African-American Heritage Trail
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From Rebellion Frederick Douglass Republic” and “John Brown’s Body.” This inspirational morning Storer College - On May 30, 1881, Frederick Douglass delivered a memorable was followed by an equally stirring afternoon as presentations A Legacy Is Born Lockwood House oration on the subject of John Brown in front of Anthony and speeches were given by Henrietta Leary Evans, whose Hall. The invitation to speak was on the occasion of the 14th brother and nephew had fought with Brown at Harpers Ferry; Anniversary of Storer College. Especially notable was the Lewis Douglass, son of Frederick Douglass; W.E.B. Du Bois, presence among the platform guests of Andrew Hunter, the and Reverend C. Ransom, pastor of the Charles Street African John Brown Museum District Attorney of Charles Town who had prosecuted Brown Methodist Episcopal Church in Boston. Ransom’s address John Brown (1800-1859) was a tanner, land surveyor, and secured his conviction. The address was subsequently was described by many as a masterpiece and according to farmer and ardent abolitionist. On the night of October published, with proceeds of its sale earmarked for the Benjamin Quarles in “Allies for Freedom,” was the most stirring 16, 1859, Brown led 21 men, including five black men endowment of a John Brown Professorship at Storer College. single episode in the brief life of the Niagara Movement.” The – Dangerfield Newby, Osborne Perry Anderson, John movement continued until 1911. In that year, Du Bois wrote to Anthony Copeland, Shields his colleagues advising them to join the new NAACP. Niagara, Green and Lewis Sheridan nd as an organization, ceased to exist, but the principles and ideals Leary – with a single The 2 Niagara Movement Meeting In August 1906, members of the Niagara Movement, an early that evolved during its years continued to gain momentum into ambition; they were the 21st Century. to take possession of Civil Rights organization, met on the campus of Storer College, the United States in Harpers Ferry. This meeting was symbolically important Armory and Arsenal since this was the group’s first meeting on American soil. The OutstandingHistoric Harpers Alumnus Ferry of Storer College: in Harpers Ferry initial meeting, organized by Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois, was held in 1905 at the Erie Beach Hotel in Ft. Erie, Ontario, Canada. Racial J.R. Clifford (1875) –first black lawyer in West Virginia who in order to arm owned and operated the first black newspaper in the state. an uprising of prejudice forced Du Bois to move the meeting to the Canadian slaves. Brown’s Storer College - side of Niagara Falls when accommodations were refused the Coralie Franklin Cook (1880) – became a distinguished abolitionist- Stephen T. Mather group in Buffalo, NY. Harpers Ferry had been carefully selected professor at Howard University. inspired raid Training Center as the location for the second meeting because of its connection targeted the to John Brown. Joseph Jeffery Walters (1885) – wrote “Guanya Pau,” the first armory and Convening on August 15th, the men of the Niagara African novel ever published in English. several strategic Movement were motivated to counter the compromise offered by Don Redman (1920) – known as the “Little Giant of Jazz,” he points throughout Storer College: Witness to History Booker T. Washington in response to the entrenched laws and was the first great arranger in jazz history. the town. Hoping Storer College was established following the Civil War in 1867. policies of the United States that were constitutionally solidified to gain access to the The Freedman’s Bureau and the Freewill Baptist opened the doors in 1896 with Plessy v. Ferguson which ruled that “separate but Nnamdi Azikiwe (1928) – became President of Nigeria. munitions, Brown’s to the college on October 2nd of that year, which made it the first equal” facilities were justified. Women attended the meeting as men envisioned their institution to provide formal school education for West Virginia’s well although were not officially recognized as members until raid as the event that freed slaves in the Shenandoah Valley at Harpers Ferry. The original the third meeting in Boston, MA. One woman in attendance Historic Harpers Ferry would spark a nationwide building known as Lockwood House served as a dormitory, church was Mary White Ovington, a reporter covering the meeting Harpers Ferry National Historical Park is located at the abolitionist movement. Although and classroom. Endowed by John Storer of Sanford, Maine, the for the New York Evening Post. An admirer of Dr. DuBois, she confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers in the Brown and the surviving members of his band were college began with 19 students and two teachers. communicated with him often. Ovington states of West Virginia, Virginia captured by Robert E. Lee, convicted of murder, treason From its beginnings, Storer functioned as the only state wrote of the participants, “Their power and and