Historian and author Sandra Weber presents a webinar about her newest book, John Brown Farm: From Abolitionist Vision to Memorial Site (Purple Mountain Press, 2026). Weber traces how the Brown family homestead near Lake Placid, NY --- the place where John’s body “lies amouldering in the grave” --- became a mecca for people from around the world. John’s soul went marching on, as each generation came to this sacred ground to wrestle with questions of universal freedom, civil rights, public monuments, and historical truth-telling. The landscape now holds the restored Brown farmhouse, graves of eleven Harpers Ferry raiders, statue of John Brown guiding a youth, and other memorials which broaden the meaning of this “site of conscience.”

John Brown Farm is Sandra Weber’s follow-up to her previous book John Brown in New York: The Man, His Family, and the Adirondack Landscape. Weber has authored several other 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 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, Weber 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.” She lives in Elizabethtown, about 25 miles from the John Brown Farm.

This public program is made possible by federal Library Service and Technology Act funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which enable the New York State Library to champion lifelong learning.