John Brown Today

Send us a textIn this episode, Lou explores the appellation, "Secret Six," which is often associated with the so-called inner circle of John Brown's supporters. Taking you on this imaginary tour, Lou travels through time to find references to the "Secret Six," finding a lot of interesting and sometimes musing flotsam and jetsam and a couple of high-profile associations with "Secret Six." But what he doesn't find is a term that has any real association with John Brown, his followers, or their stories. Join Lou as he gets to the bottom of "Secret Six"--which, it turns out, isn't very deep at all.Music: "Paradox" by Quincas Moreira (YouTube)

Send us a textIn this episode, Lou discusses two recent online articles to illustrate how John Brown is often appropriated and misused by writers in discussing contemporary issues.  The first article discussed is an effort to draw a parallel between John Brown and Luigi Mangione, who allegedly murdered a healthcare executive in cold blood last year. The second article presents John Brown as a Christian Nationalist. In both cases, Lou objects to the misuse of John Brown, showing how inaccurate these appropriations tend to be. Links to the articles, fyi:Will Shetterly, "What you say about Luigi Mangione is what you would've said about John Brown," Medium (Dec. 14, 2024).Shiv Parihar, "John Brown, Christian Nationalist," Providence Magazine (Dec. 13, 2024). Theme music: "Land of My Fathers" by The 126ers (YouTube)

Send us a textIn this episode, Lou discusses the animals--pets, livestock, and others who are part of the John Brown story, from the dogs of Harper's Ferry to a cat who went to Kansas.  Just when you thought you'd heard everything about John Brown, huh?Guest music: "Story of a Toy" by Freedom Trail Studio (Youtube)Also available on the John Brown Today YouTube station

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was born in 1906, and was a German Lutheran pastor, a figure noted in the theological world for his neo-orthodox views, and his most popular book, The Cost of Discipleship.  Bonhoeffer is more widely remembered as an anti-Nazi dissident who was a key founding member of the Confessing Church which opposed the Nazis.  In the 1940s, Bonhoeffer joined the German underground, but was arrested and incarcerated at Tegel Prison, where he remained for over a year. However, In 1945, documents were discovered that named Bonhoeffer among the dissidents and orders for his execution were made directly by Hitler himself.  Bonhoeffer received no fair trial and had no lawyer to defend him. To humiliate him, Bonhoeffer was marched in the nude to his gallows with a few other victims, although the time for execution may have been drawn out and all the more traumatic. According to one source, Nazis were known to interrupt a hanging, revive the victim, and then continue the process repeatedly before final execution. Today Dietrich Bonhoeffer is considered a hero. The question posed in this brief episode is, why is Bonhoeffer a hero for so many, but John Brown is not?

After the better of two years, John Brown Today is going back in production. This is just a brief message to greet listeners and to update them a bit, and thank them for maintaining an interest in this podcast. John Brown Today is coming back and I'm looking forward to what lies ahead.  So stay tuned.  Please note that two episodes will be uploaded for December 2024.Music: "Burden Laid Down" by The Westerlies (YouTube)

In this episode, Lou does a deep dive evaluation of the legend of John Brown kissing a black baby on the day of his execution,  a story that has been enshrined in poetry and paintings.  Sharing his research on the topic, Lou considers the evidence and draws some interesting conclusions suggesting that this legend may have more than a core of truth.Check out the video version on my YouTube channel here.Guest music (closing): Aaron Lieberman, "Move Up to the Mountains" (YouTube)

In this episode, Lou shares a conversation with author Ed Maliskas, a musician, clergyman, and researcher, the author of John Brown to James Brown: The Little Farm Where Liberty Budded, Blossomed, and Boogied (2016).  In this fascinating discussion, Ed talks about coming to learn about the old Kennedy Farm in Maryland where John Brown and his raiders lived prior to the Harper's Ferry raid in the summer and early fall of 1859.  However, as Ed learned, the farm, often referred to as the "John Brown farm" (not to be confused with John Brown's own home and farm in Lake Placid, N.Y.) has unfolding importance to black history--a site considered precious to the influential black fraternal order of  Elks in the 20th century, and later a popular R&B dance venue where many memorable black artists performed from the late 1950s until the mid-1960s, the last performer being the Godfather of Soul, James Brown.  Who would think that a humble little farm in Maryland would have such a historical pedigree--indeed, Ed Maliskas argues it was essentially the birthplace of the southern Civil Rights movement! Musical wallpaper for this episode:American Frontiers by Aaron Kenny (YouTube)New World A'Comin and Harlem by Duke Ellington (performed by the Cincinnati    Symphony Orchestra)And from some of the artists who performed at the Kennedy Farm:Sadie Mae by Sammy Fitzhugh & His MoroccansFeel Alright by Jimmy DotsonHurt Me to My Heart by Faye AdamsMoney Honey by Clyde McPhatter & the DriftersParty Lights by Claudine ClarkMystery Train by Junior ParkerShow Me Your Monkey by Kenny HamberIt's Just a Matter of Time by Brook Benton

