The park was originally planned as a memorial to John Brown, responsible for what is by far the most famous incident in Harpers Ferry's history, his 1859 raid and capture of the federal armory. NPS officials in the 1930s focused on John Brown's raid and the Civil War to justify acquiring parts of Harpers Ferry for a historical and military park. Like the figure of John Brown himself, this proved enormously controversial, with opposition from the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Sons of Confederate Veterans. In 2021, while there was no mention of John Brown on the Park's home page (http://www.nps.gov/hafe), material about the man and the raid are found on the website (https://www.nps.gov/hafe/learn/historyculture/john-brown.htm) and in the park at the John Brown Museum.