John Brown poster by Kellogg,
1860
photographed by Jean Libby in 1976
from the wall of Newcomer's Antiques
in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia
using a 4x5 Speed Graphic camera and   
Ektachrome transparency film.
above) John Brown in Hudson, 1856

The John Brown Portraits
Chronology -- thirteen  
separate portraits from 1846
to 1859

by Jean Libby

revised February 2008


This study is rebuilding with
more workshops and local
historians participation.   


If you would like to participate
by mail, please write

Allies for Freedom editor

include your address and
areas of interest
(above)  John Brown in Akron, 1855   

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES!  

The photo above  was taken in Akron,
Ohio, in August 1855.  John Brown was
on his way to Kansas, collecting guns
along the way from abolitionists.  

The photographer was Benjamin Battels

The photo on the right is John Brown in
December 1856, taken in Hudson, Ohio.

John Brown traveled to Hudson in
December visiting the homeplace in a
family reunion after the death of his
elderly father, Owen, the previous spring
-- May 1856.    

The photographer is still  unknown.  

Many thanks to Louis A. DeCaro, Jr. for
the correct chronology of John Brown's
travels after the Kansas-Missouri
warfare of May - September 1856.

Lou DeCaro's blog on John Brown,
abolitionist
Call for Papers at the

October 14 - 17 2009

Dr. Peggy Russo, chair

Download Poster pdf


appreciation to independent  
booksellers

Harpers Ferry Historical  
Association
website

African City Alive!
108 S Sunnyvale Ave
Sunnyvale, CA 94086

History San Jose Bookstore
in Kelley Park

for stocking Allies for Freedom    
publications and your  
personal support
  Kirke Mechem's
John Brown Opera




May 3, 5, 7, 9, 11,  
         2008
 World Premiere

 Click for synopsis
 and music samples
Annie Brown was sixteen when she
joined her father's army in 1859.  
She and Martha, her brother's wife
(age 17) kept house for the men
and tried to keep neighbors from
suspecting their abolition intent.

This photograph is in the Featherstonhaugh
Collection of John Brown images at the Library
of Congress.  The handwriting is his.  The
Collection includes photos of all participants
on Brown's side except Shields Green.
Meet Annie Brown and her descendants
Beatrice Keesey and Alice Keesey, California,
1976   
   photos by Jean Libby
The Daguerreian Pair
John Brown photographed by Augustus
Washington in Hartford, Connecticut in
1846 or 1847.

Both original images were recovered
since 1996.  Both are now in museums:

#1  is at the Nelson-Atkins Museum in
Kansas City, Missouri

#2 is at the National Portrait Gallery,
Washington D.C.

download details (pdf)
Who is Kirke Mechem,  
composer of the John
Brown opera?
link here (pdf)
                Nelson-Atkins
               
Museum













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This web site is a project of the Underground Railroad History Project of the Capital
Region (URHPCR). What is the URHPCR? It is a non profit organization and its
mission is that it celebrates the history of courage and cooperation among our
communal ancestors. We do this by reclaiming and sharing the voices of freedom
seekers, African American abolitionists and their supporters through public
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Paul and Mary Liz Stewart, organizers and developers