In this episode, Lou takes on the difficult theme of Heyward Shepherd, the black porter who was mortally wounded by John Brown's men during the Harper's Ferry raid, on the night of October 16, 1859.  Reviewing the initial incidents of the raid, Lou considers the conventional narrative of Shepherd's demise, but then takes a sharp left turn: was Heyward Shepherd really a victim, or did his own actions instigate his shooting? And what was Heyward Shepherd trying to do when he was shot by one of Brown's raiders? The conclusion drawn from looking at the evidence may surprise you, and although it's an exceedingly sad story, it is always better that the truth of the incident be known--especially because it is also useful in understanding the developments in later years that typified the resurgence white supremacy after the demise of Reconstruction. To no surprise, Heyward Shepherd has a part in that story too.Guest music: "Mystery Train" by Michael J. Sheehy, from the album, "Ill Gotten Gains"

After an extended hiatus, Lou returns with a reaction & reflection upon the YouTube video, "John Brown: Terrorist or Hero?" which features a short lecture by the eminent historian David Blight.  John Brown Today features the audio version here, and listeners can also view the reaction & reflection video here (or copy this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV6GOH8Pslc)

In Part 2 of this two-part episode, Lou reflects upon the question of white allies, particularly in the case of John Brown's story. What did black leaders and other associates really think of John Brown?  Recalling Brown's devotion to black liberation and notable devotion to human equality, Lou suggests nevertheless that human interaction is by nature complex and even Brown might grate upon his black associates. How should these tensions be understood? Was he a paternalistic racist as some have charged in recent times? Did he presume too much despite being a notable and respected white ally in the struggle for justice?  Regardless, would-be allies and those otherwise interested in the theme of black-white alliances and intercultural alliances, in general, may find this historical reflection of interest.Guest theme music: "Progressive Moments" by Ugonna Onyekwe (YouTube Audio Library)

In Part 1 of "What Did Blacks Really Think of John Brown?" Lou reflects upon the question of white allies, particularly in the case of John Brown's story. What did black leaders and other associates really think of John Brown?  Recalling Brown's devotion to black liberation and notable devotion to human equality, Lou suggests nevertheless that human interaction is by nature complex and even Brown might grate upon his black associates. How should these tensions be understood? Was he a paternalistic racist as some have charged in recent times? Did he presume too much despite being a notable and respected white ally in the struggle for justice?  Regardless, would-be allies and those otherwise interested in the theme of black-white alliances and intercultural alliances, in general, may find this historical reflection of interest.Guest theme music: "Progressive Moments" by Ugonna Onyekwe (YouTube Audio Library)

Many people in the United States, especially (but not exclusively) white people, tend to think of John Brown as someone who was "crazy." In this episode, Lou surveys what he calls a historical "thread" regarding the alleged insanity of Brown.  Beginning with affidavits filed in Virginia in 1859 in an attempt by friends and relatives in Ohio to spare Brown's life, as well as Republican insanity rhetoric designed to dissociate Brown from their party, it is clear there is otherwise no historical evidence for the insanity notion. In the twentieth century, however, academics promoted Brown's alleged insanity, and the notion was disseminated in popular culture.   In the late twentieth century, although scholars began to back away from this unwarranted notion, it was replaced by notions of Brown being manic. Lou traces this thread through three publications by Robert McGlone, Kenneth Carroll, and Tony Horwitz. He also suggests secular inclinations among scholars make them inclined to attribute mental instability to Brown's fundamentalist religious beliefs. Guest music: "Climbing" by Reed Mathis

In this episode, Lou presents a narrative written by John Brown's young lawyer, George H. Hoyt, written only a few years after the abolitionist's hanging.  Hoyt went to join John Brown in Charlestown, Virginia (today West Va.) and support his lawyers, but really went as a spy for Brown's supporters in the North who wanted to launch a rescue. But not only was the rescue impossible by the time that Hoyt arrived in Virginia, but Brown did not want to escape.  Hoyt thus became part of the drama of Brown's trial and last days, a story that can be found in more detail in Lou's book, Freedom's Dawn: The Last Days of John Brown in Virginia (2015).The Hoyt narrative is provided in ten short segments that somewhat follow the serialized narrative that appeared in the Leavenworth Conservative in 1867, as well as a kind of epilogue that Hoyt published in The Kansas Weekly Tribune in 1870.  The narrative, written from a firsthand eyewitness reveals a great deal about Brown's trial and the supposed "fair trial" that he received at the hands of a court dominated by slaveholders and guided by Sen. James Mason of Virginia, the architect of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 and one of the ringleaders of the slaveholders' betrayal that would follow in 1861 following Lincoln's election.Guest music: "Bittersweet" by Silent Partner

