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John Brown in Print, Stage, Film, and Art

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John Brown on Stage and Film:

1859
Rogers, J. H. "Ossawattomie Brown; or, The Insurrection at Harpers' Ferry." First performed in Worcester, MA, with George Pauncefort as John Brown.
Swayze, Mrs. J. C. "Ossawattomie Brown; or, The Insurrection at Harpers' Ferry." First performed at the Bowery Theater, with George Boniface as John Brown.

1895
Price, William Thompson. "Old John Brown, of Harper's Ferry." Play.

1933
Gow, Ronald. "Gallows Glorious." First performed in England, with Wilfred Lawson as John Brown.

1936
Blankfort, Michael, and Michael Gold. "Battle Hymn." First performed WPA Experimental Theater, New York, with Grover Burgess as John Brown.

1938
Mechem, Kirke [Field]. "John Brown." Verse drama, aired on radio.

1940
Santa Fe Trail. Warner Brothers. Raymond Massey as John Brown. Theatrical Release.

1950
Schochen, Seyril. "The Moon Besieged." First performed in Chicago, with Tim O'Connor as John Brown.
Ward, Theodore. "John Brown." First performed at the People's Drama, New York, with Irving Pakewitz as John Brown.

1955
Seven Angry Men. Allied Artists. Raymond Massey as John Brown. Theatrical Release.

1958
Dace, Wallace. "The Prophet." Performed at Harpers Ferry in 1959 during John Brown Centennial Program.

1960
"John Brown's Raid." Episode of Playhouse 90. Filmed at Harpers Ferry, with James Mason as John Brown.

1961
Davis, Julia. "The Anvil." First performed in Charles Town, WV (Jefferson County courthouse), with Robert Leonard as John Brown.
Stavis, Barrie. "Banners of Steel." (later titled "Harpers Ferry") First performed at Southern Illinois University in 1962.

2000
Artzner, Greg, and Terry Leonino. "Sword of the Spirit." Two-person play. First performed in Charles Town, WV, with Greg Artzner as John Brown.
"John Brown's Holy War." Episode of The American Experience. Documentary.

2008
Mechem, Kirke [Lewis]. "John Brown." Opera, written 1980-1990. First performed by the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, with James Maddalena as John Brown.


John Brown in Art

1859-60
John Brown, bust by Edwin Brackett

1860
"John Brown Going to the Scaffold," painting by Louis Ransom

1865
John Brown, oil painting by Helen Brodt

1867
"John Brown's Blessing" (originally titled "Martyrdom of John Brown") portrait by Thomas S. Noble

1870
John Brown bust, by French sculptor Joseph-Charles de Blezer

1881
John Brown, oil painting by Seldon Woodman

1884
"The Last Moments of John Brown," by Thomas Hovenden.

1904
"The Imprisonment of John Brown," painting by H. Webb Keedy.

1911
John Brown statue in Kansas City, unknown artist

1923
"John Brown's Trial at Charlestown, Virginia," painting by David C. Lithgow.

1924
John Brown bust, by Robert Merrill Gage

1930 ca.
"The Hanging of John Brown," painting by Daniel Boza.

1933
"Civil War" panel in "Portrait of America" murals, by Diego Rivera

1933-34
"The Emancipation of the American Negro," painting by Daniel Boza

1935
John Brown statue at North Elba, New York, by Joseph Pollia.
John Brown statue at Osawatomie, Kansas, by George Fite Waters

1937
"Episodes in the Life of John Brown," mural in Torrington, CT, post office, by Arthur S. Covey

1937 ca.
Untitled mural with John Brown, Abraham Lincoln, and Frederick, by Eitaro Ishigaki

1937-40
"The Tragic Prelude," mural in Kansas Statehouse, by John Steuart Curry

1940
"The End of John Brown," painting by Ervin Nussbaum

1941
"The Legend of John Brown," 22 gouache paintings, by Jacob Lawrence.
"John Brown and the Fugitive Slave," wood carving by Seymour Lipton.
John Brown, bust in oak by John Rood

1945
"The Return of John Brown," oak sculpture by John Rood

1950s
John Brown, representing West Virginia in Steuben Glass' "The United States in Glass" series, engraved crystal by Sidney Waugh


John Brown in Print:

1860
Drew, Thomas. John Brown Invasion; An Authentic History of the Harper's Ferry Tragedy. Boston: James Campbell.
The Life, Trial and Execution of Capt. John Brown. New York: Robert M. DeWitt.
Marquand, Henri E. John Brown. Paris: E. Dentu. (French)
Redpath, James. Echoes of Harper's Ferry. Boston: Thayer and Eldridge.
_____. Public Life of Capt. John Brown. Boston: Thayer and Eldridge.

