Emmy-nominated “Becoming Harriet Beecher Stowe” and Q&A presented April 5 at Eldridge Library

Award-winning actress Jessica Taylor portrayed Harriet Beecher Stowe in the Fourth Wall Films documentary's companion docudrama "Sons & Daughters of Thunder".

The Mid-America Emmy® nominated documentary “Becoming Harriet Beecher Stowe” produced by Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films will be presented by the Scott County Library System: Eldridge Branch on Wednesday, April 5 at 6:00 p.m. A Q&A with the film producers will follow the 30-minute film. The event is sponsored by Friends of Eldridge Library. 

“Becoming Harriet Beecher Stowe” tells the story of the famous writer’s life in Cincinnati, Ohio and how those life-changing experiences contributed to her best-selling novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. Beecher-Stowe lived in Cincinnati between 1832 and 1850, and after her move to Maine, she adapted her observations and anti-slavery sentiment into America’s most influential novel.

Historians, writers and scholars providing insight into Harriet’s life include Pulitzer Prize winning author of “Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Life”, Joan Hedrick.

“The Cincinnati years, I think, profoundly affected her,” said Hedrick. “Her early marriage, her early motherhood – I think it was hard for her to leave that sacred ground. When she moved there, she was a New Englander. When she went back East 18 years later, she was an American.”

Clips from Fourth Wall Films’ award-winning docudrama “Sons & Daughters of Thunder” are included in the documentary and feature acclaimed actors from the Quad Cities area including award-winning actress Jessica Taylor who portrays a young Harriet Beecher. The voice of Harriet Beecher Stowe was presented throughout the documentary by actress Dee Canfield of Moline.  A number of historic sites in appear in the film, including the Jenny Lind Chapel in Andover, Illinois, the Dillon Home Museum in Sterling, Illinois and the Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Cincinnati, Ohio.

“Becoming Harriet Beecher Stowe” was partially funded by a grant from the Ohio Humanities, a State affiliate of The National Endowment for the Humanities.

Producers Kelly and Tammy Rundle are the owners of Fourth Wall Films, an Emmy® award-winning independent film production company formerly located in Los Angeles, and now based in Moline, Illinois.

The Rundles have won four Emmy® Awards, and received twelve Emmy® nominations for their documentary film work.