The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted Tuesday to designate the gravesite of abolitionist Owen Brown as a Los Angeles County Historical Landmark, marking the conclusion of a nearly yearlong process.
Brown, the son of John Brown—one of America’s most prominent abolitionist leaders—was the last surviving member of the 1859 Harpers Ferry raid, a failed slave uprising led by his father that is widely regarded as a prelude to the Civil War.
Owen Brown’s gravesite sits atop a hill in Altadena at the northern end of El Prieto Road. A rustic slab of stone, along with smaller stones outlining the presumed shape of his body, marks the site.
The headstone reads: “Owen Brown son of John Brown the liberator.”…