163rd anniversary of John Brown's Raid at Harpers Ferry

Oct. 10—Experience John Brown's Raid through the stories of U.S. Marines, townspeople, formerly enslaved men and women and John Brown himself on Oct. 15 and 16 at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Join park staff and living-history volunteers of the U.S. Marine Corps Historical Company for "At All Times Ready," an interpretive presentation of how the raid unfolded and transformed Harpers Ferry into a key site in American civil rights history.

This program will begin in historic Lower Town on The Green and end at the U.S. Armory Fire Engine House (John Brown's Fort) each day at 1 and 3 p.m.

On Oct. 16, 1859, fiery abolitionist John Brown and 21 fellow raiders attacked the U.S. Armory at Harpers Ferry in what was at that time Virginia, the largest slave-holding state in the Union. Brown hoped to use armory weapons to equip a liberating army that would spark uprisings against slavery and protect those escaping enslavement. Although the failed raid ended two days later with Brown's capture by Marines, it electrified the country. John Brown's Raid polarized the country's slavery and anti-slavery factions and political parties, even influencing the 1860 presidential election and sparking political violence when Abraham Lincoln was elected president.

John Brown's Raid stands as one of the flash points that ignited the Civil War. His complex legacy continues to influence American conversations on slavery, race and the role of force in fighting injustice.

For more information, visit nps.gov/hafe.