Heyward Shepherd monument
It commemorates Heyward[a] Shepherd (1825 – October 17, 1859), a free black man who was the first person killed during John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry.
The National Park Service (NPS) designed a series of interpretative signs to place the monument in historical context, and from 1981 to 1995 kept it covered in plywood to prevent vandalism.
[3] The monument was intended to publicize the Lost Cause allegation that the enslaved were happy and did not want freedom; the UDC had a "Faithful Slave Memorial Committee".
[5]: 313 A different view is provided by Osborne Perry Anderson, the only Black in Brown's party who escaped: On the Sunday evening of the outbreak, when we visited the plantations and acquainted the slaves with our purpose to effect their liberation, the greatest enthusiasm was manifested by them—joy and hilarity beamed from every countenance.
One old mother, white-haired from age, and borne down with the labors of many years in bonds, when told of the work in hand, replied: "God bless you!
...The truth of the Harper's Ferry "raid," as it has been called, in regard to the part taken by the slaves, and the aid given by colored men generally, demonstrates clearly: First, that the conduct of the slaves is a strong guarantee of the weakness of the institution, should a favorable opportunity occur; and, secondly, that the colored people, as a body, were well represented by numbers, both in the fight, and in the number who suffered martyrdom afterward.
[8]: 164 He had worked for nearly twenty years as a porter or baggage handler with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, whose trains went back and forth through Harpers Ferry.
[14] His wife and children moved to Washington, D.C.[8]: xi He was buried in the Winchester–Fairfax Colored Cemetery, on what is today Route 11, with "honors of war by the military companies of the town, accompanied by the mayor and other citizens.
In 1931, after opposition since it had been proposed in 1920,[18][16]: 12–13 what was called at the time the Faithful Slave Memorial[18] was erected by the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the United Daughters of the Confederacy (39°19′24″N 77°43′48″W / 39.32330°N 77.73005°W / 39.32330; -77.73005).
The text of the granite monument reads: On the night of October 16, 1859, Heyward Shepherd, an industrious and respected colored freeman, was mortally wounded by John Brown's raiders.
In pursuance of his duties as an employee of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, he became the first victim of this attempted insurrection.This boulder is erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Sons of Confederate Veterans as a memorial to Heyward Shepherd, exemplifying the character and faithfulness of thousands of negros who, under many temptations throughout subsequent years of war, so conducted themselves that no stain was left upon a record which is the peculiar heritage of the American people, and an everlasting tribute to the best in both races.
The NAACP responded by preparing a plaque, which they called "The Great Tablet",[20] to be displayed at Storer College in Harpers Ferry, where the firehouse used by John Brown as a fort had been moved.
[21][22] Henry T. MacDonald, the white president of Storer, who had participated in the UDC's 1931 ceremony,[23] refused to allow the plaque to be mounted, because he found it "too militant".
The text of the plaque read: John Brown's raid on the armory at Harpers Ferry caused the death of four townspeople.
Although the true identity of his assailant is uncertain, Shepherd soon became a symbol of the "faithful servant" among those who deplored Brown's action against the traditional southern way of life.
Heyward Shepherd, a free African-American railroad baggage master, was shot and killed by Brown's men shortly after midnight.
Seventy-two years later, on October 10, 1931, a crowd estimated to 300 whites and 100 blacks gathered to unveil and dedicate the Shepherd Monument.