In this episode, Lou responds to the comments of a thoughtful but critical podcast listener who has well-stated reasons for asking, "why John Brown?"  The question is a good one and Lou starts with personal and scholarly reflections on a range of views of Brown that range from anti-Brown to non-admirer.  Then, Lou shares the podcast listener's comments and attempts to make a response that hopefully is helpful to this friendly critic as well as others with similar thoughts on the abolitionist and his legacy.  Guest music:"Climbing" by Reed Mathis"American Frontiers" by Aaron Kenny

In this episode, Lou does a deep dive into the story of William Leeman, the youngest of John Brown's Harper's Ferry raiders.  From his origins in Maine to Kansas and his enlistment in John Brown's army, we look at the story of a young man with feet of iron and clay, whose death in Virginia in 1859 resonates with the racist gun violence and mass killings that grip our nation today.   A special note of thanks is due H. Scott Wolfe, for providing his extensive research on Leeman, the work of many years and many miles.  This episode is produced in his honor.Guest music by madIRFAN from Pixabay

In this episode, Lou is interviewed by Dr. Chris Dost, biblical scholar and pastor of the Northville Baptist Church in New Milford, Connecticut.  This audio is excerpted from an interview recorded on July 10, 2021.Closing tune: "Amazing Grace" by Cooper Cannell

In this episode, Lou provides a slice of biography, zooming in on John Brown's personal and economic challenges as a frontier entrepreneur and his often forgotten comeback in the early 1840s. While overlooked by unstudied and prejudiced scholars, Brown actually bounced back in the mid-1840s and distinguished himself as one of the leading experts on fine sheep and wool. Looking at Brown's attempt to intervene on behalf of wool growers in the 1840s, we get further insight into Brown's inclination to defend the underdog.  This observation provides a way to revisit the bias and prejudice that Brown's legacy has long faced both from the academy and Hollywood--a bias that we are still pushing back against today. The story of John Brown is not complicated: Brown is very consistent, and it is no surprise that his inclination to defend the downcast and the vulnerable would be a theme that flows from wool to slavery.This episode provides a special interlude and conclusion with special music by The Westerlies, featuring their song, "Burden Laid Down."  Visit the Westerlies website at westerliesmusic.com.

To begin the fourth cycle of John Brown Today, Lou reflects upon the life and contribution of Brown biographer, Oswald Garrison Villard, whose life of John Brown was first published in 1910. As Lou argues, Villard did a great favor to historical study and John Brown students by commissioning extensive research for his work--research that he could not even utilize to the fullest extent himself. On the other hand, Villard depreciated John Brown as a restless and principled murderer, used his economic clout to the disadvantage of W.E.B. DuBois, another biographer of Brown, and fueled more hostile biographies that followed.  As Lou discusses in this episode, Villard did so for reasons both ideological and familial. 

In this episode, Lou reflects upon the critical thesis of the late Gabriel Moran (1935-2021), who indefatigably pointed out  the distinction between "America" as a dream (and as a vast continental land mass) and The United States of America as a nation. Following Gabriel's lead, Lou reflects upon the linguistic and political challenges of confusing the two, something that is done as much by rightwingers as by critics of racism, including such eminent voices as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. What is the significance of confusing the USA with "America"? Lou explores this theme, observing that, interestingly, John Brown typically did not make this error.  He was quite aware that the problem with slavery and racism against which he struggled was a problem of The United States of America.  This episode is dedicated to the memory of Gabriel Moran, teacher and friend.--LDIf you're interested in exploring Gabriel's thinking about "America," see his book, America in the United States and the United States in America: A Philosophical Essay (iUniverse, 2018).

In this episode, Lou revisits the Harper's Ferry raid of October 16, 1859, presents some preliminary thoughts on the contemporary perspective and then addresses a number of key points, along with a "January 6th" epilogue.  The key points addressed in this extended episode are:1. What basically characterized John Brown's earlier Virginia plan and how it was changed in the 1850s, and why it was changed?2. Why did John Brown choose to capture the federal armory and what did he intend when he did so?3. To what degree did John Brown's movement in Harper's Ferry attract local enslaved people?4. Was the raid on Harper's Ferry an ill-fated venture that had no real chance of success?5. In what ways has our understanding of the HF raid been misshapen, and how has it  come down to us?John Brown's truth is ours too.  He did his part. Let's do our part too and save our nation from rightwing rebellion, which is the spirit of the slaveholders. 

In this episode Lou tries to answer the question, "Did John Brown celebrate Christmas?"  This leads us to consider both Thanksgiving and Christmas in the antebellum era, what they represented to the North and South, respectively, and their social significance. Then, taking a quick tour of the archives, Lou pulls some different vignettes relating John Brown to Christmas.Merry Christmas to those who observe the day, and happy holidays and happy new year to all!

