There isnt one. That was me being very diplomatic. We are done. Thats it. I apologize. [applause] this is hopefully not a forever conversation. Professor claudes book is available. He will be with us until 6 00. Into the conversation of who we are, where we are going, and how we get there. Please join us again july next year for the 19th harlem book fair. We are working very hard towards our 20th year celebration. We are excited about that. The book fair is becoming a public conversation. Not so much the their but what happens in the book fair, such as with the professor today. So we are hoping that what we do, what we all do together is engendering many more public conversations and perhaps some ideas of how we can maneuver, manage, create a new sense of self as we move forward. So thank you for supporting the harlem book fair. Please day for the next part of our presentation, and then the award. Max rodriguez, thank you so much. [applause] this is booktv on cspan2, television for serious readers. Heres our primetime lineup for the sunday night. That all happens tonight on cspan2s booktv. During booktvs recent visit to hartford, connecticut, we toured of the special collections unit of the Harriet Beecher stowe center which houses the letters and books related to the novel Uncle Toms Cabin. So here we are in the Harriet Beecher stowe centers archive vault, as our archive storage area. It is home to our archival and printed books elections, also photographs, pamphlets, any sort of work of art on paper as well. Including broadsides, posters of the 19th century. Our collections focused around Harriet Beecher stowe, or famine and active reform work in the 19th century. So you went collections around antislavery and abolition in new england, specific connecticut, as well as womens history as it relates to the suffrage movement. The center began collecting works on and by Harriet Beecher stowe and come as early as our founder in 1930s and 40s. She found our organization in 1941 and we have been collecting ever since. This archives vault was built in the 1970s to howells house rare collection, paper this collection. Today we are looking at how she came to write Uncle Toms Cabin, her most famous antislavery novel which really galvanized the Antislavery Movement towards abolition in the 1850s. These materials we look at today really on the platform for which we are able to tell stowes story. Without the historic collection of the building that you lived in, we can tell her story as best we know it, but these are a tangible reference to the past. User papers and documents she touched. These are books that people all over the country and beyond red, waiting for the next installment and coffee in addition to come out so they could give as a gift. These objects will speak to the power, Harriet Beecher stowe, and her story Uncle Toms Cabin had on american and international society. So the first thing we will talk about is whats called a circular letter. Its a rather large letter. Theres a series of about 40 of them in the face of the mountain is it was started by one person in the family who mailed, folded it up and mailed it to the next sibling and family who added their portion of the story or their news, and passe pass on te next and the next and the next. As they got added onto it became very much filled document to the point where they are cramming in last minute notes. So the family really was an Amazing Group of reformers are her father was the foremost calvinist minister in new england when she was a chil child. So he raised all in 11 of his children to be moral forces in society. They had to do good, make positive change within the appropriate seers of course apply to the 19th century, which meant that the four girls have defined of acceptable platforms to speak. Harriet beecher stowes way of speaking was through writing and publishing stories. From the early 1830s in a series of letters, at this point in her career she was writing short stories. She was the mother of five children at that point and she, with struggling to make ends meet. Her husband was a professor which wasnt a career that paid well. She needed to supplement and check to take care of the household words and her children. The best thing she could do was right. She knew she was good at it and thats what she did. She decides to write a short story of four installments, meaning four chapters, for a newspaper called the national era. Heres one right here. She begins to write about she quickly realizes that its going to be a much longer story. So she needs to provide substance and documentation. She wants it, even though its a novel, to be stated in reality. So she writes to formerly enslaved people like frederick douglass, and while shes writing materialization at the national air we have a letter dated july 9, 1851, where she states you may perhaps have noticed in your editorial reading a series of articles i am furnishing for the era entitled Uncle Toms Cabin. She goes on to ask for information for true life stories about really what its like to be enslaved and be in a system on a plantation, as he is one who has that experience. Another person who stowe used their true Life Experiences for, took from for the character of uncle tom was just like henson. Josiah henson, whose photograph is here, was an enslaved person in maryland who found his way, escaped through to canada to dresden, ontario, informed the settlement. Theres a museum of their today in his honor. In his narrative really speaks to, of course as they all do, struggle to make a decision to change your life and to get through to freedom. So Harriet Beecher stowes story Uncle Toms Cabin was published as a serial in the national era, and it took over almost quite figured you wouldve published the, much longer than she expected. She missed two deadlines, t. Weekly deadlines. Those stories