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By Katie Byard
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 11:32 a.m. EDT, Jul 01, 2009
A monument honoring a man hailed as a hero by some and branded as a terrorist by others is tucked inside the Akron Zoo.
This holiday weekend the public will have a rare chance to view the modest sandstone pillar commemorating famed abolitionist John Brown, who lived in Akron.
The free, guided tours are part of a series of events commemorating the 150th anniversary of Brown's failed raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Va., in 1859.
The monument, which will turn 100 next year, is in a rugged, wooded area of the zoo previously not open to the public.
City officials and others long have talked about moving the memorial to a more visible, accessible location, but the monument has stayed put.
While the memorial is virtually hidden, ''we get a steady stream of inquiries about it,'' said David Lieberth, the city's deputy mayor for administration and a local history buff. ''He was Akron's best-known citizen internationally before LeBron James.''
In preparation for the memorial tours, zoo and city workers have installed a gravel access road and have cleared brush.
Brown put Harpers Ferry on the map when he and his followers raided the arsenal Oct. 16, 1859 — in hopes of seizing weapons and leading slaves in a rebellion. At least four civilians, including the town mayor, were among the fatalities
Brown was executed by hanging less than two months later, on Dec. 2. Church bells tolled in Akron and Hudson, where Brown grew up, at his death.
The raid and Brown's execution helped to spark the Civil War, some historians say.
''Without him challenging the institution of slavery,'' Lieberth said, ''things may not have materialized as quickly as they did after his death.
''What is still troubling about him is that he did murder people in his cause,'' said Lieberth, who will talk about Brown during the tours. ''He saw himself as a warrior.''
In 1910, the German-American Alliance erected the pillar on land that would become Perkins Woods Park.
The area is not far from Brown's former home, on Diagonal Road, where he lived during the 1840s and 1850s and raised sheep for Col. Simon Perkins, of Akron's founding family.
The memorial's centerpiece is a sandstone column salvaged from the Summit County Courthouse that was razed in 1905.
Long gone is the bronze eagle that perched on the sphere that sits atop the pillar.
Why were German immigrants moved to memorialize a former resident of Akron?
''The Germans take interest in everything in their adopted country,'' an alliance official said in a 1910 Beacon Journal article about the Aug. 21 dedication.
''Nothing had been done to preserve the memory of John Brown.'' the official said, ''and we, the Germans, felt it was our duty to take some step . . . ''
In 1938, a group called the Negro 25 Year Club added a 30-foot-diameter stone bench — surrounding the pillar — and a marker that includes an image of Brown. The marker declares, ''He died to set his brothers free. His soul goes marching on.''
Vandals carved named names in the pillar long ago — before the zoo extended its fence several years ago to include the memorial.
''That secured it from any further vandalism,'' Lieberth said. Trouble is, he said, ''it has been closed from public view.''
Lieberth said moving the monument would cost about $100,000. That's not a large sum, he acknowledged, but moving it is one thing and finding the right home is another, he said.
A committee of city officials and community members recommended the monument be moved to city-owned land on the corner at Cedar and Maple streets and Rhodes Avenue.
Committee members envisioned an organization partnering with the city and erecting a nearby building on the land, part of which could be used as a visitor information center.
More recently, Lieberth, said, officials with the Summit County Historical Society have talked about relocating the memorial to property adjacent to the John Brown home. The historical society maintains the home.
If the memorial were outside the Brown home, society Executive Director Paula Moran said, visitors could view it without paying admission — as they would have to at the zoo. The home could serve it as a visitor center.
Regardless of one how feels about Brown, Moran said, ''let's acknowledge Akron's historic role and connection to the abolition of slavery.''
TOUR INFORMATION:
Beginning Saturday, July 4 the public can take free, guided tours of the 1910 John Brown Memorial in Perkins Woods on land maintained by the Akron Zoo.
The site usually is not open to the public.
Tours will be at 9 a.m. Saturday , 4 p.m. Sunday // 9 a.m. Aug. 15, 4 p.m. Aug. 16 // 9 a.m. Sept. 5 and 4 p.m. Sept. 6.
Participants should tell the parking attendant they are at the zoo for the tour.
Here are some of the other Akron activities commemorating the 150th anniversary of John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, Va., in 1859.
-- A commemoration will be held Oct. 16 at the zoo on the anniversary of the Harpers Ferry raid. A time will be announced.
-- The Akron Art Museum will open an exhibit Oct. 16 titled The Legend of John Brown. It will feature selections from Jacob Lawrence's print series.
