HARPER FERRY NATIONAL PARK

WHEN HUSBAND AND I FIRST MET WE VISITED SOME SITES BACK EAST. ONE WAS HARPER'S FERRY WHERE THERE ARE MUSEUMS, RESTORED STONE HOUSES, AND INFORMATION REGARDING THIS HISTORIC COMMUNITY. THE INFORMATION REGARDING THIS HISTORIC COMMUNITY. THE HISTORY OF HARPERS FERRY IS MUTLI-LAYERED THAT INFLUENCED THE COURSE OF OUR NATION'S HISTORY. IT WAS HERE WHERE THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL AMERICAN RAILROAD AMERICAN RAILROAD ARRIVED; JOHN BROWN'S ATTACK ON SLAVERY; THE LARGEST SURRENDER OF FEDERAL TROOPS DURING THE WAR; EDUCATION OF FORMER SLAVES IN ONE OF THE EARLIEST INTEGRATED SCHOOLS IN THE U S. THEY HAVE A LIBRARY THAT PERTAINS TO SIX THEMES OF THIS NATIONAL PARK. IT HAS HISTORIC PHOTOS, MAPS, ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS, ARCHAEOLOGICAL REPORTS, HISTORIC BUILDING REPORTS AND ARMORY RECORDS.


ROBERT HARPER WAS FROM PHILADELPHIA AND IN 1747 HE BECAME A BUILDER OF A CHURCH IN VIRGINIA. AS HE TRAVELED THROUGH MARYLAND HE OBTAINED A PATENT FOR 125 ACRES IN 1771 NEAR SHENANDOAH AS IT HAD AMPLE WATER POWER AND WAS A STRATEGIC PLACE FOR TRANSPORTATION AND TRAVEL. IN 1763 THE ATTORNEY GENERAL ASSEMBLY ESTABLISHED THE TOWN OF SHENANDOAH FALLS. IN 1775 HARPER BUILT A SECOND HOME IN THE LOWER TOWN. HARPER DIED IN 1782 WHEN THE STRUCTURE WAS COMPLETED. IT IS THE OLDEST HOUSE IN THE LOWER TOWN.


GEORGE WASHINGTON TRAVELED HERE TO COMPLETE RIVER IMPROVEMENTS ON THE POTOMAC RIVER IN 1785. HE TRAVELED BY CANOE WITH 2 OTHERS 3 MILES DOWN THE RIVER. NINE YEARS LATER HE ESTABLISHED A FEDERAL ARMORY AND ARSENAL THERE!


JOHN HALL WAS A RIFLEMAKER WHO CAME TO HARPER'S FERRY FOR TWENTY YEARS IN 18 22. HE PERFECTED THE ART OF MANUFACTURING RIFLES. HE WAS CONTRACTED BY THE SECRETARY OF WAR TO MAKE 1000 RIFLES.. HE LAID A SOLID FOUNDATION OF DEVELOPING A FACTORY SYSTEM AT HARPER'S FERRY.


IN 1859 JOHN BROWN AND HIS U S ARMY TOOK POSSESSION OF THE ARSENAL AND ARMORY. ON OCTOBER IN 1859 A STORMING PARTY OF MARINES BROKE DOWN THE DOOR OF THE ARMORY AND TOOK BROWN AND THE RAIDERS CAPTIVE. HE WAS CHARGED FOR CONSPIRING WITH SLAVES TO COMMIT TREASON AND MURDER. HE WAS TRIED, CONVICTED AND HAND HANGED IN DECEMBER. THIS RAID REMAINS AS PART OF OUR LEGACY OF OUR STRUGGLE WITH SLAVERY.


IN 1783 THOMAS JEFFERSON VISITED HARPERS FERRY VIEWING THE PASSAGE OF POTOMAC THROUGH THE BLUE RIDGE FROM A ROCK THAT IS NAMED FOR HIM. IN 1803 MERRIWEATHER LEWIS TRAVELED TO HARPER'S FERRY TO PROCURE WEAPONS FOR TRANSCONTINENTAL EXPEDITION. HE PROCURED A COLLAPSIBLE IRON BOAT FRAME WITH HIS WEAPONS. HE SPENT A MONTH HERE WAITING FOR HIS LIST OF SUPPLIES TO BE MADE BY THE ARMORY. THE UNUSUAL BOAT WAS WATER PROOF AS IT WAS COVERED BY HIDES AND COULD HOLD OVER 8000 POUNDS! APPARENTLY THE BOAT NEVER REALLY WORKED ON HIS EXPEDITION AND HE TRIED TO REPAIR IT BUT IT DID NOT FLOAT IN THE WATER.!


