THE AUDIO AND VIDEO CLIPS BELOW COMPRISE AN INTERVIEW WITH DR. STEPHEN B. OATES conducted at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park on June 30, 1994, on the occasion of the park's 50th Anniversary.

Dr. Stephen B. Oates

Stephen B. Oates is the author of 16 books, including To Purge This Land With Blood; Our Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln, John Brown and the Civil War Era; The Approaching Fury; With Malice Toward None: A Life of Abraham Lincoln and Let the Trumpet Sound: A Life of Martin Luther King, Jr., the latter two books winning, respectively, the Christopher Award and the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Book Award.

Oates is a recipient of the Nevins-Freeman Award of the Chicago Civil War Round Table for lifetime achievement in the field of Civil War studies. A teacher at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, he is now writing the concluding book of the Voices of Storm trilogy, about the years of Reconstruction, 1865-1877.

RealVideo These media clips require RealPlayer. Video files are furnished for three typical types of connections: 28.8 bps (smaller files for slower dial-up connections); 56.6 bps (larger files for faster dial-up connections); and T1-LAN (large files for high speed network connections). Audio-only files and text transcripts are also furnished.

Question 2: Why did John Brown choose violence?
RealAudio: 28.8 | RealVideo: 28.8 | 56.6 | T1-LAN (length: 2:11) | Text transcript

Question 3: Would you please comment on John Brown's relationship with his God and his belief in the Bible.
RealAudio: 28.8 | RealVideo: 28.8 | 56.6 | T1-LAN (length: 2:23) | Text transcript

Question 4: Would you rate John Brown in American history as a failure, a success, or an enigma?
RealAudio: 28.8 | RealVideo: 28.8 | 56.6 | T1-LAN (length: 1:36) | Text transcript

Question 5: Why do you feel that John Brown still lives in America's consciousness after 135 years?
RealAudio: 28.8 | RealVideo: 28.8 | 56.6 | T1-LAN (length: 2:14) | Text transcript