John Brown monument and 25 Year Club photograph   Save
OHS Archives/Library
Description: Photograph showing the John Brown monument in Akron, Ohio. This 20-foot sandstone column was erected in 1910 by Akron's German American Alliance in honor of abolitionist John Brown. Gathered around the monument is the "Negro 25 Year Club," whose members added the stone terrace seen in the photograph in 1938. The bronze eagle seen atop the monument has since been stolen, and the monument stands in Perkins Woods near the Akron Zoo. Brown gained national attention when, on October 16, 1859, he led a group of twenty one men on a raid of Harper's Ferry, Virginia (modern-day West Virginia). A federal arsenal was in the town, and Brown hoped to capture the buildings and the weapons stored inside. He then intended to distribute the guns and ammunition to slaves in the region, creating an army of African Americans that would march through the South and force slaveholders to release their slaves. Brown and his men succeeded in capturing the arsenal, but local residents surrounded the build View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: sc223_06
Subjects: John Brown's Raid, 1859; Abolitionists -- Ohio; Ohio History--Slavery, Anti-Slavery and Civil Rights; Monuments & memorials;
Places: Akron (Ohio); Summit County (Ohio);