Beecher, Catherine (Esther) (1800–1878)

US educator and author. In 1823 Stowe founded the Hartford Female Seminary, launching a life-long campaign as lecturer, author, and advocate for women's education. She founded similar schools for young women in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and established the American Women's Education Association. Although she was in the forefront on many social issues of her day, she did not believe that women should be involved in political affairs and she opposed female suffrage.

In 1869 Catherine and her sister Harriet Beecher Stowe collaborated on a new edition of The American Woman's Home, an immensely influential guide for generations of American housewives.