In this episode, Lou reflects upon the 1859 words of abolitionist orator Wendell Phillips, that the hanged John Brown had "given this nation a text."  Lou considers how W.E.B. DuBois used the abolitionist as a text in writing his biography John Brown in 1909. Almost seventy years later, the leftist historian Albert Fried  likewise did so in the writing of his historiographic memoir, John Brown's Journey (1978). Both writers demonstrated that Wendell Phillips was correct:  Brown has given this nation a text, a fact that will not lessen in time.

In this episode, Lou reflects upon the "moral core" of Brown and Lincoln in juxtaposition. Mainly considering how these men are viewed in terms of religion and in regard to their roles in human liberation, Lou argues that Lincoln is neither a prophet nor a martyr, and that he is bested in both categories by Brown.  This episode is dedicated to the annual remembrance of John Brown's hanging on December 2, 1859.  

In this episode Lou talks with Dan Morrison, a journalist and artist who lives in Torrington, Connecticut, the birthplace of John Brown.  The basis of the conversation is Dan's recent explainer video, "Was John Brown a Terrorist?" an Explainer Video which succinctly and effectively addresses a theme that so many have distorted and skewed.  Dan is a listener of John Brown Today but he does a lot of thinking about the Old Man on his own, and he's working on a project that will interest JBT listeners for sure.  This episode closes with Dan's Explainer Video soundtrack, but you will be able to view and listen to it on YouTube here:https://youtu.be/ysIo0yyHxBc.

In this episode, Lou discusses the story of Mary Ellen Pleasant, an African American woman who has been lauded for her civil rights activities in 19th century San Francisco, but--more important to this podcast--claimed to have been a confidant and supporter of John Brown. Along the way, Lou shares a number of examples of stories and reports that connected claimants to the John Brown story, some of them obviously false, others arguably true, and some in-between, with a mix of the credible and interesting with fabrications and farce.  This is especially the case with Mary Ellen Pleasant whose claims, made before she died in 1904, to having aided and supported John Brown, particularly with a gift of $30,000, have been renewed in the press in recent years, winning Pleasant a place in Black History as an ally of John Brown.  Unfortunately, whatever her legacy entailed, her place in the John Brown story is quite questionable, and in "Mary Ellen Pleasant and 'The Rule of Credible Evidence,'" Lou will explain why.PS Happy 162nd  Harper's Ferry Raid Anniversary, Browniacs! 

In this episode, Lou continues his conversation with friend Ian Barford, the actor and  Brown-Douglass researcher. In this episode we discuss Ian's project on John Brown's relationship with Frederick Douglass and other black leaders of that period, including the impact that black nationalist archetypes had on Brown's thinking, and in turn how he responded in support of black self-determination. There is also some musing in regard to a trip to Kansas this past summer which they shared, both doing archive work as well as visiting historic sites. If you're interested, you can read an article and see pictures from that Kansas trip on the John Brown Today blog by clicking on this link.

Welcome back to John Brown Today! In this episode, the first of two parts, I'm talking with my friend, Ian Barford, a Tony-nominated actor who is also a John Brown enthusiast and, in his own right, quite a scholar and researcher. For some years now, Ian has been working artistically on the theme of John Brown and Frederick Douglass, and I'm excited for the direction that his work has taken. This summer, Ian and I traveled around Kansas, visiting historical sites and then the beautiful Kansas State Historical Society in Topeka, where I dug in for several days of solid research.  If you're interested, here's a link to the John Brown Today blog, where you'll find an article with pictures and links from our Kansas trip.I'm sure you'll enjoy our conversation and reflections on John Brown.  

In this episode, Lou reflects on the text of John Brown's 1859 document, "A Declaration of Liberty," which was intended as the official pronouncement of the liberation movement and "guerrilla" state that he intended to establish in the South after staging a political demonstration at Harper's Ferry.  After his movement failed and Brown was taken at Harper's Ferry, his documents were seized and preserved by Virginia authorities, including "A Declaration of Liberty."  Also included is a short response to comments made about Brown during a radio interview by Kate Masur, the author of the new book, Until Justice Be Done: America's First Civil Rights Movement From the Revolution to Reconstruction.  The entire interview, recorded on June 15, 2021 on KPFA 94.1 Radio, is also linked here.   Listeners can view a digital copy of  "A  Declaration of Liberty" here.

