George Aiken (playwright)

George Aiken's original manuscript for his stage adaptation of Uncle Tom's Cabin, 1852.

George L. Aiken (December 19, 1830 – April 27, 1876) was a nineteenth-century American playwright and actor who is best known for writing the most popular of the numerous stage adaptations of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Aiken was a writer of dime novels before he turned to theatre. He became an actor in the troupe of his cousin, George C. Howard. In 1852, shortly after the publication of Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, Aiken wrote his stage adaptation. It was performed by Howard's company, with Aiken playing the hero, George Harris. The play become a spectacular success. His other works include a dramatization of Ann S. Stephens' novel The Old Homestead. He retired from the stage in 1867.

Aiken's original manuscripts for Uncle Tom's Cabin were passed down through the family along with other memorabilia from Howard's company. The family placed the collection at the Harry Ransom Center in 1963.^[2]

References

• Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607-1896. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1963.
• Bernstein, Robin (2011). Racial Innocence: Performing American Childhood from Slavery to Civil Rights. New York University Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-8708-3.

External links

• George Aiken at the Internet Broadway Database
• George Aiken at Find a Grave
• Uncle Tom's Cabin Play Text of Uncle Tom's Cabin
• George C. Howard and Family Collection at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin