Oviatt House and Harriet Beecher Stowe House #TakeoverTheNetwork

On September 14, Oviatt House took over the NPS Network to Freedom social media accounts. On September 15, Harriet Beecher Stowe House (Cincinatti, Ohio) took over the NPS Network to Freedom social media accounts.See what they posted throughout the day...

The Oviatt House

Oviatt House Feed Post 1: Introduction

Today, the Oviatt House is thrilled to #TakeovertheNetwork!!!

Mason Oviatt trotted his team of horses and wagon eastward into downtown Richfield and arrived at John Brown’s house. While there, he hid five freedom seekers into his wagon and rode westward, passing his house. His wife, Fanny, concerned for Mason’s safety on the journey to Oberlin, waved from the window.

Read the whole story at https://www.oviatthouse1836.com/secret-hay-ride.html

Oviatt House Feed Post 2: Volunteers

Volunteers are the lifeblood of Oviatt House. All of the interior work of gutting the house has been accomplished by our dedicated and hardworking volunteers. Although it may just be the pizza that keeps them coming back! #UndergroundRailroad #NPSNetworktoFreedom #Volunteer

Oviatt House volunteers take a lunch break after a morning of restoration work

Richfield Heritage Preserve

Oviatt House Volunteers

Richfield Heritage Preserve

Oviatt House Reel: Volunteering at Oviatt House

Duration:

41.675 seconds

Learn more about the work the Oviatt House volunteers are doing to restore the home. Oviatt House and the Richfield Heritage Preserve shared this reel as part of #TakeoverTheNetwork - a social media takeover by the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program.

See more from #TakeoverTheNetwork 2022

Courtesy of Harriet Beecher Stowe House

Harriet Beecher Stowe House Feed Post 1: Introduction

We are the Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Harriet Beecher Stowe, famous for her antislavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, spent most of her life in New England. But for 18 years as a young adult (1832-1850), she lived in Cincinnati, a "border city" full of the racial tensions that would later explode into a national Civil War. Stories from freedom seekers she met in Cincinnati became the source material for Uncle Tom's Cabin, which was the best-selling book (behind the Bible) of the entire 19th century.

We are part of the Ohio History Connection (@ohiohistory), and our mission is to sustain the legacy of Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Beecher family home in Cincinnati, Ohio. We commit ourselves to

• Facilitating historical exploration

• Raising awareness and stirring passion for positive change, and

• Supporting dialogue about social issues related to that legacy.

Visitors can experience the house and exhibits through guided tours, regular lectures, walking tours, discussion groups, book clubs, and community events.

We are currently building on the site’s legacy with an extensive restoration project that is deepening our understanding of both the Beecher era of the house as well as its 20th century history as a Black boarding house and tavern listed in the Green Book. By encountering these layers of history, visitors are inspired and challenged to use the power of their own voices write the next chapter of history today. To learn more, visit www.StoweHouseCincy.org

Collage showing the Edgemont Inn in the background and a green book titled "The Negro Motorist Green Book" in the foreground.

Photo Courtesy of Harriet Beecher Stowe House

Harriet Beecher Stowe House Feed Post 2: Underground Railroad to Overground Railroad

Beginning with Harriet’s father Lyman Beecher’s family, the House was home to Lane Seminary faculty and their families for its first three decades. While evidence of direct Underground Railroad activity at the house is sparse, the Lane Seminary community was known for its collaboration with the Underground Railroad leaders in Cincinnati’s established free Black communities.

After the Civil War, the house passed into the hands of the Monfort family for three generations. In the 1930s and 40s, the home entered yet another season as a Black-run boarding house and tavern managed by Irene Bacon. As the Edgemont Inn, this home was listed in the Green Book as a safe place for Black motorists to stop during their travels.

The house was a gathering space for the community, and this summer found found newspaper references to events such as a linen (bridal) shower on a Friday afternoon, bridge parties, and birthday parties. The house also hosted political rallies and meetings for groups such as the Brotherhood of the Sleeping Car Porters, the Cincinnati chapter of the National Association of College Women, and the Cincinnati Medical Association.  

We are still learning how this space sustained sources of social change, as well serving as a safe house for community leaders to gather, discuss, and live in a segregated era.

Courtesy of Harriet Beecher Stowe House

Harriet Beecher Stowe House Feed Post 3: Writing the Next Chapter Together

What once served as the Beecher family home, and place of inspiration for abolitionist author Harriet Beecher Stowe, later became an African American boarding house and tavern listed in the Negro Motorist Green Book. Over the last 189 years, the House has undergone many changes, additions, and modifications to its original structure. 

During the last year, with funding from the Network to Freedom program and the African American Civil Rights Grant of the NPS Historic Preservation Fund, physical restoration to the exterior and interior of the house has continued to return the house to the appearance to the time of the Beecher family occupancy. 

Based on physical and documentary research, windows were installed to replicate the original federal-period configurations.  Before this work, helical anchors were installed to support the foundations and the exterior brick walls were restored and painted, based on paint analysis.  On the interior, physical research determined the location of the original stairway, door openings between rooms, and floor material. 

When a section of late nineteenth-century plaster cornice was removed from Lyman Beecher’s study, researchers found a scrap of what is believed to be wallpaper from the Federal period.  If testing determines it is from 1830-1840, it will be replicated and installed.

By working toward preserving and interpreting sections of the house from both the 1840s and 1940s, the Harriet Beecher Stowe House is able to uniquely showcase the continuity of the struggle for social justice throughout history and carry on the legacy of those who lived, worked, mourned, and celebrated in this home.

(Many thanks to Fred Smith, Director of Facilities Management at the Ohio History Connection for this summary of the restoration project to date.)

Harriet Beecher Stowe House: Reels

Duration:

1 minute, 17 seconds

Learn more about ongoing research at the Harriet Beecher Stowe House. The Harriet Beecher Stowe House shared this reel as part of #TakeoverTheNetwork - a social media takeover by the Network to Freedom Program.

See more form #TakeoverTheNetwork 2022

Duration:

45.078 seconds

Learn about the restoration of the Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Harriet Beecher Stowe House shared this reel as part of #TakeoverTheNetwork - a social media takeover by the Network to Freedom Program.

See more from #TakeoverTheNetwork 2022

Duration:

1 minute, 16 seconds

Learn more about the restoration of Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Cincinnati, Ohio. This reel was shared as part of #TakeoverTheNetwork - a social media takeover by the Network to Freedom Program.

See more from #TakeoverTheNetwork2022