In this special Father's Day episode, Lou reflects on the example and influence of Owen Brown (1771-1856), the father of abolitionist John Brown.  From Connecticut to the Ohio wilderness in the early 19th century, father and son Brown share a common religious faith and zeal for human rights and opposition to slavery.  Special attention is paid to John Brown's 1857 autobiographical sketch of youth, and Lou offers closing Father's Day wishes with a  special closing song, "Esperando (Waiting)" composed by Hagjae Lee and performed by Epainos on their sacred music CD, Hymn Vol. 1.Epainos is Hagjae Lee (piano), Soo Kang (oboe), and Jiwon Kim (violin)For more info. on Epainos, check them out here:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT8TQ03T0zJlpg6SDeL0brghttp://www.epainosmusic.comhttps://open.spotify.com/artist/7qz9HTqZp9aKqkZtbPEbhq?si=ugXlHLw1R8iUyukIP9MFhw&dl_branch=1

This is the edited audio of a short video done to commemorate the 220th birthday of John Brown in 2020.  This brief reflection on Brown's life and significance entails his upbringing, biographical profile, his impact on anti-colonial revolutionaries, his cultural diminishment in the USA, and concludes with statements by Frederick Douglass (read by Michael Sweeting) and James Baldwin.View the John Brown 2020 Remembrance here.

In this episode, Lou recalls the important role of Boyd B. Stutler (1889-1970), "the godfather of John Brown scholars." Lou sketches Stutler's life, from his youth as a newspaperman and one of the youngest mayors in his era, to his role as a war time correspondent and veterans' magazine editor. Above all, Stutler was the key figure in gathering John Brown materials, primary and secondary, and became the expert on Brown in the twentieth century.  Yet, as Lou observes, Stutler was a rightwinger who held Brown at arms length and held a somewhat detached view of Brown in keeping with the prejudices of his era as well as his own ultra-conservative perspective.  Stutler was particularly uncooperative in the case of Richard O. Boyer, a leftist author, and despite the latter's great capacity and success, might have been far more successful had Stutler not snubbed him because he was a "pinko."   Notwithstanding Stutler's rightwing bias, his contribution to the study of John Brown is invaluable and his collection remains one of the great resources for John Brown biographers and students.  If you're interested, you can visit the digital Stutler John Brown collection by clicking this link!

In this John Brown birthday episode, Lou presents a reflection upon the "reunion" meeting at John Brown's farm that took place on July 4, 1860,  before the Brown family sold the property and relocated to California three years later.  Based on an account published in William Lloyd Garrison's The Liberator (July 27, 1860),  Lou reflects on this meeting--attended by as many as one thousand people--its leading spirits, its family significance, even the fact that Brown had both a grave mound and a grave marker.   As Lou points out, when this meeting took place,  only Brown was interred at the farm; the bodies of his sons Oliver and Watson, along with the bodies of many of his other Harper's Ferry raiders were not interred at the farm until  the last twenty years of the nineteenth century.  The July 4th 1860 meeting is a weighty and moving historical "snapshot"--the picture of a nation on the brink of civil conflict, a nation weighed down by injustice and the suffering of black millions at the hands of white supremacy, and the mediocrity of most of white society, including "moderate" anti-slavery people.  Quite in contrast the abolitionists stand out, and yet themselves are divided between pacifist "moral suasionists," and political abolitionists--militants who called for violence, and the significance of John Brown, buried beneath the fresh mound at North Elba, NY.   Yet, because of the ongoing struggle against racism, somehow the story of John Brown--in life and death--remains significant today, as it was in 1860.  This episode is introduced and closed by the wonderful song, "All the Brave Young Men," written and performed by Greg Artzner and Terry Leonino, known as Magpie.  You can find this song on Magpie's CD, "The Civil War: Songs & Stories Untold."  Also see Magpie's website at Magpiemusic.com.May 9, 2021 is John Brown's 221st birthday.  Hurrah for Old John Brown!

In this episode, Lou discusses the historical and cultural context of Charles Sheldon's 1910 poem, "God's Angry Men," which compares the biblical liberator Moses with John Brown. Opening with a reading of the poem by actor Norman Marshall, Lou revisits Sheldon as a clergyman in the "social gospel" tradition, and also features a couple rare vignettes of John Brown getting quite angry, and then traces the theme into the 20th century, featuring another so-called "angry man."

