Author Eugene L. Meyer tells the story of Osborne Perry Anderson, a native of Chester County, who joined with abolitionist John Brown in an ill-fated raid on Harpers Ferry in October 1859 to seize its federal arsenal, incite a slave rebellion, and end slavery. Anderson was one of five African Americans soldiers in Brown’s raiding party and the sole survivor of the raid, writing the only insider account. Anderson’s narrative was essential to Meyer’s research of these five men, treated–if at all–as footnotes by historians and others captivated by the John Brown legend. Anderson and the others were truly “hidden figures” in this turning point on the road to Civil War.
About the Speaker: Eugene L. Meyer spent more than three decades at the Washington Post as a reporter and editor, and since 2004 has worked as a fulltime freelancer, receiving 15 awards for his journalism and writing. He is the author of Five for Freedom: The African American Soldiers in John Brown’s Army, available on Bookshop.org and Amazon
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Presentation is via Zoom, and will be recorded and available for 7 days for all registered participants. We will email out a Zoom link the day of the presentation, and email a link to the recording within 48 hours. Note: the Zoom link emailed out the day of the presentation only takes you to the live presentation; the link emailed out the day after will contain the recorded version.
History Matters Speaker Series is presented by The Haverford Trust Company.
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