This elderly black man is reading a magazine called "Harper's Ferry" that is illustrated with a picture of John Brown, the abolitionist. The picture is dated 1904.

Radical abolitionist John Brown led a small group of followers in a raid on Harper's Ferry on October 16, 1859. It was Brown's hope to seize the arsenal and use the large supply of weapons to support a massive slave uprising throughout the South. Lacking strategic military planning, he and his men were quickly in retreat and they took refuge in the engine house next to the arsenal. Ironically, the U.S. Marines who stormed the arsenal where led by Colonel Robert E. Lee, a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy. Lee's marines stormed the engine house on October 18, killing or capturing most of the raiders. John Brown was tried for treason by the state of Virginia, convicted, and executed. The failed raid played a major role in accelerating the slide to Civil War.

Medium : 1 photographic print

Created/Published : 1904

Creator : Not attributed

Housed in the Prints and Photographic Division of the Library of Congress

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Product #: cph3b11146