Abolitionist John Brown to be Remembered with Presentation by Historian Dr. Jonathan Earle and Unveiling of New Portrait of Brown
December 2, 2009
7:00 p.m.
Free
Topeka – Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site will commemorate the 150th anniversary of John Brown’s death at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 2 with a presentation by Dr. Jonathan Earle, an Associate Professor of History at the University of Kansas. Following the presentation, a newly commissioned painting of the controversial abolitionist will be unveiled. The event will take place at Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site at 1515 SE Monroe Street in Topeka.
On October 16, 1859, John Brown led a handful of men on a raid of a U.S. armory at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Brown aimed to acquire weapons to arm a slave uprising. Although Brown captured the armory and several other key buildings, most of his men died or were captured during the raid. On October 18, U.S. Marines stormed the brick fire station where Brown was holed up and captured the radical abolitionist. After being convicted of “conspiring with slaves to commit treason and murder,” Brown was hanged in Charles Town, Virginia, on December 2, 1859. John Brown’s highly publicized trial and execution focused national attention on slavery, which aggravated an already tense sectional rivalry between free states and slave states.
Dr. Jonathan Earle’s presentation is entitled, “Perhaps You Will Remember John Brown: A Lecture Commemorating the Sesquicentennial of Brown’s Execution and the Start of the Civil War.” In addition to teaching and writing, Dr. Earle directs the programming for the Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas. His primary research interests are the anti-slavery and democratic movements of the nineteenth century. He has written many articles and books on these topics, including Jacksonian Antislavery and the Politics of Free Soil and John Brown’s Raid: A Brief History with Documents. Both titles will be for sale at the event and Dr. Earle will sign copies during a reception after the program. The Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence and Research will sponsor the reception.
The new painting of John Brown was commissioned by Charles Schollenberger of Prairie Village, Kansas, and created by Sterling Hundley, an award-winning artist based in Virginia. Hundley’s works have appeared in many art and illustration magazines and have been the subject of feature articles in Communication Arts, Print, and RVA Magazine. Hundley is the recipient of gold and silver medals from both the Society of Illustrators and the Illustrators Club. He is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site tells the story of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that ended legal segregation in public schools. The site is located at 1515 SE Monroe Street in Topeka, Kansas, and is open free of charge from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily, with the exceptions of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s days. A parking lot for visitors is located across the street from the site. Accessible parking is available behind the site. For more information call (785) 354-4273 or go to www.nps.gov/brvb.
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