John Brown
John Brown's Raid Handbook
Revised in 2009, this handbook contains the day-by-day narration of Brown’s insurrection, those who were involved, details of the trial, and what happened to John Brown and his men after the raid. Published on the 150th anniversary of the raid, more than a hundred photographs, maps and historic images chronicle the account. Includes suggested reading. Paperback, 111 pages.
John Brown Photo Chronology Catalog of the Exhibition at Harpers Ferry 2009
John Brown used photographs to raise funds and recruit followers to fight for liberation of slaves.
Since publication and exhibition in 2009 there are new discoveries of a John Brown daguerreotype and a tintype. There were sixteen original portrait sittings. This full-color catalog of the exhibition with supplement adds many historic details and context of his life and movements.
Most of Brown's his original portraits were daguerreotypes. The prints are as close as possible to the original source, resulting in detail that is astonishing when compared with the familiar renditions in textbooks and the Internet.
Abolitionist and Free-State emigration to Kansas sponsors of several of the sittings wanted to utilize his charismatic force evident in the new medium.
The author/curator describes the practices of photography at the time, such as painted photographs, photographs projected onto canvas, as well as making reproducible negatives from the single-image daguerreotype with original photography copyright.
Association of some photographers with the Underground Railroad shows compelling evidence of John Brown s motivation and actions. Others were inventors and creators of new processes and techniques, which John Brown eagerly adapted, just as he wanted the newest weapons
Major collections of John Brown papers and artifacts are described by historians and archivists for readers who want to look for John Brown in their travels or research, and online. The definitive aspect of the exhibition and catalog is the dispersal of the early photographs into many institutional collections, which in turn copyright and reproduce them. This process is respected.
The catalog is revised with ten supplementary pages based on new research in September 2014.
John Brown to James Brown: The Little Farm Where Liberty Budded, Blossomed, and Boogied
John Brown to James Brown delves into a distinctively American saga as it unfolds on one small piece of farm property in rural Western Maryland. Commonly known as John Brown's Farm because of the role it played in John Brown's raid on the armory at Harpers Ferry, this site was a music mecca to many young African Americans during the 50s and 60s. The little-known story of the music scene at Kennedy Farm where many giants of rhythm and blues performed during their early years --including James Brown, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, the Drifters, and scores of others. These stories, intertwined with those of a gifted promoter and thousands of young people who experienced early R&B music at John Brown's Farm, bring to life an ideal that heralded in America's founding documents and still beats in the heart of mankind today---liberty! Hardback 295 pages
Midnight Rising John Brown and the Raid that Sparked the Civil War
A New York Times Notable Book for 2011
A Library Journal Top Ten Best Books of 2011
A Boston Globe Best Nonfiction Book of 2011
Bestselling author Tony Horwitz tells the electrifying tale of the daring insurrection that put America on the path to bloody war
Plotted in secret, launched in the dark, John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry was a pivotal moment in U.S. history. But few Americans know the true story of the men and women who launched a desperate strike at the slaveholding South. Now, Midnight Rising portrays Brown's uprising in vivid color, revealing a country on the brink of explosive conflict.
Brown, the descendant of New England Puritans, saw slavery as a sin against America's founding principles. Unlike most abolitionists, he was willing to take up arms, and in 1859 he prepared for battle at a hideout in Maryland, joined by his teenage daughter, three of his sons, and a guerrilla band that included former slaves and a dashing spy. On October 17, the raiders seized Harpers Ferry, stunning the nation and prompting a counterattack led by Robert E. Lee. After Brown's capture, his defiant eloquence galvanized the North and appalled the South, which considered Brown a terrorist. The raid also helped elect Abraham Lincoln, who later began to fulfill Brown's dream with the Emancipation Proclamation, a measure he called "a John Brown raid, on a gigantic scale."
Tony Horwitz's riveting book travels antebellum America to deliver both a taut historical drama and a telling portrait of a nation divided―a time that still resonates in ours.
Raid on Harpers Ferry John Brown CD-ROM
Created for the John Brown Museum In Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, this interactive CD-ROM portrays “Who’s Who” in the story of John Brown and his raid on Harpers Ferry, along with reactions of contemporaries to the raid. Minimum system requirements: Windows 95/98/NT, Pentium 133, 32 MB RAM, 8X CD-ROM, 16 bit soundcard and speakers.
Terrible Swift Sword: The Legacy of John Brown
Through the prisms of history, literature, psychology, criminal justice, oral history, African American studies, political science, film studies, and anthropology, Terrible Swift Sword offers insights not only into John Brown's controversial character and motives, but also into the nature of a troubled society before, during, and after the Civil War. The discussions include reasons why Brown's contemporaries supported him, attempts to define Brown using different criteria, analyses of Brown's behavior, his depiction in literature, and examinations of the iconography surrounding him.
The interdisciplinary focus marshalled by editor Peggy A. Russo makes Terrible Swift Sword unique, and this, together with the popular mythology surrounding the legend of John Brown, will appeal to a broad audience of readers interested in this turbulent moment in American history.Paul Finkelman is Chapman Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Tulsa College of Law. He is the author of many articles and books, including His Soul Goes Marching On: Responses to John Brown and the Harpers Ferry Raid and the Library of Congress Civil War Desk Reference Peggy Russo is an assistant professor of English at the Mont Alto Campus of Pennsylvania State University. She has published in Shakespeare Bulletin, The Southern Literary Journal, Journal of American Culture, Shakespeare and the Classroom, and Civil War Book Review.
The Strange Story of Harper's Ferry with Legends of the Surrounding Country
Barry brings alive the characters of Harpers Ferry from his first hand accounts from 1840 to 1905. He tells how he lived among the townsfolk and he gives accounts of John Brown's Raid, the Civil War, the floods, and tales of the people who lived them.
Paperback, 200 pages
To Purge This Land with Blood
John Brown Raid Issue 1859-2009
This volume from the Magazine of the Jefferson County Historical Society contains first-hand accounts of the raid from dispatches, published in chronological order, sent from Frederick, Maryland to the daily newspaper “Baltimore Clipper”. Also included are articles about the trail of John Brown and his conspirators, a paper published by Bushrod Corbin Washington, transcribed by his great-grandson, and what is know about the “John Brown Wagon” and its place in history. Black-and-white photographs and illustrations throughout. Annotated. Paperback, 124 pages.
Practical Dreamer Gerrit Smith and the Crusade for Social Reform
His reach was long: he was a champion for women s rights, temperance, and most notably, the fight to end slavery and racial discrimination. The long list of visitors to his home in tiny Peterboro, New York included Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, John Brown, Susan B. Anthony, William Lloyd Garrison, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Sojourner Truth.
In this landmark biography that is destined to become a favorite of researchers and historians, Norman Dann paints a vibrant portrait of Smith based on thousands of letters, poems, and speeches Smith gave to and received from those he worked with and against in his lifelong crusade for freedom and equality.