Henry Ward Beecher

Situated west of the U.S. Naval Observatory, Beecher Street NW is likely named for Henry Ward Beecher, the Congregationalist preacher, social reformer, and brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe, who authored Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852). At the height of his popularity, Beecher’s sermons captivated audiences, attracting over two thousand congregants on a weekly basis. An ardent abolitionist, he denounced the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 and other measures that maintained the institution of slavery.