Holy Ground

On August 17, 1906, members of the Niagara Movement, one of the first modern civil rights organizations in America, walked silently to the site of John Brown’s Fort to honor Brown, who died to end slavery. The Niagara Movement fought for racial equality and political representation at all social levels, and its efforts laid the foundation for creating the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1909. W.E.B. Du Bois, the movement’s general secretary and an NAACP founding member, called the place the scene of John Brown’s martyrdom and dedicated honor and property to the final emancipation of the race John Brown died to make free. As the group neared the fort, they formed a single-file procession led by Owen M. Waller, a physician from Brooklyn, who removed his shoes and socks and walked barefoot as if treading on holy ground; other members followed, and as they circled the fort they sang verses of John Brown’s Body and The Battle Hymn of the Republic.

West Virginia · United States