In the first installment of a feature called "Letters and Friends," Lou meets (via zoom) with the wonderful scholar and author, Margaret Washington of Cornell University, author of a number of important works, especially Sojourner Truth's America (2009).   The conversation, built around a letter by John Brown to his wife, Mary, in January 1858 (transcribed in abbreviated form below because of space restrictions), reflects upon Brown, Douglass, as well as some interesting insights on Sojourner Truth. Listeners will enjoy getting to know a little about Margaret, her insights into the antebellum era abolitionist movement, and her thoughtful commentary on the John Brown letter. Please Note: Unfortunately, the internet was not smooth during the recording, so there are some unavoidable moments when the sound is challenged. Read the entire transcript here.-------Rochester N Y, 30,th Jany, 1858My Dear Wife & Children every one I am (praised be God) once more in [New] York State. Whether I shall be permitted to visit you or not this Winter or Spring I cannot now say; but it is some relief of mind to feel that I am again so near you Possibly; if I cannot go to see you; that I may be able to devise some way for some one, or more of you to meet meet me some -where. The anxiety I feel to see my Wife; & children once more; I am unable to describe. I want exceedingly to see my big Baby; & “Mums Baby”: & to see how that little company of Sheep look about this time. . . .But courage Courage Courage the great work of my life  ( the unseen Hand that “girded me; & who has indeed holden my right hand; may hold it still though I have not known Him”; at all as I ought) . . .O my Daughter Ruth could any plan be devised whereby you could let Henry go “to School” (as you expressed it in your letter to him while in Kansas;) I would rather now have him “for another term”; than to have a Hundred average scholars. I have a particular & very important; but not dangerous place for him to fill; in the “school”; & I know of no man living; so well adapted to fill it. I am quite confident some way can be devised; so that you; & your children could be with him; & be quite happy even; & safe but “God forbid” me to flatter you into trouble. I did not do it before. . . . I want to hear from you all if possible before I leave this neighborhood. Do not noise it about; that I am in these parts; & direct to N Hawkins; Care of Fredk Douglas Esqr Rochester NY. I want to hear how you all are supplied with Winter clothing, Boots, &c. God bless you allYour Affectionate Husband & Father [postscript in the hand of Frederick Douglass:] My dear Friends:Your brave husband and father is now my guest-and has been since Thursday of this week. Gladly indeed we hailed him, and joyfully we entertain him. It does not seem safe-or desirable for him to come to you just now-though he could most gladly do so. I shall retain him here as long as he desires to remain and would be glad for yo you to meet him here.I remember with pleasure the pleasant moments spent under your roof-and take know no small satisfaction in the thought of your Friendship. I shall be truly glad to see either of you or both of you at my house-at any time during Capt Brown's stay-Fred. Douglass-

In this episode, Lou reflects upon the story of John Brown's involvement in the Masons, first his membership and then  his drastic turnabout in becoming an antagonistic opponent of the "Worthy Brotherhood."  Not only is this a peculiar aspect of Brown's biography, but it raises some questions, including if Masons then and now continue to claim John Brown as a brother Mason.  Evidently, some have and some still do. In a storyline that begins with John Brown as a man in his twenties and ends with him in the final days prior to the Harper's Ferry raid in 1859, the Masonic theme provides an opportunity to get a real sense of Brown's orientation as an "anti-bully," his tendency to throw in on any conflict where he perceived injustice, and how his anti-Masonic turn may have been flavored by antislavery convictions.  Later in life, John Brown didn't  want people, especially Masonic supporters, to know about either his former involvement in the secret fraternity, or his turn against it.  But despite Brown's admonition, "Never tell it!", Lou tells it all in this episode--at least as much as we'll probably ever know about John Brown and the Masons.

In this episode, Lou pays a zoom visit to the award-winning folk musicians and activists Terry Leonino and Greg Artzner, the duo known as Magpie. Since 1973, Terry and Greg have brought their unique sound and remarkable versatility to audiences everywhere, featuring traditional and vintage Americana to contemporary and stirring original compositions.   With two strong voices in harmony and superb instrumental arrangements, their sound is powerful and moving.   Award-winning recording artists, singers, songwriters, musical historians, playwrights, actors and social activists, Terry and Greg are proud to be, as Pete Seeger said of them, “…more links in the chain”, dedicating their lives and music to leaving this world a better place.Terry and Greg have a particular love for John Brown that has given birth to both a play and to a lot of great music.  In the play, "Sword of the Spirit," they dramatize the loving and devoted relationship of John and Mary Brown. In Magpie's related CD, "Sword of the Spirit," they explore many themes of this epic story in songs ranging from the themes of Brown and his family to Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass.In this interview, Terry and Greg reflect upon their lives and influences, their work on John Brown and other progressive platforms, and the nature of their art as a labor of love in making the story of Brown accessible to the public.  As Magpie, they also perform three songs from their own John Brown repertoire.   So sit back and enjoy a visit with Magpie. . . .

How many John Browns can you think  of? In this episode, Lou shares some reflections on biography and how John Brown has been portrayed in biographical and cultural terms since his death in 1859 and up through today.  While this episode is about Old Brown, there is some reflection on Old Abe, but rest assured, it's all in good fun.  Or is it?  I doubt the Lincoln Squirrel is laughing. 

In this episode, Lou reviews America's "Good Terrorist": John Brown and the Harper's Ferry Raid, by Charles P. Poland, Jr., Ph.D.   "[W]hile this is a new book," Lou observes, "there is something very old about it, a  refurbished version of the old anti-Brown story that was so pervasive from the early-to-mid-20th century—that old hackneyed tale of John Brown that still haunts the popular narrative." An extended review, Lou examines the author's problematic theme, that Brown was a terrorist, as well as the author's treatment of biographical and historical details.  Listeners will appreciate why, even at his kindest, Lou suggests that this book should not be the first book you read about John Brown, and certainly should not be the last book you read about John Brown either. Besides deconstructing Poland's terrorist argument, Lou considers how the author treats key themes in Brown's life, as well as his actions in Kansas and in Virginia.  

