WESTFIELD, Mass., March 26, 2014-Westfield State University’s Month Celebrating Women continues with Professor Susanna Ashton’s lecture “Was Uncle Tom from South Carolina?” on Monday, March 31 at 7:00 p.m. in the Loughman Living Room in Scanlon Hall.
Susanna Ashton, professor of American Literature at Clemson University, will present her research, originally published in the scholarly journal “Common-Place.” Ashton argues that Harriet Beecher Stowe harbored a fugitive slave in 1850 named John Andrew Jackson that likely helped inspire her to write “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”
In 1846, John Andrew Jackson escaped from an inland South Carolina plantation and made his way to Massachusetts. He traveled around Northampton, Florence, and Springfield seeking help to buy freedom for his wife and baby. Before he could buy their freedom, he was forced to flee the United States because of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Making his way north, he hid with Harriet Beecher Stowe for one or two nights, and eventually made it to Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada with help from the Underground Railroad.
The event was organized by Emily Todd, chair of the English department, who said she was drawn to the local connections of Ashton’s research.
“I thought it would be exciting for our students to learn about her original and ground-breaking research on John Andrew Jackson, a fugitive slave who lived locally but who was also an international activist, lecturing on abolition in England and Scotland,” Todd said. “I am also excited by her discovery of the connection between Jackson and Stowe.”
For nearly 30 years, Westfield State has held events dedicated towards awareness and celebration of women’s rights and issues involving women globally. What started off as a weeklong celebration organized around National Women’s Day (March 8th) is now a month-long tribute with plays, guest speakers, panel discussions, and movie screenings. The month is organized by a board of faculty members led by Professor Margot Hennessey, chair of the ethnic and gender studies department.
The goal of Month Celebrating Women is to bring awareness to issues surrounding women all over the world by offering events that are meant to be both educational and enjoyable.
All of the Westfield State Month Celebrating Women events are free and open to the public. For more information, contact Ron’na Lytle at 572-5573 or Dr. Shoba Sharad Rajgopal at 572-5397.