JAMES BURTON WAS A VIRGINIAN BORN IN 1823 WHO WORKED AS A MACHINIST AT HARPERS FERRY AND DESIGNED A BULLET THAT THE U S ARMORY ADOPTED. HE WAS A LIEUTENANT TO THE CONFEDERATE STATES IN 1861. IN 1865 HE WAS TAKEN PRISONER ALONG WITH THE CONFEDERATE GARRISON. HE SIGNED AN OATH OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE US AND WAS GRANTED A PRESIDENTIAL PARDON BY ANDREW JACKSON. AFTER THE CIVIL WAR BURTON RETURNED TO ENGLAND TO SUPERINTEND A NEW ARMORY BUT RETURNED TO THE US IN 1868. IN 1873 HE RETURNED TO VIRGINIA. BECAUSE OF ILL HEALTH HE TOOK UP FARMING. BURTON DIED IN 1894.


WHEN THOMAS JACKSON BECAME ONE OF THE CONFEDERACY'S MOST FAMOUS SOLDIERS IN 1861 AFTER VIRGINIA SUCCEEDED FROM THE UNION IN COLONEL THOMAS JACKSON SPENT THE NEXT SIX WEEKS DRILLING 1000'S OF VIRGINIA VOLUNTEERS BEFORE MOVING SOUTH TO SHENANDOAH VALLEY. IN THE FALL OF 1862 HERE RETURNED TO THE TOWN. HE CAME ONE OF GENERAL LEE'S TRUSTED GENERALS HE TRAPPED THE UNION GARRISON INSIDE HARPERS FERRY. THIS SECURED THE SURRENDER OF 12,000 UNION TROOPS - THE LARGEST IN THE CIVIL WAR.


WILLIAM DU BOIS BROKE NEW GROUND ON MANY FRONTIERS IN HIS CONTROVERSIAL LIFE. HE EARNED HIS PHD IN SOCIOLOGY FROM HARVARD AND WAS THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN TO DO SO. HE BECAME THE FIRST THE PRINCIPAL ARCHITECT OF CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT. HE BECAME CONNECTED TO HARPER'S FERRY IN 1905 WHEN HE WAS A LEADER OF AN ELITE GROUP OF AFRICAN AMERICANS IN 1905 CALLED THE NIAGARA MOVEMENT. THIS MARKED HIS ASSAULT RACIAL DISCRIMINATION. THERE WAS A COLLEGE ON HARPERS FERRY AND THE NIAGARA MOVEMENT MET THERE IN 1906 HE RETURNED THERE 44 YEARS LATTER AS THE COMMON SPEAKER FOR THE 1950'S GRADUATING CLASS OF STORER COLLEGE.


IN 1905 HE DRAFTED A CALL TO A FEW SELECT PEOPLE. THE CALL ORGANIZED AGGRESSIVE ACTION ON PART OF THE MEN WHO BELIEVED IN NEGRO FREEDOM, AND OPPOSITION TO THE METHODS STRANGLING HONEST CRITICISM. HE GATHERED A GROUP OF MEN FROM EVERY REGION IN THE COUNTRY AND THEY MET IN CANADA, THEY WROTE THE DECLARATION OF PRINCIPAL'S OUTLINING THE FUTURE OF BLACK PEOPLE. THIRTEEN MONTHS LATTER THEY HELD THEIR FIRST PUBLIC MEETING IN THE U S AT THE COLLEGE IN HARPER'S FERRY. JOHN BROWNS FORT HAD BECOME A SHRINE FOR FREEDOM TO THE BLACKS. BAPTISTS HAD OPENED STORER COLLEGE AS A MISSION SCHOOL TO EDUCATION TO EDUCATE BLACK SLAVES.


BY 1906 WOMEN HAD JOINED THE MOVEMENT. THERE WERE INFORMATION SPEECHES, MEETINGS, AND SPECIAL ADDRESSES. MANY BLACKS FELT IT WAS A VERY SUITABLE PLACE FOR THEIR MEETINGS. A HIGHLY WAS A DAY OF HONORING JOHN BROWN AS THEY HELD A SILENT PILGRIMAGE TO HIS FORT. THEY REMOVED THEIR SHOES WHERE THIS FORT STOOD AND MARCHED AROUND IT SINGING THE 'BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC".



THE NEXT MORNING THERE WERE MORE INSPIRATIONAL SPEECHES. ONE BLACK SCHOLAR CALLED IT THE MOST STIRRING SPEECH IN THE LIFE OF THE BLACK MOVEMENT. THE NEXT MORNING WILLIAN DU BOIS READ HIS ADDRESS TO THE MEETING THAT THE BLACKS CLAIM FREEDOM , POLITICAL, FREEDOM, CIVIL AND SOCIAL RIGHTS, AND UNTIL THEY GET THEM THEY WILL NEVER CEASE TO PROTEST. THERE BATTLE IS NOT FOR THEMSELVES BUT FOR ALL TRUE AMERICANS. THIS ORGANIZATION CONTINUED FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE.

HARPERS FERRY NATIONAL PARK