that subscribes to the newspaper were up in arms because they really wanted to the next installment. It was that popular. It was so popular that by march of 1852, three months before the end, stowe decided to contract with a publisher, a book publisher to publish it as a book. It was finally published as a two volume book, senior, march 20, 1852. Very simple. These two are clothbound, examples. Published by john p. Jewett out of boston. The publisher also cratered a shorter version for children called pictures and stories of local toms cabin. So very quickly the popularity takes off and merchandise starts to appear. First simple thing such as childrens books and then theres International Editions come very quickly french and german come out first, and then on to other countries. It is still published worldwide today. In over 70 languages. But the mass commercialization moves us into all types of things for the home. Now the story and the characters because of copyright are no longer under stowe star station. s local toms cabin wallpaper was one of the neat piece of merchandise that was produced outside of the control of Harriet Beecher stowe. This is a british print, very cheaply made because it was quickly produced for the mass market, and the only examples of it exist in a nursery outside of melbourne, australia. So that speaks to the International Power the story had, worldwide success of the book that people wanted to have an emotional piece, a connection to this story in their own homes into much as they are teaching their children in a nursery, including scenes with a dagger and the death of uncle tom. So what does that tell you about society at the time . Abolitionists such as William Lloyd garrison did not of course not notice of Uncle Toms Cabin. Is antiabolitionist newspaper, the liberator, published a story in january of 1853 called Uncle Toms Cabin mania. In which he goes, im paraphrasing, that is such a manic love of this book in that folks have really attached himself to the characters, that he says its taking away from the power to end abolition. Folks are getting lost in the human connections theyre making with these characters and the melodrama in the style future. Uncle toms cabin was so popular as a stage production that more americans saw the play then read the book. It also, speaking to the popularity, one of the first movies ever made in the United States was a Porter Edison film, Uncle Toms Cabin, in 1903 the everyone knew the story. Was going to sell. People would buy the tickets for stage production for a film, and he was just part of anakin culture and still is today. Her characters, you will see you on the poster, this is supposed to be the lives of in her son harry and there are enslaved people who are escaping to join her husband, her father, the north canada. They are stopping over in a cabin, excuse me, a bar. Hiding their but they realize the gentleman who have come to find that are there, so they are escaping out a window period its very colorful. You can see the theatricality of the image, very rosy cheeks, red lips, heavy makeup. This dates to the early 20th century, and you can see that the specific Stage Company has chosen to put a photograph of Abraham Lincoln on one hand of the title and Harriet Beecher stowe herself on the other end of the title to give this adaptation of the play real authority. There is one story that she went to a production here in hartford i think the late 1860s, and she left before it was finished because she didnt recognize her characters. They have become so theatrical that they were not proving the point her novel was supposed to make in her mind. Because Uncle Toms Cabin was such an international bestseller, it became very popular in Great Britain, in england, before any other country because Great Britain had ended slavery and the slave trade in the 1830s. So british abolitionists invited tran went over to england and give her the grand tour. This is someone who would never been abroad at all. Remember, shes the daughter of a yankee minister, so not coming from me, and her husband and she did not make a lot of money so this is quite something, first, for her to be thrown into celebrity and receive money all of a sudden, but also to be taken and invited over and treated as royalty in such a way. She was presented with a number of gifts, one of which was 26 large volumes just like this. This was one of them. They are a petition signed only by women. They contain about half a million signatures of women who believed that slavery should and in the United States. The idea was stowe was to take this petition back and use it as a political, use it for political purposes to really end slavery in the United States. So this is a year after Uncle Toms Cabin comes out as a book, and all of these women, half a million signatures, were collected in a grassroots effort. We believe by Womens Church groups, by sewing circles, however sort of womens groups met. It includes not only the womans name but the name of profession or occupation of the father or husband. This is the time when most women did not work outside of the home unless they were unmarried or a widow. And also the residents. So you will see everyone from school mistresses down to the duchess of sutherland and the duke of argyll. She was presented with this small brooch here as well. This brooch is gold and is encircled around a lock of hair that was thomas clarksons. Thomas clarkson was a major british abolitionists, beginning in the 18th century. And when stowe goes to england he has already passed that his widow wishes to present her with something other of his so she hs made a big it is engraved on the back with the date of the meeting. So we know stowe treasure to this ngo a print of clarkson as well, and it hung in her home as well as other british abolitionists and folks are really worked