1850 — Harriet Beecher Stowe arrives in Brunswick seven months pregnant after 18 years in Cincinnati. While living in Brunswick in 1850-1851, when her husband Calvin, of the Bowdoin Class of 1824, was teaching theology, Stowe wrote “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” one of the most influential novels in American history. Stowe wrote in her husband’s study in Appleton hall and in the family home on Federal Street, where she hosted Bowdoin students to read and discuss the book before it was published.
Born a slave in Maryland, Frederick Douglass (1817-1895), became the best known Black American leader of the 19th century. The first half of his life, after his escape from slavery in 1838, was spent in the abolition movement. Later he served in a number of positions, including U.S. Ambassador to Haiti. In 1852 , invited to give a speech in Rochester, N.Y., at an event commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Douglass delivered an indictment of a nation celebrating freedom and independence, while keeping slaves.
Four Bowdoin alumni gathered at the Washington National Cathedral on June 12, 2012, for a meeting as members of the Cathedral’s Chapter (board of directors). (Left to right) Jed Lyons ’74, Ambassador Thomas Pickering ’53, Cathedral Vice-Chairman Alix Platt ’76, and Rich Bland ’95 represent about 20% of the Chapter membership, “and have not been shy in reminding fellow Chapter members of their Bowdoin connection and Polar Bear pride,” Lyons reports.
Born on the fourth of July in 1804, Nathaniel Hawthorne, a member of the Class of 1825, would go on to become one of America’s most illustrious novelists and short story writers, publishing many classics, including The Scarlet Letter and The House of Seven Gables.
On this Independence Day, it would also be apropos to point out that among Hawthorne’s published works is a biography of his friend — and fellow Bowdoin alumnus (Class of 1824) — Franklin Pierce, the 14th President of the United States.