What can be learned by looking at a person's bookshelf?  In this episode, Lou reflects upon John Brown's early business and financial difficulties and argues that despite the simplistic and often manipulative way that writers have portrayed this theme in Brown's biography, few if any biographers have taken an adequate look at both Brown's business life and the economic circumstances of the United States that impacted him. Lou argues that Brown was not categorical failure in business, and in the later 1840s actually improved his business reputation significantly despite the challenges that he faced.  In this episode, however, Lou is concerned with the nadir of Brown's business life in the late 1830s and early 1840s which culminated with two difficult outcomes--his moral lapse, made out of desperation, in manipulating a client's investment, and his bankruptcy in 1842.  However, using the bankruptcy inventory of 1842, Lou makes a brief survey of a handful of books that were reviewed by the assignee for his case, George De Peyster.  Interestingly, there are some fascinating connections to Brown's life and background to be found in his "bankruptcy bookshelf."  An unabridged transcript of this episode is published on the "John Brown Today" blog at this link.

One of the most incredible stories related to John Brown that really is not about him is the story of Alexander Milton Ross, a Canadian public figure of the nineteenth century. Ross was most widely known and celebrated in the later nineteenth century because of his antislavery activities and his reputation as a leading abolitionist figure prior to and during the Civil War. However, Ross was a fraud--at least as far as his claims to have been a close associate of John Brown, and probably as one familiar with Abraham Lincoln, a claim he also made.  Ross not only made an extended, false claim of having been a colleague of Brown, but wrote an autobiographical profile, Recollections and Experiences of An Abolitionist  (here is a link to the very successful second edition, widely celebrated)  in which he invented letters from Brown. To reinforce his deception, Ross went on to initiate a long and successful correspondence with some of Brown's adult children that cemented his reputation.  Ross was never exposed as a fraud until the mid-twentieth century by Boyd B. Stutler, the "godfather" of John Brown scholars.  Stutler sniffed out Ross as a fraud and laid the groundwork in his correspondence, but never published anything beyond what he had written in correspondence with scholars. In this episode, Lou builds on Stutler's findings, adding insight from Ross's correspondence with the Browns, documents not available to Stutler when he was active in the twentieth century.  Ross was one of Brown's most enthusiastic defenders and was widely accepted by Brown's admirers. But his story was that of an amazing fraud--one that slipped away from this life without being caught.*This episode is based on a longer chapter that Lou did some years back for a little self-published collection, John Brown: The Man Who Lived (2008) which is no longer in print.   A transcript of this version is available on the John Brown Today blog using this link.

Spoiler Alert! If you have not seen the popular movie, "Emperor," you may want to watch it before you listen to this podcast.In this episode, Lou discusses the somewhat mysterious life of Shields Green, a.k.a. Emperor, one of John Brown's Harper's Ferry raiders.  As Lou recounts, it was the making of the "Emperor" movie that prompted him first to want to write a little article, which surprisingly led him down a historical rabbit hole in search of the little known figure of Emperor, ultimately resulting in his own book about Emperor. *  Reflecting on both the history and the ups and downs (mostly downs) of the "Emperor" movie, Lou shares some of the challenges and insights of trying to track down this famous fugitive. He concludes that "Emperor" Shields Green was not only an abolitionist in his own right, but one perhaps with a history of fighting slavery.  As Lou concludes, despite its many flaws and grossly misleading distortions, however, at least the "Emperor" movie led to the writing of a real inquiry into the life of Shields Green, an often forgotten Harper's Ferry raider.* The Untold Story of Shields Green: The Life and Death of a Harper's Ferry Raider (NYU Press, 2020; an audio version read by Bill Quinn has been published by Tantor, and is available on Audible and Audiobooks.com.

In this episode, Lou takes a "deep dive" on understanding John Brown as a person, from describing his physical and personality traits to an extended discussion about Brown's religious views and his inclination to take up for the underdog.  Arguing that Brown certainly is different from popular portrayals, Lou unpacks a biographer's perspective on "the Old Man" that challenges some conventional notions and introduces new insights to a man that is typically misrepresented as unbalanced, angry, and deeply violent.  This is a marathon, but one worth running.  Interested listeners can find many of the themes discussed here in Lou's compact but substantive study, John Brown: The Cost of Freedom (2007).