-- The Akron Symphony will perform Malone University professor Jesse Ayers' new work, The Passion of John Brown, at 8 p.m. Oct. 17 at E.J. Thomas Hall.
-- Akron-Summit County Public Library's Special Collections Division will display artifacts from Brown's era from July through December.
-- A memorial event will be held Dec. 2 at First Presbyterian Church, 647 E. Market St., to commemorate the day Brown was executed in 1859. A time will be announced.
Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com.
A monument honoring a man hailed as a hero by some and branded as a terrorist by others is tucked inside the Akron Zoo.
This holiday weekend the public will have a rare chance to view the modest sandstone pillar commemorating famed abolitionist John Brown, who lived in Akron.
The free, guided tours are part of a series of events commemorating the 150th anniversary of Brown's failed raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Va., in 1859.
The monument, which will turn 100 next year, is in a rugged, wooded area of the zoo previously not open to the public.
City officials and others long have talked about moving the memorial to a more visible, accessible location, but the monument has stayed put.
While the memorial is virtually hidden, ''we get a steady stream of inquiries about it,'' said David Lieberth, the city's deputy mayor for administration and a local history buff. ''He was Akron's best-known citizen internationally before LeBron James.''
In preparation for the memorial tours, zoo and city workers have installed a gravel access road and have cleared brush.
Brown put Harpers Ferry on the map when he and his followers raided the arsenal Oct. 16, 1859 — in hopes of seizing weapons and leading slaves in a rebellion. At least four civilians, including the town mayor, were among the fatalities
Brown was executed by hanging less than two months later, on Dec. 2. Church bells tolled in Akron and Hudson, where Brown grew up, at his death.
The raid and Brown's execution helped to spark the Civil War, some historians say.
''Without him challenging the institution of slavery,'' Lieberth said, ''things may not have materialized as quickly as they did after his death.
''What is still troubling about him is that he did murder people in his cause,'' said Lieberth, who will talk about Brown during the tours. ''He saw himself as a warrior.''
In 1910, the German-American Alliance erected the pillar on land that would become Perkins Woods Park.
The area is not far from Brown's former home, on Diagonal Road, where he lived during the 1840s and 1850s and raised sheep for Col. Simon Perkins, of Akron's founding family.
The memorial's centerpiece is a sandstone column salvaged from the Summit County Courthouse that was razed in 1905.
Long gone is the bronze eagle that perched on the sphere that sits atop the pillar.
Why were German immigrants moved to memorialize a former resident of Akron?
''The Germans take interest in everything in their adopted country,'' an alliance official said in a 1910 Beacon Journal article about the Aug. 21 dedication.
''Nothing had been done to preserve the memory of John Brown.'' the official said, ''and we, the Germans, felt it was our duty to take some step . . . ''
In 1938, a group called the Negro 25 Year Club added a 30-foot-diameter stone bench — surrounding the pillar — and a marker that includes an image of Brown. The marker declares, ''He died to set his brothers free. His soul goes marching on.''
Vandals carved named names in the pillar long ago — before the zoo extended its fence several years ago to include the memorial.
''That secured it from any further vandalism,'' Lieberth said. Trouble is, he said, ''it has been closed from public view.''
Lieberth said moving the monument would cost about $100,000. That's not a large sum, he acknowledged, but moving it is one thing and finding the right home is another, he said.
A committee of city officials and community members recommended the monument be moved to city-owned land on the corner at Cedar and Maple streets and Rhodes Avenue.
Committee members envisioned an organization partnering with the city and erecting a nearby building on the land, part of which could be used as a visitor information center.
More recently, Lieberth, said, officials with the Summit County Historical Society have talked about relocating the memorial to property adjacent to the John Brown home. The historical society maintains the home.
If the memorial were outside the Brown home, society Executive Director Paula Moran said, visitors could view it without paying admission — as they would have to at the zoo. The home could serve it as a visitor center.
Regardless of one how feels about Brown, Moran said, ''let's acknowledge Akron's historic role and connection to the abolition of slavery.''
TOUR INFORMATION:
Beginning Saturday, July 4 the public can take free, guided tours of the 1910 John Brown Memorial in Perkins Woods on land maintained by the Akron Zoo.
The site usually is not open to the public.
Tours will be at 9 a.m. Saturday , 4 p.m. Sunday // 9 a.m. Aug. 15, 4 p.m. Aug. 16 // 9 a.m. Sept. 5 and 4 p.m. Sept. 6.
