The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School Communication Arts and Sciences THE CONTESTABLE JOHN BROWN: ABOLITIONISM AND THE CIVIL WAR IN U.S. PUBLIC MEMORY A Thesis in Communication Arts and Sciences by Anne C. Harries © 2011 Anne C. Harries Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts December 2011 ii The thesis of Anne C. Harries was reviewed and approved* by the following: J. Michael Hogan Liberal Arts Research Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences Stephen H. Browne Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences Jeremy Engels Assistant Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences Kirt H. Wilson Associate Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences Director of Graduate Studies *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School iii ABSTRACT Abolitionist John Brown is a divisive figure in United States history. He features prominently in our national historical narrative, but his radical politics, religious fanaticism, and violent methods have led to polarized memories of his contributions to the abolitionist cause and his role in the coming of the U.S. Civil War. Some consider Brown a hero or a martyr of abolitionism, while others view him as a violent extremist, even a madman. Over time, Americans from across the political spectrum have mobilized Brown’s memory to advance particular political and social causes, sometimes on opposing sides of the same issue. This thesis examines three instances of public controversy over the memory of John Brown. In each of these case studies, Brown’s public memory has been rhetorically constructed and vigorously contested. First, I explore a controversy over regionalist painter John Steuart Curry’s depiction of Brown in the Kansas Statehouse mural, The Tragic Prelude. Some Kansans praised the mural for highlighting their state’s radical past, while others were offended that Curry would link Kansas history with the life of a murderous madman. I argue that The Tragic Prelude acted as a site for these Kansans to contest their state’s identity and its place in the larger narrative of Civil War history. Second, I will examine Brown’s first appearance on the silver screen in the 1940 Hollywood film, Santa Fe Trail. I argue that this film re-envisioned the coming of the Civil War, casting Brown as a stereotypical Western villain. In the process, Santa Fe Trail oversimplified the complex coming-of-the-Civil War narrative, blaming the war iv almost entirely on Brown, and implying that it might have been avoided were it not for Brown’s religious delusions and fanatical behaviors. Finally, I analyze a 1959 controversy over if and how the centennial of Brown’s Harpers Ferry raid should be commemorated. Although Brown’s raid was eventually remembered on its hundredth anniversary, the planners of the event took care to avoid celebrating the raid, especially in ways that might be taken as an endorsement of Brown’s radicalism or of his violence. I argue that in the social and political context of the time, this rejection of Brown—and of the liberal, abolitionist principles for which he stood—functioned simultaneously as an expression of Cold War distaste for “radicalism” and as a repudiation of one of the historical memories underlying the civil rights movement. Ultimately, these three case studies show how, when Brown’s memory is invoked and contested, it typically has more to do with the politics of the moment than with discovering the “truth” of the past. John Brown serves as an ideal vehicle for articulating public memories because he embodies such important moral quandaries. Thus, a study of his public memories lends insights into how Americans confront issues such as the morality of slavery, the justifications for violence, and the “lessons” of the Civil War. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................... vii Chapter 1. Introduction: John Brown in U.S. Public Memory .................................... 1 Rhetoric and Collective Memory .......................................................................... 5 Public Memory Theory .................................................................................. 6 Public Memory and the U.S. Civil War ........................................................ 8 The Contested Memory of John Brown ............................................................... 10 Thesis Organization and Scope ............................................................................ 14 Notes ..................................................................................................................... 20 Chapter 2. The Tragic Prelude: John Brown’s Public Memory and Kansas Identity .................................................................................................................. 23 John Steuart Curry and the Origins of the Kansas Murals ................................... 25 Curry’s Inspiration for the Kansas Murals ........................................................... 30 The Tragic Prelude: Remembering Kansas History ............................................. 33 The Mural Controversy: A Contestation of Memory ........................................... 38 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 44 Notes ..................................................................................................................... 46 Chapter 3. John Brown, Villain: Santa Fe Trail’s Retelling of How the Civil War Began .................................................................................................................... 54 Santa Fe Trail: The Plot ....................................................................................... 58 The Duel Narratives of Santa Fe Trail ................................................................. 59 Rewriting History and Reframing the Causes of War .......................................... 66 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 72 Notes ..................................................................................................................... 76 Chapter 4. To Commemorate or Not to Commemorate?: Remembering the Centennial of John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry ............................................ 79 Commemorating the U.S. Civil War Centennial .................................................. 81 Harpers Ferry Raid: The Historical Account ........................................................ 87 Downplaying the Centennial of John Brown’s Raid ............................................ 91 Harpers Ferry Raid: The Centennial Commemoration ......................................... 97 Commemoration Analysis .................................................................................... 100 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 108 Notes ..................................................................................................................... 111 vi Chapter 5. Conclusion: How Should We Remember John Brown? ............................ 121 John Brown and the Politics of Civil War Memory ............................................. 124 John Brown’s Enduring Legacy ........................................................................... 128 Notes ..................................................................................................................... 130 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................ 132 vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank a number of individuals and groups for their assistance with and support of this project. The first is The Pennsylvania State University Department of Communication Arts and Sciences, for their generous funding of two research trips that made this project possible: one to the Kansas Historical Society Archives and Kansas Statehouse, and another to the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park Archives. I am also grateful to the many Penn State faculty members who offered their support and feedback as I worked on this project. I am greatly indebted to my committee members: Dr. J. Michael Hogan, Dr. Stephen H. Browne, and Dr. Jeremy Engels. I thank Dr. Hogan for his detailed feedback and advice on each chapter, which greatly influenced the quality and direction of this project. I thank Dr. Browne for his counsel, and I would be remiss if I did not mention that it was his seminar on public memory that first prompted me to explore public memories of John Brown. I thank Dr. Engels, a fellow Kansan, for his guidance and support. I also thank Dr. Kirt Wilson, whose writing advice and textual criticism seminar greatly shaped the third chapter of this thesis. In addition to faculty, many Penn State graduate students enthusiastically supported my work on this project. I would especially like to thank Rachel Johnson, Kristin Mathe, Mark Hlavacik, Sarah Summers, John Minbiole, and Jess Kuperavage, who each offered their helpful feedback and advice. I had the pleasure of traveling back to my home state of Kansas to conduct archival research on The Tragic Prelude. There are many people at the Kansas Historical viii Society Archives that I would like to thank. As someone new to the archival research process, I appreciate everything that Lin Fredericksen did to prepare me for work