John Brown was an abolitionist who believed that if he started a movement to abolish slavery that slaves from all over would come together and start an uprising. It didn't turn out exactly how he had planned it...
On October 16, 1859 John brown and a group of 21 other abolitionists and freed slaves took over an armory in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.
(Shown on the right of the picture is the armory; on the left is the engine house)
They captured the armory with almost no trouble. The first shot that was fired from an armory gun, however, hit a freed black man who was working on a railway (very ironic). A doctor named John Starry came after hearing the shots and after treating the wound said that he was going to go back to his house. Instead he went to the stables, mounted a horse, and road through all of the neighboring towns shouting that an abolitionist had taken over Harpers Ferry. In one of those towns was a group of 86 marines that immediately started towards the armory. There was also a U.S. Army colonel named Robert E. Lee in another town who helped lead the counter-attack.
Once the counter-attack arrived, John and his militia were forced to retreat to the engine-house across the street.
John and the rest of his renegade soldiers did not last long against the opposing force because they were heavily outnumbered.He was eventually captured and, the following day was convicted of treason and hung.
Kian's Artist's Statment:
Even though John Brown's plan did not work it evoked thought in a lot of people. Some say that he was the person who really started the civil rights movement.
The light bulb on my quilt square represents his idea of racial equality but also how he evoked thought in other people by his example.
The ferry represents where the battle took place.
The rifle and book of Mormon represent what kind of a person John Brown was. The rifle shows that he was violent and that he would always choose action over plans, and the book of Mormon shows that he was religious and that he thought freeing the slaves was what god would want.
The red cross represents the doctor that rode to all of the towns around Harpers Ferry but also represents that it will be a bloody battle for racial equality.
The red line in the middle has the dates of both the Raid of Harpers Ferry and when the Civil War started. The red line represents blood that will be shed along the way to racial equality but also how John Brown's idea turned into the civil war.
There is also an equation above both dates which shows that they wanted whites to be equal to blacks and it is above both because during this raid and the civil war, it was the same idea.
The man being hung is John Brown but it also represents that it will be hard to have racial equality and that there will be challenges along the way.
Thank you for reading my artist statment and I hope that the Arts Counsel of New Orleans chooses Belthorne design studio to do this project.
Kian Dye, Frank's Design Team
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