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Local veterans group seeks highway marker honoring Shields Green and John Anthony Copeland Jr.
Summary
The Green Copeland American Legion Auxiliary requested a state highway marker to memorialize two Harpers Ferry-era Black men executed in Charlestown in 1859; the group said the state-approved marker will be installed at a location coordinated with city staff.
Linda Allard, speaking for the Green Copeland American Legion Auxiliary, urged the council to help procure and install a state highway marker honoring Shields Green and John Anthony Copeland Jr., two African American men tried and executed in Charlestown for their involvement with John Brown's 1859 raid.
Allard read portions of John Anthony Copeland Jr.'s final letter to his family to give the council a sense of the men’s voices and historical significance. "Dear father, mother, brothers, Henry, William, and Freddie...I am well, both in body and in mind," she read aloud, and described the group's plan to request a companion marker near the South Samuel Street site associated with John Brown.
Staff and council said they would coordinate site and permit details with the state's highway marker coordinator; the presenter said the application had been approved and the city manager's office and the state would confirm the installation location before it is placed. The council offered to have the city manager and staff work directly with the group to develop a formal proposal.
