APRIL HALBERSTADT, HISTORIAN
It is hard to believe, more than 150 years after the Civil War, that many Americans are still suffering the effects of enslavement. Writer Mary Miller Chiao is adding one more story to the literature of America’s Abolition Movement with this biography of Sarah Brown, the seventeenth child of Abolitionist John Brown.
One of the most influential members of the Brown family, Sarah Brown moved to Saratoga, California, with her mother and surviving family members. She was a talented artist, educated and trained in art through the financial generosity of the Secret Six, the abolitionist cabal who encouraged and subsidized her father.
Although the American Constitution says, “all members are created equal,” the men who wrote those words were slave holders themselves. It took a small but determined group of abolitionists to challenge those words and support the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. Words alone were not enough. Constitutional amendments and court challenges have been needed in order to begin to make a difference. Many people, such as John Brown, felt extremist action was necessary.
John Brown was determined to end slavery. His family supported his views and several of his sons lost their lives in militant activities. In October of 1859, John Brown led his notorious uprising against the Federal Armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, hoping to capture weapons to arm slaves and mount an insurrection. After his capture and execution, his widow and remaining family members migrated to California, where they continued to serve the abolitionist cause in quiet ways.
Writer Mary Miller Chiao has been investigating the life of Sarah Brown for many years. This fascinating story is important to our understanding of John Brown and his legend.
April Halberstadt, Historian