Maryland. George Washington, and conspiracy and hanged, this small group’s actions institution of higher education for black students until the West intellectual ability is manifest on hearing Thomas Jefferson, Meriwether Lewis, had such an impact that they remain immortalized in Virginia Colored Institute, now West Virginia State University, or talking with them.” Her interest in the John Brown, “Stonewall” Jackson, Harpers Ferry, a town of about 300 residents. The Brown opened in 1891. Eventually, Storer began offering bachelors’ degrees organization and its cause did not end Frederick Douglass, and W.E.B. Du men’s abolitionist efforts, and their trial and punishment and did so until it closed in 1955. Among its Board of Trustees was in Harpers Ferry. In 1909, Ovington was Bois are just a few of the prominent by their countrymen, foreshadowed the bloodiest years Frederick Douglass, who spoke on campus in 1881. For 25 years, appointed executive secretary of the National individuals who left their mark on this in the history of the United States. Sixteen months after Storer was the only school in West Virginia that offered African Association for the Advancement of Colored place. The story of Harpers Ferry is Brown’s arrest and execution, the Civil War broke out. For Americans an education beyond the primary level. More than 7,000 People (NAACP) where she remained active more than one event, one date, or one its historical significance, the lower part of the town has students attended the college during its illustrious history. Graduates for many years as a board member and individual. It involves a diverse number been preserved as a living history park, the Harpers Ferry of Storer went on to establish a variety of careers including education, chairperson. of people and events that influenced the National Historical Park. This unique museum details law and medicine. Storer was accredited as a baccalaureate institution course of our nation’s history. Harpers John Brown Day was recognized on Ferry witnessed the first successful Brown’s revulsion of slavery and traces his exploits and in 1946. The Niagara Movement held its second meeting at the college August 17. Attendees traveled to Murphy depicts scenes from his daring raid on Harpers Ferry. in 1906. W.E.B. Du Bois, J.R. Clifford and other notables of early application of interchangeable Farm, site of John Brown’s fort. The 100 manufacture, the arrival of the first civil rights activities attended the meeting at Storer. The Niagara Niagarites, as they were called, removed Niagara Movement leaders W.E.B. Du Bois Movement was a predecessor to the National Association for the successful American railroad, John their shoes and socks before treading this (seated), and (left to right) J.R. Clifford, L.M. Advancement of Colored People. Brown’s attack on slavery, the largest hallowed ground. Former dean of Howard Hershaw and F.H.M. Murray at Harpers surrender of Federal troops during the Storer College functioned as an institution until 1955. The University Law School, Richard T. Greener, Ferry on April 17, 1906. Civil War, and the education of former school’s archives are housed at West Virginia University and with the offered a prayer and stirring remarks. Then, Symbol Key Courtesy Special Collections and Archives slaves in one of the earliest integrated National Park Service in Harpers Ferry. single-file, the assemblage marched around University of Massachusetts Amherst Library schools in the United States. indicates sites on National Register of Historic Places the fort singing “The Battle Hymn of the indicates an admission fee African-American Heritage Trail A History of Strength - A Legacy of Achievement West Virginia’s African-American Heritage The contributions of African Americans to the tapestry of the culture and history of West Virginia are rich and varied. From first generations out of slavery to freed blacks to outstanding leadership in education, the ministry, the military, politics, medicine, arts and culture, civil rights and more, men and women challenged tremendous odds to build strong bonds and secure a good life. African Americans left their imprint on a vast wilderness to help forge a state of independence, distinctiveness and freedom that is embodied in all of West Virginia’s citizens “How important it is for us to celebrate our today. True Mountaineer Spirit can be found in every story of African-American heroes and she-roes” —Maya Angelou heritage and history, whom by birth or by chance made West Virginia their home. Festivals and Events African Americans became part of what was then the Western Virginia landscape The history and heritage of African Americans in in the 1780s as European exploring parties first brought enslaved blacks to the West Virginia is a proud one. The recognition of how Greenbrier and New River valleys. Blacks were the workforce as white settlers African Americans came to live in and contributed to staked claims moving up the New River and Big Sandy valleys toward the Ohio the development of the Mountain State can be found in River.