Catharine Beecher (1800-1878)

Catharine Esther Beecher was an American educator. She was the elder sister of novelist Harriet Beecher Stowe with whom she collaborated to write the manual "The American Woman's Home". Catharine campaigned for the education of women and in 1823 she founded the Hartford Female Seminary in Connecticut where she spent several years as a teacher. Despite her views she did not believe women should be involved in politics. However, she opposed the Indian Removal Bill (subsequently passed in 1830) and led women's protests against it. In 1852 she founded The American Woman's Educational Association. 

"I am now desirous (of course) of having it known & read as extensively as possible"

Written in July 1856, this letter is sent to Sampson Low from Catharine Beecher by way of her sister, the author Harriet Beecher Stowe. She encloses proofs of a work she hopes to complete in three months, a work that she has been writing for over twenty years. She suggests that the title page and preface of her new work be placed at the end of her sister's book. She doesn't name either work but in 1856 Sampson Low published Harriet Beecher Stowe's second novel 'Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp' and in the same year Catharine Beecher's comprehensively written book 'Physiology and Calisthenics for Schools and Families' was published by Harper & Bros., New York. Sampson Low acted as the British literary agent and bookseller for American publishers Harper & Bros. 

View Catharine Beecher's letter [opens in a new window]

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