Anacostia Community Museum Archives

Jim Kuhn collection on Harpers Ferry, circa 1823-1996

Summary

Collection ID:
ACMA.06-007
Creators:
Kuhn, Jim, d. 2003
Dates:
circa 1823-1996
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
0.54 Linear feet
2 boxes
Repository:
This collection, which dates from circa 1853-1996, contains material documenting the history of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, including the Harpers Ferry Armory, the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, and the incorporation of Murphy Farm into the Historical Park. A highlight of the collection is a framed copyprint of members of the Colored Women's League on the Murphy Farm after their annual meeting in Washington, D.C., July 1896. Also contains several issues of Gleason's Pictorial, dating from circa 1853. Materials include newspapers, videorecordings, photographic prints, booklets, brochures, correspondence, maps and postcards.

Biographical/Historical note

Biographical/Historical note
During the Civil War, the Murphy Farm near Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, witnessed the 11th-hour attack by Confederate Gen. A.P. Hill that forced the surrender of the 12,000-man federal garrison at Harpers Ferry. The farm is also the home of the Harpers Ferry engine house that abolitionist leader John Brown used in his abortive 1859 attempt to spark a slave uprising. The Brown fort was sent to Chicago for the 1893 Columbian Exposition, and, upon its return, Alexander Murphy deeded 5 acres to rebuild the structure on his farm. On August 15, 1906, the Niagara Movement, led by author and scholar W.E.B. DuBois, held its first meeting on American soil on the campus of Storer College, now part of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. The three-day gathering, held to discuss how to secure civil rights for African Americans, was later described by DuBois as "one of the greatest meetings that American Negroes ever held." Attendees of the 1906 meeting walked from Storer College to the nearby Murphy Farm to visit the engine house where John Brown's quest to free four million enslaved African Americans reached its bloody climax. Jim Kuhn was the great-great- grandson of the farm's original owners Alexander and Mary Murphy.

Administration

Author
Carrie Gehrer
Custodial History note
Donated by Jim Kuhn.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access note
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist at acmarchives@si.edu.
Conditions Governing Use note
Anacostia Community Museum does not hold the copyright to all material in this collection. Please contact the archivist for further information.
Preferred Citation note
Jim Kuhn collection on Harpers Ferry, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution, gift of Jim Kuhn.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Battlefields Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Postcards Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Harpers Ferry (W. Va.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
African American social reformers Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Correspondence Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Copy photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographic prints Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Civil rights -- United States Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Newspapers Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Booklets Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Brochures Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Video recordings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Maps Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Harpers Ferry Armory (U.S.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park (Agency : U.S.) Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Anacostia Community Museum Archives
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Washington, D.C. 20020
ACMArchives@si.edu