TOPEKA — Old Osawatomie John Brown rides again and he has returned to Kansas.
A national traveling exhibit of 20 photos of John Brown is now on display at the Kansas Historical Society’s Library Gallery on the west end of Topeka. The exhibit has photos of Brown over nearly 20 years. Those photos show a different John Brown than the wild-eyed centerpiece of John Steuart Curry’s famous Statehouse mural ‘Tragic Interlude, said Grady Atwater, John Brown State Historical Park curator. Many witnesses have described Brown’s calm and coolness even during the most difficult circumstances and during combat, Atwater said. The historic demeanor of Brown is at variance with the crazed rifle- and Bble-waving symbol portrayed by Curry, Atwater said. The mural depicts the trauma and drama of Bleeding Kansas before the Civil War, he said. The exhibit photos were also starkly different, he said. As radical abolitionist in the heart of national controversy Brown was keenly aware of public relations and was always careful to be photographed according to his intended viewers, be it as a elderly gentleman to eastern donors or as a hardened guerrilla fighter to fellow Kansans, Atwater said. Brown and his abolitionist militia often hid out in Franklin and Miami counties during his attacks on slave-state forces. His raid on Harpers Ferry, Va., was a failed attempt to start a slave rebellion. He was hanged for the Harpers Ferry raid. His death was the spark for the Civil War. The exhibit goes until July 31. Admission is free. The gallery is open 8 to 5 weekdays and 9 to 4:30 Saturdays.
Monday, April 26, 12:30 p.m.
