Muir Alumnus Film, ‘Owen Brown’s Body’ to Debut on March 7

“Owen Brown’s Body,” a short educational film by Pablo Miralles and funded by the Owen Brown Gravesite Committee, will screen at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 7 at John Muir High School.

Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Free tickets are available here.

The son of famed abolitionist John Brown, Owen Brown’s gravesite sits in the Altadena foothills.

Brown was part of his father’s doomed raid on Harpers Ferry.

The Southern narrative of John Brown planning to end slavery by force by killing plantation owners and recruiting slaves as part of a growing army that would sweep across the South was always disputed by the lone surviving family member, Owen.

Brown captured two slave owners and freed the enslaved people, but before he and his band could escape, Federal troops lead by Robert E. Lee arrived from Washington DC. Brown and his men took refuge in a firehouse at Harpers Ferry. They were captured after 20 hours of fighting.

Owen escaped and made his way out of the South via the Underground Railroad. He joined his brother Jason in Altadena, where they homesteaded land on Brown Mountain. Owen is buried on the mountain.

This short educational film was created for a Pasadena Unified School District 6th-12th grade audience.

Miralles is asking local residents that cannot make it the screening to consider providing a donation that will support Muir alumni families affected by the fires.

Click here to donate.

At the screening, there will be an opportunity to purchase custom-designed DENA STRONG t-shirts and John Muir Alumni Car Magnets, with all proceeds and donations going to support the John Muir High School Alumni Relief Fund and the hundreds of Muir Alumni who lost their homes and all of their personal belongings in the 2025 Eaton Fire.