March 8th, 5:00 PM at The Harriet Beecher Stowe Center

Racial Innocence: Performing American Childhood from Slavery to Civil Rights
by Robin Bernstein
Just published!  Available in the Stowe Center Museum Store

Robin Bernstein is a familiar face in the Stowe Center Library.  Her book, Racial Innocence: Performing American Childhood from Slavery to Civil Rights, relied heavily on artifacts and materials in our archives.
Come meet Bernstein as she and Beth Burgess, Stowe Center Collections Manager, show you some of the rarely seen items featured in Racial Innocence: Performing American Childhood from Slavery to Civil Rights.  Bernstein will discuss her book and illuminate the conclusions of her research.
Robin Bernstein is associate professor of African and African American Studies and of Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Harvard University.

Racial Innocence addresses the racial connotations of material culture in the construction of childhood portrayals  in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

A reception and book signing will follow. Stowe Center members will receive a 20% discount on purchases of Racial Innocence.
RSVP: 860.522.9258 x 317 or Info@StoweCenter.org

MORE!
While here, catch a sneak preview of our new exhibit, Who is Uncle Tom?

This exhibit explores the evolution of Stowe’s title character in the public consciousness – from inspiration for the 19th-century’s abolitionist movement to today’s racial slur. Discover how this “large, broad-chested, powerfully-made man..”, this “good, steady, sensible, pious fellow…” became synonymous with a subservient sell-out, often depicted as feeble, old and weak.

Who Is Uncle Tom? amplifies and extends the story told in the exhibit, Uncle Tom’s Cabin: A Moral Battle Cry for Freedom.

Save the date:  June 14 the traveling exhibit THEM: Images of Separation, from the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia at Ferris State University will open at the Stowe Center as part of  Stereotypes: Designed to Degrade.

THEM showcases items from popular culture used to stereotype different groups. The negative imagery — found on postcards, license plates, games, souvenirs and costumes — promoted stereotyping against such groups as Asian-Americans, Hispanics, Jews and poor whites, as well as those who are “other” in terms of body type or sexual orientation.
Stereotypes: Designed to Degrade coordinates with Race, Rage & Redemption, concurrent exhibits and programs offered at The Mark Twain House & Museum.

Harriet Beecher Stowe Center
77 Forest Street
Hartford, CT 06105
HarrietBeecherStowe.org