WHO WE ARE

The Association is the trustee of the historic John Brown Tannery Site in the village of New Richmond, Crawford County, Pennsylvania. The half-acre site contains the surviving foundation walls of a tannery that John Brown built in 1826 for processing animal hides into leather. Decades later, in 1859, Brown became famous for his controversial raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (then West Virginia), in a failed attempt to arm and mobilize a slave rebellion in the states of the South.

The John Brown Heritage Association is a private nonprofit organization incorporated in 1973 (initially under a different name), based in Meadville, Pennsylvania. The Association succeeded two previous organizations devoted to perpetuating the tannery site as a monument to the memory of John Brown. The earliest intentional preservation efforts stem from at least 1916.

Included in the Association’s purposes are to:

• Maintain and improve the John Brown Tannery Site so that it is accessible and open for the public to visit at no charge.

• Enlarge public understanding of John Brown’s historical importance in Crawford County and in America generally, through programs, speakers, newsletters, research presentations, dramatic performances and other means.

• Study and interpret John Brown in the context of early 19th century American history, the antislavery movement, the Civil War and the modern civil-rights era.

• Seek, acquire and publicly display information, documents, artifacts, relics and landmarks relating to John Brown’s life and times.

The Association over the years has sought to carry out those purposes through activities that have included:

• Masonry maintenance of the tannery’s stone walls.

• Ongoing lawn and tree care at the tannery site.

• Construction of off-road parking and an entrance plaza to facilitate visitation at the site.

• Creation of two illustrated interpretive site displays — 4 feet by 4 feet, on concrete pilasters — one on John Brown’s pioneer life in Crawford County, the other on his national significance in the abolition of slavery.

• Listing of the tannery site on the National Register of Historic Places.

• Archaeological excavations at the site in partnership with other groups.

• Public programs about John Brown, and “pilgrimage” walks to the tannery site.

Membership dues and donations from friends are the Association’s sole source of income for maintaining the tannery site and promoting John Brown-related history. The Association would welcome your partnership. Please see “Contact Us” on how you can support the Association’s purposes and activities.