Participants should tell the parking attendant they are at the zoo for the tour.
Here are some of the other Akron activities commemorating the 150th anniversary of John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, Va., in 1859.
-- A commemoration will be held Oct. 16 at the zoo on the anniversary of the Harpers Ferry raid. A time will be announced.
-- The Akron Art Museum will open an exhibit Oct. 16 titled The Legend of John Brown. It will feature selections from Jacob Lawrence's print series.
-- The Akron Symphony will perform Malone University professor Jesse Ayers' new work, The Passion of John Brown, at 8 p.m. Oct. 17 at E.J. Thomas Hall.
-- Akron-Summit County Public Library's Special Collections Division will display artifacts from Brown's era from July through December.
-- A memorial event will be held Dec. 2 at First Presbyterian Church, 647 E. Market St., to commemorate the day Brown was executed in 1859. A time will be announced.
Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com.
Comments
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Methron, OH
Posted 12:06 PM, 07/01/2009
Hip-hip-a-kayy!!
Posted 01:48 PM, 07/01/2009
When did they close that memorial to the public in the first place? I remember seeing it as a kid in the early 80's....
Posted 02:24 PM, 07/01/2009
The fact that this monument is located in a zoo and had been hidden from public view for decades is downright shameful. Of course, it needs to be moved. This man is as much an American hero (and martyr) of the Second American Revolution (Civil War) as Washington is of the First American Revolution. Akron should display his monument prominently and proudly.
How about in the center of the University of Akron campus? That way perhaps a new generation of Americans will not be as ignorant about his significance as were previous ones.
akron, oh
Posted 03:28 PM, 07/01/2009
@ spirit: A capital idea! And so true.
Lorain, oh
Posted 05:00 PM, 07/01/2009
great story, but I gotta laugh when the city worker says 100K is not a large sum of money
akron, oh
Posted 07:18 PM, 07/01/2009
John Brown was a terrorist! What he did was end the lives of innocent men. Slavery would not have led to the civil war if he hadn't consumed the nation with his terrorist acts. Our government was so pre-occupied with his antics, that alternative solutions to war were not taken seriously. This led to the south being fed up enough to attack the north. Revisionist historians made this man a hero instead of admitting to our national shames.
Richmond, VA
Posted 08:24 PM, 07/01/2009
I am glad the monument is out there and not here. Yea.. let's celebrate a man of great violence and hatred. " Johns Brown's bones are molding in his grave". He was a nut case. Why we are at it... let's put up a memorial to the man who shot Lincoln... and other assassins and terrorists....
Take a bulldozer to the monument.
Stow, OH
Posted 09:57 PM, 07/01/2009
I would like to see the monument stay where it is. True, it may take a little effort to get to it to see it but that is OK. Everything does not need to be easy access and the intent of those who created the monument should be honored. As for the person the monument honors - the debate about Jonh Brown's merit or lack thereof will go on for a long long time.
Posted 10:36 PM, 07/01/2009
@geneo56: The war's over, my friend.
Rootstown, Oh
Posted 11:07 PM, 07/01/2009
So, John Brown lived on Diagnal Road? Interesting. I also read that he recruited conspirators and stored firearms in Pierpont, Ohio, which is in Ashtabula county near the Pennsylvania border. He also had a mill northeast of Meadville, Pa. off of what is now State Rt 77. I believe the side road is named after him. There is a historical marker on Rt. 77.
Interesting history, as a conspirator who started the war was from Northeast Ohio and one of the last battles of the Civil War occured here in Ohio. Known as Morgan's Surrender, it occured near West Point, Ohio, which is south of Salem.
Tallmadge, OH
Posted 06:24 AM, 07/02/2009
Terrorist he was and got hung for it. Justice was served.
akron, oh
Posted 08:35 AM, 07/02/2009
@stleo: please inform us of these alternatives...AND THEIR TIME FRAMES.
@genoe56: U LOST! And the south has paid for it's lunacy ever since. I'll take JB's legacy ALL DAY LONG over your row of LOSING Generals and FAKE president.
@Grump: Your terrorist - My Freedom Fighter!
akron, oh
Posted 08:40 AM, 07/02/2009
One person with the courage of their convictions made all the difference! Hooray for the Human Spirit!
