William Earle Williams
John Brown's Hanging Site, Charles Town, West Virginia

John Brown's Hanging Site, Charles Town, West Virginia

© William Earle Williams

John Brown's Hanging Site, Charles Town, West Virginia
John Brown's Hanging Site, Charles Town, West Virginia
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • John Brown's Hanging Site, Charles Town, West Virginia
Date1999, printed 2008
PlaceCharles Town, West Virginia, United States
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 9 13/16 × 7 11/16 in. (24.9 × 19.5 cm)
Sheet: 9 15/16 × 8 in. (25.2 × 20.3 cm)
Credit LineGift of the artist in honor of City Councilman Peter Brown
Object number2008.397
Not on view

Explore Further

Department
Photography
Object Type
Description


William Earle Williams’s photograph bears no obvious indicators of the historic events that played out at this place in the years just before the Civil War. But, in fact, the tree is on the site where the abolitionist leader John Brown was hanged in 1859 following his capture at Harper’s Ferry where he led a failed attempt to seize a United States arsenal and initiate a slave revolt. Williams demonstrates how even unassuming landscapes bear witness to events that shape countless lives and fundamentally alter the structures of our society.



ProvenanceThe artist, Haverford, Pennsylvania; given to MFAH, 2008.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Marked in pencil verso lower edge: "King(?) Site John Brown 99 SWA202 1.65 7.308"

Additional processing marks in pencil on verso upper left
Signed in pencil verso lower left: William Earle Williams"

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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