John Brown in the Adirondacks with Author Sandra Weber

Sandra Weber will share historic photos and personal insights from her two newest books about John Brown and his connection to the Adirondacks. A Q&A and book signing will follow the talk. Books will be available for purchase.
This event is free and open to all.
John Brown in New York: The Man, His Family, and the Adirondack Landscape (Excelsior/SUNY Press, Dec 2025) offers a fresh and intimate look at the famed abolitionist, focusing on the years of the Brown family’s connection with North Elba, Essex County (1848–1863). The intertwining story of sublime Adirondack scenery, farm life, and racial justice explores John Brown not only as a national figure but as a husband, father, neighbor, and man of moral fiber. Weber’s insightful narrative bridges the myth and the man, revealing the tender and tragic heart of the Brown family story.
John Brown Farm: From Abolitionist Vision to Memorial Site (Purple Mountain Press, May 2026) focuses on the significance of the John Brown Farm State Historic Site, where John’s body “lies a’mouldering in the grave.” People from around the world make pilgrimages to the landmark farm near Lake Placid and discover this is also where “His Soul Goes Marching On.” Here is the fascinating chronicle of how each generation has remembered, monumented, and reinterpreted the abolitionist who led the fateful raid at Harpers Ferry. Weber explores the history and meaning of the three graves, the farmhouse, the memorial tablets, the John Brown Statue, and the beautiful scenery at the site. She also delves into the issues of racial prejudice, the Lost Cause myth, forest preservation, historical preservation, land stewardship, and truth-telling.
Bio
Sandra Weber of Elizabethtown has authored several books about the Adirondack region, including Breaking Trail: Remarkable Women of the Adirondacks (co-author, Peggy Lynn), Mount Marcy, The Finest Square Mile, and Adirondack Roots. Her article "Going Wild Over Thoreau" appeared in the Adirondack Reader (third edition) and other articles have been published in Civil War Times, NYS Conservationist, Adirondack Life, Adirondack Explorer, Christian Science Monitor, and Highlights for Children. In addition to her writings, Sandra is also well-known for her dramatic portrayals of Mary Brown in “Times of Trouble” and of Mother Johnson, Jeanne Robert Foster, Kate Field, and other women in “Remarkable Women of the Adirondacks.”