1861
Anderson, Osborne P. A Voice from Harper's Ferry. Boston: printed for the author.

1880
Brown, G. W. Reminiscences of Old John Brown: Thrilling Incidents of Border Life in Kansas. Rockford, IL: Abraham E. Smith.

1885
Sanborn, F. B. The Life and Letters of John Brown, Liberator of Kansas, and Martyr of Virginia. Boston: Roberts Brothers.[ADD LINK]

1900
Connelley, William Elsey. John Brown. Topeka, KS: Crane & Company.

1906
Avey, Elijah. Capture and Execution of John Brown: A Tale of Martyrdom. Elgin, IL: Brethren Publishing House.

1909
Du Bois, W. E. Burghardt. John Brown. Philadelphia: George W. Jacobs & Company.

1910
Villard, Oswald Garrison. John Brown, 1800-1859: A Biography Fifty Years After. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.

1913
Wilson, Hill Peebles. John Brown Soldier of Fortune: A Critique. Lawrence, KS: Hill P. Wilson.

1928
Benet, Stephen Vincent. John Brown's Body. (Poem) Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran and Company, Inc.

1929
Warren. Robert Penn. John Brown: The Making of a Martyr. New York: Payson & Clarke, Ltd.

1934
Karsner, David. John Brown, Terrible "Saint." New York: Dodd, Mead & Company.

1942
Malin, James C. John Brown and the Legend of Fifty-Six. Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society.

1959
Furnas, J. C. The Road to Harpers Ferry. New York: W. Sloane Associates.
Ruchames, Louis. John Brown Reader: The Story Of John Brown In His Own Words, In The Words Of Those Who Knew Him, And In The Poetry And Prose Of The Literary Heritage. London and New York: Abelard-Schuman.

1970
Oates, Stephen B. To Purge This Land with Blood: A Biography of John Brown. New York: Harper & Row.

1973
Boyer, Richard O. The Legend of John Brown: A Biography and a History. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

1974
Quarles, Benjamin. Allies for Freedom: Blacks and John Brown. New York: Oxford University Press.

1982
Rossbach, Jeffery S. Ambivalent Conspirators: John Brown, The Secret Six, and a Theory of Slave Violence. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

1995
Finkelman, Paul. ed. His Soul Goes Marching On: Responses to John Brown and the Harpers Ferry Raid. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.

2002
DeCaro, Louis A. Jr. "Fire from the midst of you": A Religious Life of John Brown. New York: New York University Press.
Peterson, Merrill D. John Brown: The Legend Revisited. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.
Stauffer, John. Black Hearts of Men: Radical Abolitionists and the Transformation of Race. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

2005
Reynolds, David S. John Brown, Abolitionist: The Man Who Killed Slavery, Sparked the Civil War, and Seeded Civil Rights. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Russo, Peggy A. and Paul Finkelman. eds. Terrible Swift Sword: The Legacy of John Brown. Athens: Ohio University Press.

2006
Carton, Evan. Patriotic Treason: John Brown and the Soul of America. New York: Free Press.

2007
DeCaro, Louis A. Jr. John Brown: The Cost of Freedom. New York: International Publishers.

2009
Beck, Janet Kemper. Creating the John Brown Legend: Emerson, Thoreau, Douglass, Child and Higginson in Defense of the Raid on Harpers Ferry. McFarland and Company, Inc.
McGinty, Brian. John Brown's Trial. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
McGlone, Robert E. John Brown's War Against Slavery. New York: Cambridge University Press.


John Brown in Print (Juvenile Literature):

1980
Graham, Lorenz. John Brown: A Cry for Freedom. New York: Crowell.

1988
Kent, Zachary. Story of John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry. Chicago: Children's Press.

1993
Everett, Gwen. John Brown: One Man Against Slavery. New York: Rizzouli.

1994
Barrett, Tracy. Harpers Ferry: The Story of John Brown's Raid. Brookfield, CT: Millbrook Press.

1997
Cox, Clinton. Fiery Vision: The Life and Death of John Brown. New York: Scholastic.

1998
Tackach, James. The Trial of John Brown, Radical Abolitionist. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books.

1999
Stein, R. Conrad. John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry in American History. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers.

2000
January, Brendan. John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry. Danbury, CT: Children's Press.

2006
Glaser, Jason. John Brown's Raid on Harpers Ferry. Mankato, MN: Capstone Press.

2009
Hendrix, John. John Brown: His Fight for Freedom. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers.
Horn, Geoffrey M. John Brown: Putting Actions above Words. New York: Crabtree.


Chapter Fourteen: His Soul Goes Marching On

His Soul Goes Marching On

West Virginia Archives and History