CHAMBERSBURG — Frederick Douglas and John Brown will come to life on Saturday, Aug. 17, through an event hosted by the Franklin County Visitors Bureau. “Frederick Douglass in Chambersburg: More Than A Speech” will involve a presentation, lunch and bus tour to highlight Douglass’ visit, the intense meeting with John Brown and key Chambersburg freedom-seeking sites.
Historian, poet and living history portrayer Nathan Richardson will bring Frederick Douglass to life. Greencastle native Doug Dobbs will rekindle John Brown. Doors open at 9:30 a.m., and the event begins at 10. Aug. 17 marks the 165th anniversary of Frederick Douglass’ lecture in Chambersburg, which concealed the true reason he visited—to meet John Brown.
On the evening of Aug. 17, 1859, Frederick Douglass stepped onto the stage of the Franklin Hall, located a few doors northeast of the town square, to deliver an eloquent address about the inhumanity of slavery and the need for emancipation. The public believed Douglass was visiting Chambersburg to give one of his well-known lectures. On the contrary, the presentation masked another reason. Douglass was in Chambersburg to meet John Brown, who himself was using an alias—Isaac Smith of Issac Smith & Sons. John Brown needed to meet with Douglass to share his plan to overtake the arsenal at Harpers Ferry, all part of his larger goal to end slavery.
Frederick Douglass and John Brown met on August 19-21, 1859, in a Chambersburg quarry, not far from the Conococheague Creek. The conversation centered around Brown’s plan to raid the arsenal at Harpers Ferry. Douglass felt strongly that Brown “was going into a perfect steel-trap, and that once in he would never get out alive; that he would be surrounded at once and escape would be impossible.” Douglass’ concerns became reality as Brown and his raiders were trapped and captured on Oct. 18, 1859.
Years later in 1881, Frederick Douglass recounted the catalyst Brown was. “If John Brown did not end the war that ended slavery, he did at least begin the war that ended slavery. If we look over the dates, places and men, for which this honor is claimed, we shall find that not Carolina, but Virginia – not Fort Sumpter (Sumter), but Harper’s Ferry and the arsenal – not Col. Anderson, but John Brown, began the war that ended American slavery and made this a free Republic.”
Attendees will discover Frederick Douglass and John Brown, outcomes of their efforts to end slavery and the importance of Chambersburg’s location just north of the Mason-Dixon Line in the Great Appalachian corridor. Participants will explore local African-American history stops in the context of U.S. history, learn about Elenor Berry and her family and visit the gravesites of the United States Colored Troops and those born into slavery but dying in freedom.
Cost for the program, which runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and includes lunch, is $25. Tickets may be purchased in person at the Franklin County 11/30 Visitors Center, 15 S. Main St., Chambersburg. Interested attendees also may contact the Franklin County Visitors Bureau at 866-646-8060 or 717-552-2977, or purchase tickets online at Eventbrite here.
