle Toms Cabin. How did it affect the way of thinking about slavery?
Katherine D. Kane: For the first time, people began to understand what it might be like to live as an enslaved person.
Club Leader: How was she able to convey that in her writings?
Katherine D. Kane: She focused on two families: Tom's and Eliza and George's. Tom is sold away from his family and decides not to run or they would be in danger of sale, too. Eliza takes her child Harry and runs away to save him---they go north and meet her husband George. Stowe is focusing on the power of family love to demonstrate the horrors of slavery and bondage; and the power of the drive toward freedom
Club Leader: How did she conduct research to write her book? Did she collaborate with slaves to tell their story?
Katherine D. Kane: She had lived in Cincinnati for almost 20 years--on the free state side of the Ohio River from Kentucky--she met and helped escaping slaves, heard many stories. She also gathered the stories of other escaped former slaves.
Club Leader: What was the public's reaction to her book when it was published? How is it viewed today?
Katherine D. Kane: When she started the first chapters with the National Era, she thought she'd write 6 chapters or so; she wrote 45. It was quickly popular, with people waiting each week for the next installment. When it was published as a book, it sold quickly again. Manufacturers created associated merchandise. Plays were created. All of this had an impact on the way we view the book today and on the creation of the stereotype of Uncle Tom.
Club Leader: Who read the book? Was there criticisms from the South or was it viewed as fiction by some?
Katherine D. Kane: Controversial from the beginning, particularly in the South, where Stowe was roundly denounced as getting it all wrong, and that slavery was not as bad as depicted. Stowe said that in fact, to shelter her readers, she had been more mild than the reality. She then compiled her facts and published them in The Key to U Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Club Leader: Can you further explain the Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin?
Katherine D. Kane: Stowe subtitled the Key appropriately.
She referred to it as "the facts and documents upon which the story is founded together with corroborative statements verifying the truth of the work."
Club Leader: Did abolitionists criticize her writings?
Katherine D. Kane: Stowe was a moderate. For some she was not radical enough, for others, too radical.
RMcCallum in Annapolis, MD asks: I did not know about The Key. Can you give an example from it?
Katherine D. Kane: In chapter 4, she uses Frederick Douglass' "Life" to help illustrate her points on the indignities of life under slavery
Club Leader: where can readers find the key? Or use the key when they read Uncle Tom's Cabin?
Katherine D. Kane: The Key to Uncle Toms Cabin is a separate book--the copy I have is a facsimile of the original edition--it's published by Applewood Bks in Bedford MA
Club Leader: Did she collaborate with other abolitionists who were slaves like Frederick Douglass?
Katherine D. Kane: The most visible one was Douglass. They became well acquainted and influenced each other.
Club Leader: Do you have any last comments on how readers can learn about Harriet Beecher Stowe and her works? Has she written any other books?
Katherine D. Kane: Stowe wrote 30 books--because of the Cabin, was the most famous American woman in the world. Juggled her writing with her family. But had a tremendous impact on her time, and still on ours today. She showed how one person can make a difference.
Club Leader: Thank you for participating in our book club discussion! The transcript will be made available online later tonight!
Katherine D. Kane: People can learn from Stowe's books, the literature about her, and by visiting historic sites like the StoweCenteer In Hartford
Club Leader: Thank you!
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