Born in Torrington. his truth is marching on.
About The John Brown Project
Our Mission
Our mission is to promote equality, fairness, and facts using art, culture, journalism, storytelling, comedy, and truth. And probably tacos, too.
The John Brown Project is a loose affiliation of artists, journalists, historians, and policy wonks who partner with various nonprofits to produce culturally significant artistic and informational content. We believe that diversity is critical to prosperity. We are stronger, smarter, more interesting, better-looking, and funnier together.
Partner Organizations
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Culture 4 A Cause
Our original sponsor organization
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Torrington Historical Society
Partners in promoting John Brown
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Northwest CT Arts Council
Local arts partner
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CT Office of the Arts
Financial support
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Chorus Angelicus
Artistic partner
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Ct Department of the Humanities
Financial Support
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John Brown Lives!
Cultural are spiritual partners at the John Brown Farm State Park
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Our Culture is Beautiful
A cultural and spiritual partner
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Torrington High School
Artistic partner, screening partner
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Berlin Equity Action Team
Cultural and artistic partner
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City Of Torrington
Financial Support
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NW CT Community Foundation
Financial Support
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Torrington Savings Bank
Financial Support
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Cincinatti Urban Hikers
Cultural and artistic partner
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Trinity Episcopal Church
Cultural partner and screening partner
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Bantam Cinema & Arts Center
Cultural partner, screening partner
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CT League of History Organizations
Cultural partner
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CT Arts Alliance
Cultural partner
A John Brown Project Timeline
Dec 22, 2020
The kernel of an idea is contemplated
During the dark days of COVID, Culture 4 A Cause wondered how to fulfill its mission of building the community through music and the arts when no public events were possible. We decided to record a 21st-century version of the Civil War song written about the kid from Torrington whose passion for equality was unequivocal.
Jan 22, 2021
Initial planning document sketched out
Breaking ground into a hopeful 2021 after the nonstop gut punches from 2020, Dan sat down to sketch out the plan. You know, he says that they made a song and then a video, and then it grew into a movie, but if you read the planning doc, you’ll see that the plan was to make a musical documentary movie all along.
May 7, 2021
Crowdfunding campaign begins
Jacque and Dan trotted all over town, trying to memorize the lines of a script for a crowdfunding video that roughly described what it was they were setting out to do. The campaign raised over $1,000, which jumpstarted the project by funding the first recording sessions featuring the Torrington High School marching band, Chorus Angelicus, and banjoist Guy Wolff. Partners: 12 art-loving individuals.
March, 2021
First recording session
We were quite surprised and delighted when the Torrington High School Marching Band agreed to participate, playing the part of a Civil War marching band ensemble. They were the first group of musicians to climb the stairs to the Red Room Sound Studio on Water Street in downtown Torrington. It was extremely early in the process so we did not know exactly what the end result would be, so we asked them to play the song and do a few extras, like ‘Taps’ and a few solo turn-arounds on trumpet. Partners: Torrington High School and Red Room Sound Studio
October, 2021
First grant from CT Office of the Arts and National Endowment for the Arts
Part of what was really inspiring about this project—and even the process—was the buy-in from so many levels of the community. Individual artists, artist ensembles, local, regional, state, and national arts organizations—pretty much everyone we talked to about the project joined enthusiastically. The first grant came in the form of an individual “Artist Response Grant,” awarded to Dan from the CT Office of the Arts and other National Endowment for the Arts to produce the music and an audio documentary weaving the musical parts together.
All of the money from this initial $5,000 grant went to paying artists and engineers. Partner: CT Office of the Arts
June, 2022
Audio portions released
The song “John Brown’s Body, 2022 Remix” and an early audio version of the script is released worldwide on all streaming platforms and via lyric videos on YouTube. The world had a lot going on and didn’t respond right away.
October 22, 2022
Premier Screening Event
His Truth Is Marching On was publicly unveiled to a resounding standing ovation at The Five Points Arts Center. The 30-minute musical documentary covers the twists, turns, and evolutionary phases of American music from 1619 to hip-hop, as told through the popular Civil War song ”John Brown’s Body.”
Partners: City of Torrington and The Torrington Savings Bank
February, 2023
A BIG SCREEN screening!
Invited to screen the film at The Bantam Cinema and Arts Center. Show sells out in advance and receives thunderous applause. This event raised money for the Bantam Cinema and Culture 4 A Cause
March, 31 2023
The John Brown Project was recognized as one of the Connecticut League of History Organizations’ 2023 Awards of Merit for the film and supporting explainer videos. The award recognizes the quality of work we chose to focus on.
“The committee loved the project’s irreverent and fun approach to these important historical topics and the way the videos used the history of music to explore social movements in American history that went far beyond Torrington and the life of John Brown. They also admired the project’s focus on African-American resistance and agency in the storytelling—and the clear impact the project was having in the community.”
A History Award!
May 17, 2023
Triple-screening at Torrington High School
In partnership with the Torrington Historical Society, we screened the movie three times during the day to about 500 kids; this was special to us because we were able to screen the movie for the music students who were the first to join our community arts project back in March 2021. Partners: Torrington Historical Society, Torrington High School
May 13, 2023
Invited to play with the big kids
John Brown Day performance, Lake Placid, NY: We were invited to bring some of the John Brown Project musicians to the John Brown Farm State Park to perform and participate in the graveside wreath-laying ceremony. This helped us spread the Torrington footprint to another John Brown anchor town. Partner: John Brown Lives!
June 13, 2023
Tiny Abolitionist Film Festival
We launched the first-ever film festival as an international partnership with Switzerland-based “Art in History and Politics,” who contributed the film “Songs of Slavery and Emancipation,” by Mat Callahan. The Film Festival gathered over 120 pounds of nonperishable food donations for the local food bank, invested about $2,000 into the local arts economy, and helped fund Callahan’s screening tour. Partners: CT Department of the Humanities, Toth Insurance, Torrington Savings Bank, Mel Brickman, of Health Markets.
August 19, 2023
Pop-Up Movie Night at the Litchfield Hills Creative Festival
We screened His Truth Is Marching On for the City of Torrington on a giant inflatable movie screen in the middle of downtown, and it was amazing! Many people, many really great reactions, and such a good chance to give the community the art that we made with the community. Partners: NWCT Arts Council, The Outlet for the Arts
September 16, 2023
Cradle to Grave Screening Event
We were invited to be part of the Blues for Timbuctoo festival sponsored by John Brown Lives! We screened the movie at Lake Flower Landing, the home venue of artist Karen Davidson, who produced the Memorial Field at the John Brown Farm. Partners: John Brown Lives! and Lake Flower Landing
“His Truth is Marching On” was selected for the Washington DC Black History Film Festival, for which we are humbled and deeply honored. Partners: Black History Film Festival, Entertain DC, 2032 Creates, The DC Arts, and Creative Affairs DC.
February 9, 2024
DC Black History Film Festival