Hartford, CT — A dozen first graders from Annie Fisher Magnet School sat cross-legged inside The Stowe Center for Literary Activism, their small voices filling the historic space.
The topic was freedom, a word packed with meaning inside the former home of Harriet Beecher Stowe. Her 1852 novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin rattled pre-Civil War America, pushing the abolitionist movement into the national spotlight.
The Stowe Center, located on Forest Street next to the Mark Twain House, welcomes 5,000 visitors a year. But while the mission is clear, data management was a different story.
Attendance records, visitor demographics, and peak hours were scattered across different systems. Without clear insights, planning for future programming and staffing was guesswork. Leadership needed help.
A team of five UConn business students took on the challenge.
As part of the Digital Frontiers Initiative, they analyzed visitor data dating back to 2017. Patterns emerged. Attendance spikes were charted. Key engagement trends surfaced.
But an initial problem appeared—the software solution they recommended was too expensive for the center’s budget.
Rather than abandon the project, the students pivoted. They found an affordable alternative, delivering a system that organizes visitor data without the financial burden.
The team also recorded training videos, ensuring staff could navigate the system without outside consultants.
Karen Fisk, the center’s executive director, credited the students’ work as a game-changer. Without their contributions, outsourcing the project would have required additional fundraising.
Now, the Stowe Center has the tools to track its audience, fine-tune its outreach, and allocate resources with precision.
