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Harpers Ferry Historical Association Home > John Brown's 1859 Raid > John Brown Remembered

John Brown Remembered:
150th Anniversary of John Brown's Raid

October 14 -17, 2009
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
Harpers Ferry, West Virginia

Plenary Speakers Include:

  • Dr. David Blight
  • Dr. Spencer Crew
  • Dr. Paul Finkelman

Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, along with other partners, is hosting a multidisciplinary academic symposium on John Brown and his 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry. The symposium will be held at the Stephen T. Mather Training Center in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. This symposium will stimulate new and diverse academic research, scholarship, and debate.

Academic Symposium Schedule

This schedule is tentative. All times and events are subject to change. Paper presentation sessions will be one hour and 15 minutes in length with three presenters, each giving 20 minute presentations, followed by a 15 minute question and answer period. For most session periods, there may be two, and possibly three, concurrent sessions.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Morning

  • 7:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. – Harpers Ferry Park shuttle buses will run from the Cavalier Heights Visitor Center to the Stephen T. Mather Training Center approximately every 15 minutes. All symposium participants must park at the Cavalier Heights Visitor Center and take the shuttle bus.
  • 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. – Symposium registration open
  • 8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. – Coffee and pastries
  • 9:00 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. – Session I
  • 10:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. – Lunch

Afternoon

  • 1:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. – Session II
  • 2:30 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. – Session III
  • 4:00 p.m. – Park Shuttle buses will return to Cavalier Heights Visitor Center
  • 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. - Park Ranger guided program to the Lower Town district where a park shuttle bus can be acquired

Evening

  • 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. – Reception at the Harpers Ferry Historical Association Park Bookshop, located in the Lower Town district. Bookshop and Harpers Ferry National Historical Park John Brown related museums open. Symposium participants should park at the Cavalier Heights Visitor Center and ride the park shuttle bus to Lower Town.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Morning

  • 7:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. – Harpers Ferry Park shuttle buses will run from the Cavalier Heights Visitor Center to the Stephen T. Mather training Center. All symposium participants must park at the Cavalier Heights Visitor Center and take the shuttle bus.
  • 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. – Registration open
  • 8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. – Coffee and pastries served
  • 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. – Ongoing book signing
  • 9:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. – Session IV
  • 10:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. – Session V
  • 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. – Lunch provided onsite as part of symposium registration

Afternoon

  • 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. – Plenary speaker – Dr. David Blight
  • 2:30 p.m. – Park Shuttle buses will return to Cavalier Heights Visitor Center
  • Travel to Charles Town, West Virginia, on own. Carpooling is strongly recommended. A list of available parking will be provided.
  • 3:15 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. – Guided tour of Charles Town, West Virginia including the Jefferson County Historical Museum, John Brown gallows site, and the John Blessing house
  • 4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. – Dinner on your own (a list of area restaurants will be provided)

Evening

  • 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. – Lecture by author and legal historian Brian McGinty on the trial of John Brown presented at the Charles Town, West Virginia courthouse.
  • 8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. - “Sword of the Spirit,” a dramatic presentation based on the letters between John and Mary Brown presented at the Charles Town Opera House.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Morning

  • 7:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. – Harpers Ferry Park shuttle buses will run from the Cavalier Heights Visitor Center to the Stephen T. Mather training Center. All symposium participants must park at the Cavalier Heights Visitor Center and take the shuttle bus.
  • 8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. – Coffee and pastries
  • 9:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. – Session VI
  • 10:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. – Session VII

Afternoon

  • 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. – Plenary Speaker – Dr. Spencer Crew
  • 1:00 p.m. – Park Shuttle buses will return to Cavalier Heights Visitor Center
  • 1:15 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. - Optional tour of Franklin County, Pennsylvania, related John Brown sites. (Prior reservation and additional fee required)

Chambersburg, Pennsylvania Day Trip Itinerary

  • Bus leaves Harpers Ferry, WV, at 1:15 p.m.
  • Box lunch and drinks will be provided on bus.
  • Stop in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania to tour the Mary Rittner House, where John Brown and Raider John Henry Kagi took lodging as he planned the Raid.
  • Next, we will tour the Chambersburg Jail which housed Raider John Cook after his capture.
  • We will then continue onto the Chambersburg Quarry site where John Brown, Frederick Douglass, and Raider Shields Green met in August 1859.
  • Proceed to Mont Alto, Pennsylvania, to tour the historic chapel where John Brown attended church and to view the state highway marker that designates the location of Raider John Cook’s capture
  • Pass by the slave catcher Dan Logan's house, who captured Raider John Cook, and Hiram Wertz’s house, a conductor on the Underground Railroad who unknowingly transported Raider Albert Hazlett to Chambersburg.
  • We will then travel to historic South Mountain Inn for a relaxing dinner.
  • After dinner, the group will stop at the Kennedy Farmhouse so those interested in participating in the 7:00 p.m. commemorative pilgrimage to Harpers Ferry may attend. Those who do not wish to participate may return with the bus to the Cavalier Heights Visitor Center or take a later park bus back.
  • Bus will shuttle remaining symposium members to Harpers Ferry with an approximate arrival time of 7:30 p.m. at the Cavalier Heights Visitor Center.
  • For those not going on the field trip but who wish to visit the Kennedy Farm, park buses will run back and forth from the Cavalier Heights Visitor Center to the Kennedy Farm every 15 minutes.

Evening

  • 7:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. – Walk in the footsteps of John Brown and the raiders during this pilgrimage from Kennedy Farm to Harpers Ferry (hike is approximately 5 miles – sturdy shoes are required)

Or

  • 8:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. - View a showing of “Santa Fe Trail,” followed with a discussion, at the Stephen T. Mather Training Center. (Symposium participants need drive to the Training Center)

Saturday, October17, 2009

Morning

  • 8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. – Coffee and pastries
  • 9:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. – Session VIII
  • 10:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. – Session IX
  • 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. – Plenary Speaker – Dr. Paul Finkelman

Public programming activities including music, dramatic presentations and scholarship will continue through Sunday, October 18, 2009. Check www.johnbrownraid.org for schedule.

ATTEND THE SYMPOSIUM

Retrieve a Symposium Registration Form (PDF)

Symposium Lodging »

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Kim Biggs
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
P O Box 65
Harpers Ferry, WV 25425

(304) 535-6026

Kim_Biggs@nps.gov

 

CONFERENCE SPONSORS:

Harpers Ferry National Historical Park

Harpers Ferry Historical Association

Jefferson County NAACP

National Parks Conservation Association

John Brown Heritage Association

Penn State University, Mont Alto Campus