Foundations of Freedom

Harpers Ferry, including Anthony Hall, was the setting for major and minor moments in the struggle for freedom and equality. In this building, Civil War generals planned their next attack, while in the surrounding fields Union and Confederate soldiers fought over a divided land. On the campus of Storer College, formerly enslaved people sought the education that had previously been denied to them by law. Founded in 1867, Storer College was one of the first schools in the South open to African American students. Although it was chartered for all students regardless of race or gender, racial segregation laws prevented it from achieving an integrated campus, and the school closed in 1955. Its highlighted buildings included Lockwood House, a one-room school for former enslaved people that grew into Storer College, Brackett House as the president's home, Anthony Hall as the main hall and a Civil War commanding officer's headquarters, Cook Hall for student housing, and Anthony Library as a classroom and library, and today these buildings serve as offices for the National Park Service.

Harpers Ferry, West Virginia · United States