In this episode, Lou discusses the hostile book about John Brown by the late scholar, Otto Scott, The Secret Six: John Brown and the Abolitionist Movement.  Scott was a skillful researcher and writer who devoted his life to working for the corporate world, but contributed heavily to racist, right-wing, and white nationalist Christians. His work on Brown is a screed, a work of propaganda that is based on discredited sources and fashioned to suit the agenda of racists and neo-Confederates, but still circulates among conservatives today, especially Christian Reconstructionists and romancers of the so-called Confederate past.  Scott considered Brown a "fool" among several other historical figures he considered despicable, and blamed him as one of a number of historical figures who essentially ruined the present.  Scott's Secret Six is perhaps the worst contemporary work on John Brown and continues to contaminate the public conversation on the abolitionist movement in context.-------Lou would like to acknowledge the scholar Edward H. Sebesta, who provided him with copies of some of Otto Scott's contributions to neo-Confederate publications, especially the Southern Partisan.  Sebesta's blog is Anti-Neo-Confederate.  He is the co-editor of Neo-Confederacy: A Critical Introduction (University of Texas Press, 2008)  and  Pernicious: The Neo-Confederate Campaign against Social Justice in America (Dallas: Third American Revolution Press, 2016).

In this episode, Lou shares the climaxing chapter in John Brown's story--his death, and tells how his body was carried to Philadelphia, Pa., in route to burial in the Adirondacks.  Centering the story on Philadelphia, Lou reflects on Brown's previous visits to the City of Brother Love, including the decisive role that Frederick Douglass played in Brown's disappointed effort to enlist free black men from the city.  Reflecting on matters of race, too, this episode provides a glimpse of the controversy in the North that immediately followed Brown's execution, and the influence that the South had upon the North in the antebellum era.  This episode is based on a presentation that Lou made at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania on Dec. 2, 2009 in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Harper's Raid and John Brown's execution. An annotated transcript of this essay is available on John Brown Today: A Biographer's Blog, at https://bit.ly/decoycoffin.

In this episode, Lou considers one of the most controversial themes in the John Brown story: the Pottawatomie killings of May 1856. Lou argues that there is a standard bias in the way many narrators deal with the controversial Kansas episode, when Brown and his men killed five proslavery neighbors along the Pottawatomie Creek.  All too often, popular narratives on Brown have barely begun before the "Pottawatomie massacre" is invoked, reinforcing notions of Brown as a "terrorist." As a biographer, Lou argues to the contrary: John Brown was a counter-terrorist and the Pottawatomie episode cannot be correctly understood without a consideration of the political conditions of territorial Kansas in the spring of 1856, and the particular challenges and hazards faced by the Browns, who were notorious, even among free state settlers, for being radical abolitionists and advocates of black equality. The argument is not to beautify the Pottawatomie killings, but to see them for what they were, and to understand why principled and religious men like John Brown and his party chose to make such an extreme response.

In this episode, we explore the origins of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," reflecting upon the myths and realities of the "white liberal" abolitionist orientation of writer Julia Ward Howe and the pacifist abolitionist elites, and their motivations for rewriting "The John Brown Song." Viewing the "The Battle Hymn" as an intentional replacement on the part of the abolitionists, we consider the raw liberationist ethos of "The John Brown Song" and why it was replaced, and the significance of its mythology in our own thinking about the antebellum and  Civil War eras.  Drawing upon the searing analysis of Malcolm X and the 1963 March on Washington, DeCaro draws his own conclusions about what happened to "The John Brown Song" and why.  This narrative is based upon an essay from  DeCaro's book, John Brown, Emancipator.

In this episode, we meet the forgotten journalist, Edward "Ned" House, who was the clandestine reporter for Horace Greeley's New York Daily Tribune at the time the paper was banned in Virginia following John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry.  Tribune, an antislavery Bohemian, worked as the Tribune's theater critic, but because he held Democratic party credentials, he was able to go to Charlestown and cover John Brown's last days, from late October until the day of the abolitionist's hanging.  House filed reports secretly, smuggling most of them and risking discovery by an angry proslavery community that wanted Brown and his men dead, trial or not.  Reflecting his detailed account, Freedom's Dawn: The Last Days of John Brown in Virginia (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015), DeCaro provides a glimpse of Ned House's brave and unsung role in documenting John Brown's final weeks as a prisoner with clarity, detail, and wit--all at the expense of slaveholding society--and in defense of the freedom of the press.

In this episode, "The Good Lord Bird," both the novel by James McBride and the SHOWTIME series adaptation by Ethan Hawke are considered with respect to the relation of fiction to history.  There is a difference between the use of fiction in collaboration with history and the use of fiction to rewrite history, Lou contends, and in the case of Old John Brown, "The Good Lord Bird" is particularly worrisome because its portrayal is offered as satire but will inevitably inform viewers quite incorrectly as to the historical record.  

In this podcast, Louis DeCaro Jr. welcomes listeners and introduces himself with some reflections about the significance of John Brown in history, especially relating to the black struggle for justice. DeCaro then discusses the story behind Brown's damaged reputation in history, particularly how white society was miseducated and why.