Our Kansas Stories - John Brown
Our Kansas Stories
"The Radicalization of John Brown in Kansas Territory"
John Brown, one of the most controversial figures in American history, can be viewed through many lenses. Over time his persona became bigger than life. Brown can be seen as a hero or a terrorist. Were his actions mad and reckless or compassionate and calculated? He was, perhaps, all or none of these things. Evidence shows he was a man who believed the end justifies the means. How did he become such a complicated figure and what role did Kansas play in his radicalization?
This publication is sent to members on a quarterly basis. It will provide some essential storylines and highlight key collections to be included in new exhibits at the Kansas Museum of History.
Read this issue:
"The Radicalization of John Brown in Kansas Territory" | PDF
Member newsletter insert | PDF
Map of locations referenced in this issue | PDF
Explore resources related to this issue in Kansas Memory:
- Tragic Prelude by John Steuart Curry
- John Brown ascends the scaffold, from Frank Leslie's Illustrated
- Portrait of Frederick Douglass
- Letter from Frederick Douglass to John Brown
- Portrait of John Brown
- Map of Brownsville, contained in a letter from John Brown, Jr., to John Brown
- Portrait of Florella Brown Adair
- Reverend Samuel Adair in cabin
- Adair cabin
- Fork with initials FBA
- Porcelain tea cup with words Brother
- Portrait of John Brown
- John Brown's Sharps carbine rifle
- C. Sharps advertisement
- Kansas Pioneer, Extra
- George Clarke's desk
- James Lane's spyglass
- Portrait of James Lane
- Wakarusa Treaty
- U.S. District Court Indictment
- Portrait of Samuel Jones
- Attack on Lawrence
- Southern Rights flag
- Portrait of Charles Sumner
- John Brown's saber
- Black Jack battlefield
- Articles of agreement following Battle of Black Jack
- Directing John Brown to the Free State Camp by Samuel Reader
- John Brown's surveyor's compass
- Camp Saunders
- Samuel Walker's shotgun
- John Brown's statement on Battle of Osawatomie
- Battle of Hickory Point by Samuel Reader
- Marais des Cygnes Massacre from Beyond the Mississippi by Albert D. Richardson
- John Brown's fortified cabin
- Augustus Wattle's desk
- John Brown's Parallels
- Portrait of John Brown
- John Steuart Curry sketch of John Brown