Sometimes time for talk is past.
akron, oh
Posted 11:01 AM, 07/02/2009
@J.L.Paine: The transition from slavery to paycheck would have been slow. We would have been forced to recognize a need to do so in the course of fighting off the spanish in the Spanish-American war. War ended slavery; not because of the evil of the act of slavery, but because of the need to think freely. The slave owners were just as constricted in their ability to think as the black man was in his ability to live. The constriction of free thought would have been forced out by a need to survive a war.
akron, oh
Posted 11:06 AM, 07/02/2009
The only "good" that came from the civil war was our nation learning how to fix the broken bodies of war-torn men. The problems of our fighting the civil war are many. The biggest one being that Afro-Americans were not truely free until our civil consciousness let us see them as equals. This did not happen as early as it could have. Only the evil of WWII showed us how to think. We would have learned this lesson in the 1800's if the hatred left over from the civil war had not clouded our natioal vision.
Posted 11:24 AM, 07/02/2009
OhioNewsHound
Posted 10:36 PM, 07/01/2009 @geneo56: The war's over, my friend.
Not according to thousands in the south who still fly the confederate flag. Or the hundreds of people in rural parts of the north (possibly transplants from the south) who also use that symbol.
akron, oh
Posted 11:48 AM, 07/02/2009
@J.L.Paine: If John Brown was a couragious man, then why did he kill those men at Harpers Ferry at night, in their sleep? That is the act of a COWARD.
Akron, OH
Posted 01:49 AM, 07/03/2009
I can't read these comments - there's too much ignorance. If killing sleeping soldiers is cowardice, I suppose Washington crossing the Delaware is as well. They killed sleeping soldiers, and on Christmas.
I'm interested in seeing the monument because it was very important to not only the civil rights struggles in Akron, but also to organized labor. John Brown has been appropriated by disadvantaged groups the world over, but the Akron monument is one of the few dedicated to him.
Methron, OH
Posted 08:00 AM, 07/03/2009
stleo, you are another person who obviously is not black, i can tell by your post on this article along with other post that didnt sound of "black derivity". I mean its cool if you want to have a avatar of anything you desire, but you when misrepresent or contradict it, its a whole nother thing, so either stop or change your pic again please, i'd hate to see you disapear like MiddleMan.
akron, oh
Posted 11:31 AM, 07/03/2009
@germy: My avatar is Lester Green,a.k.a. Beetlejuice, from the Howard Stern Show. He's an inspiration to us all.
akron, oh
Posted 11:33 AM, 07/03/2009
@redxblack: Washington was at war when he crossed the Delaware river. John Brown attacked men from OUR army, during peacetime. Do you see the difference?
akron, oh
Posted 11:35 AM, 07/03/2009
@germy: I won't go to war with you again. I won the last one, and middleman still posts. You did not scare him away. Lose the 'tude. dude.
akron, oh
Posted 12:13 PM, 07/03/2009
@germy: just because i'm white, doesn't mean I can't respect a great man, reguardless of his color.
Methron, OH
Posted 12:57 PM, 07/03/2009
stleo, he must be flyin under radar now, cause i can spot him in a single post since that date, could you send me a list of article he posted in so i can see what hes been saying and for proof? you lose the tude on this article, you know darn well John Brown is the reason Beatle Juice exist today, doubt it?
Im pretty sure Beatle Juice dosent think of John as a terrorist, so dont use his picture while stating that, ak?
P.S. you lost the last time and apolygized.
akron, oh
Posted 03:00 PM, 07/03/2009
@germy: read my expanation above, and you will see why I feel the way I do about John Brown. The only apology I gave was for pointing out that your post seemed stupid. That is not defeat. I respect you, but do not agree with you.
As far as middleman goes, he reposted on the same place where you thought you had shut him up. As I recall, he threatened to beat you up.
As far as Lester is concerned, John Brown does not come into play. Slavery would have ended anyway, with or without his terrorist actions. As I said, John Brown set black rights back many years.
akron, oh
Posted 03:02 PM, 07/03/2009
As an avid activist for equal rights, I've studied the effects of the civil war, and I believe there was a better way to end slavery.
akron, oh
Posted 03:03 PM, 07/03/2009
When all else has been done and said, Stop being an oysterhead.
Methron, OH
Posted 04:11 PM, 07/03/2009
I dont care for your reasons, i just dont like the fact that you take someone image and make comments that most likely does not reflect his opinion. No the apolgy was for reffering to me as stupid and contradicting your bully statement. Defeat indeed it was, if not a tie, sure not you winning as you stated. I also respect you because your one of thefew who types withsince on here, and i also dont agree with you.