towards human rights during the time she lived. Stowe is a celebrity author who really changed the way americans look at slavery. She was the one through her writings who gave enslaved people a human eye stealing. White folks really didnt understand in a lot of ways that enslaved africanamericans were people. They were thought of as a property. So for her to humanize and making people and for readers to understand that, this is wrong, that the breaking up of human families is morally wrong and unchristian, that was the goal she set for herself in showing the wrongs of slavery in Uncle Toms Cabin. You are watching booktv on cspan2. This weekend we are in anaheim, california, with the help of our local cable partner time warner. Next, oc weekly editor Gustavo Arellano author of ask a mexican talks about some of the stereotypes he has witnessed as a latino american. The idea for ask a mexican actually came from an editor at the oc weekly at the time the he would always ask you questions about mexicans, because im the only by people on staff. The only person of color on staff for the meta. I would always answer them so stuff like what does this word mean in spanish . Why do mexicans like readers and focus of much . Give him an edge. He said theres a lot of ignorant people about mexicans who have questioned that we should make fun of them so why do we do a column called ask a mexican, an advice column where people send you questions about mexicans and youre able to answer them. I wasnt offended by the idea of ask a mexican but i did want to do it at first because i didnt think anyone would care. In journalism you want to do stories that people will care about one way or another. You dont care if people like you or hate you as long as they are reading. Whos going to want to read an advice column about mexicans . He kept insisting and we needed to fill in a space in the paper that week so im like fine, ill go back. They said its only going to be one time, a satirical column, not true at all. So i thought to myself what could be the dumbest question some of you asked me about mexicans . I remembered, he had asked it to me before. Cycle back and since its supposed be an advice column, we have to start off with, so give mexican, why do mexicans call white people gringos . My answer was a slightly harsher word for gringo, mexicans dont call gringos gringos. Only gringos call gringos gringos. I wrote it, i felt it, i thought whatever. I could stand by this, its funny but i dont have to do this again. A fine. I was wrong. People just went out silly nuts for some people loved it, some people hated it. People were queuing to at the very bottom of the column it was both a joke on them a, got a spicy questions about mexicans . Asked me, im the mexican. People called me on my block. They started send in questions like crazy and really. What part of illegal that mexicans understand this is a trip george w. Bushs grandpa, prescott bush, still have bon jovi at . What is a dish of the tortillas . What have you could possible imagine from g. Rated to triple x. People asking to me. People continued asking questions. Questions. To me the funniest one was why our mexicans always so damn happy . I can see them picking strawberries, packed 15 to a truck and they are laughing, busting others balls come all af that. Why isnt . Questions like that, how can you ever forgive them . That tv shows that america even more than 150 years after we took over the american southwest from mexico we are still obsessed with mexicans. Mexicans are still in history. You could either cry about and say were still misunderstood or turn it to examine what is coming from in answer peoples questions. Misconceptions have been around for one or 50 years. Would you want to start . We are criminals, the boys all become gang members and the girls members and the growth all lit up dropping out of school at 14 and become pregnant. We dont care about education, were all catholic, we are all super brown skinned. That we all hate white people. We all hate salvadorans and Puerto Ricans and cubans. Basically mexicans hate everyone except the people we hate the most our mexicans themselves. There are so many misconceptions. Some of them are just based on stereotypes. My job is to do the research. If people see mexicans love to drink and drive, lets look at the dui rates, that mexicans are more prone to criminality and other groups or ethnicities but lets look at the fbi statistics through the bureau of justice. What i try to do with my call is find the stats can get a serious answer, debunk the stereotypes live it up with some humor, some mexican cuss words. This is not an academic call column. Have to mix academic with a vulgar, humorist, in your face. Its a hardcoded but its a challenge soil of doing it. Criticisms of ask a mexican confronted were. It comes from the right saying this is an antiamerican, antiwhitecollar. You have criticisms from the left, this is an antimexican column, you are demeaning every season subject which is the treatment of mexicans right now in the United States. Some people think its not funny. Find. Some people say its not racist enough against mexicans, or its not racist enough against white people. Diminishes the column is doing its duty. I think the question of race, is something that is there. Mexican special i so with a Monkey Wrench in the american racial relationship. Historically and was black and white, maybe asian and, of course, the indians are all on reservations so who cares about them . Did you get mexicans. Americans have never been able to figure out mexicans to do we hate them more than blocks . Either lower or higher than blacks . A lot has been written about it. The great oral historian once interviewed a mexicanamerican in chicago and he said we were the buffer zone between the ethnic whites at chicago and africanameric