MORGANTOWN, W.Va.
Nineteenth century sketches depicting the trial and hanging of abolitionist John Brown, and the uniform of a Confederate militia commander who helped halt his Harpers Ferry insurrection are on display at West Virginia University.
The drawings by David Hunter Strother, also known as Porte Crayon, are part of a vast and valuable collection the university has owned for more than 20 years, says John Cuthbert, curator of the West Virginia and Regional History Collection.
They are on display now through December because Oct. 16 is the 150th anniversary of Brown’s failed attempt to seize a Union arsenal, arm a guerrilla force and launch a revolution to end slavery.