WOW i didnt even know, could you tell me the name of the article cause i dont have it saved, name recent article the he posted on.
Lester who? the one who got mad and called us idots for posting on this site, but comes back from time to time to be an "idiot" poster??
And im sure your reasons fail in comparison to the great minds with reasons to memorialize John Brown.
When all else has been done and said, stop battling cause i leave your points dead.
akron, oh
Posted 04:39 PM, 07/03/2009
that made NO sense.
Methron, OH
Posted 04:56 PM, 07/03/2009
It makes NO sense that you didnt understand the WHOLE thing with just a few letters missing...but you reply does, translation, why did i provoke immaculate when there no way of beating him in debates.
akron, oh
Posted 05:44 PM, 07/03/2009
HAHA I love your sense of humor!!!
I do wish I could make you see my point about John Brown; he really did set this country in the wrong direction.
Methron, OH
Posted 06:21 PM, 07/03/2009
You know what, forget what i was about to say, you are not the enemy my friend, your energy is not geared toward constant negativity, be safe out here and stay smart.
akron, oh
Posted 06:28 PM, 07/03/2009
Happy 4th, dude!
akron, oh
Posted 02:31 AM, 07/04/2009
@stleo: WWWhat? How does killing folks at night confirm cowardice? I won't even waste time undoing that rediculous assertion.
You are serious, which means you are truly the twisted one. I love a good debate, but something is wrong with a thought process that says about the institution of American Slavery: "wooah, not so fast". Documented American Slavery PRE-dated the republic itself. 1609 in Jamestown...
So what you've been reading tells you that 256 years - 2.5 CENTURIES - 10 GENERATIONS - was NOT QUITE ENOUGH?!?!?
This literature further asserts that 45 years LATER the time would've been better? Because of another war, a "common" war against an external enemy???
So after 45 MORE years of this nation's ECONOMIC FOUNDATION being deepened in the FREE LABOR of slavery - the Spanish American War would've made the 12th & 13th generation of American slave holders SEE THE LIGHT AND GIVE UP A WAY OF LIFE THAT TRANSCENDED THEIR HISTORICAL CULTURAL CONCIOUSNESS? And that we Americans would've somehow avoided the racial hatred that was INSTALLED AT THE VERY FOUNDING OF THE NATION?
That's convenient. It also requires a complete DISCONNECT from human (not just american) nature and how it (nature) impacts behavior and thus history.
Any thoughtful, right thinking person above 30 years old can put this (human nature),in perspective...I shall not offend them or lecture those who cannot or will not see. You seem to be in the later group.
If there are ideals worth dying for - are they not also worth killng for?
akron, oh
Posted 01:14 PM, 07/04/2009
@j.l.paine: What you seem to misungerstand is the fact that MORE african americans continued to suffer an even worse fate than slavery, for another 100 years, because we ended slavery with the south possessing the wrong mindset. Those angry southerners killed Every black they could because of their anger.They made segragation a way of life.
If slavery had ended with an equal understanding of human rights, throughout the country, then african americans would have ended their suffering in the 1890's, instead of the 1970's.
akron, oh
Posted 01:17 PM, 07/04/2009
Life is more important than ideals. It was wrong to kill to prove ANYTHING. Money and life teach us more than death. John Brown would have served this country better if he took the time to PROPERLY educate men.
akron, oh
Posted 09:21 AM, 07/06/2009
@stleo: I misunderstand nothing here. What you terribly misunderstand is the nature of POWER & HUMAN NATURE,(and that is not just white folks nature).
Your premise: that people will voluntarily & without retribution, - in the name of some common good - relinquish the only way of life they've ever known is laughable.
There is no such example...(Though I know you will try to find one that doesn't fit).
U say: 'Life is more important than ideals'.
I say: If the signers of the Declaration of Idependence believed that - the U.S.A. would not be. (Or maybe that ideal should've waited until the BRITISH got bored or distracted)?!?!
You say: 'It is wrong to kill to prove anything'.
I say: So you're a pacifist? If so, I respect that...I also disagree, however.
If you are just seeking some flimsy cover here, which I suspect, try harder.
You say - in thought: The way slavery ended was/is the problem.
I say: The fact that slavery began, was fostered and institutionalized (By the Catholic Church, then Governments, then many Protestant Denominations), in the first place IS & WAS THE PROBLEM. Therefore & then, everything falls from that "Original Sin". It's all nasty and distasteful to everyone involved.
