Mary Meachum Freedom Crossing Celebration
Mary Meachum Freedom Crossing
C*E*L*E*B*R*A*T*I*O*N
Missouri’s First Nationally Recognized Underground Railroad Site
12:00NOON, Saturday, May 19th
by the Riverfront Trail on the Banks of the
Mississippi River
Featuring:
v Fully Costumed Reenactment - 3:00PM
v Gospel Music/ Other Cultural Acts
v Art Exhibit/ Food Vendors
v Historical Exhibits
Take Hwy 70 to Grand; go East toward River to Hall street; continue ¼ mile to Prairie; look for large Riverfront Trail sign; turn right on Prairie to Parking Area
For More Information: Doug Eller 314-584—6703
Grace Hill AmeriCorps Trail Ranger Project Presents
Mary Meachum Freedom Crossing
Missouri’s First Nationally Recognized Underground Railroad Site
The St. Louis region with Grace Hill Settlement House as the lead organization is in the midst of developing the Mary Meachum Underground Railroad site into a national tourist destination and an important source of cultural pride that can benefit North St. Louis communities. Over 300 neighborhood people and local leaders have attended workshops for this community-driven process. Additionally, the AmeriCorps Trail Rangers provided presentations to another 4000 people. The anticipated site design is near completion with the capital campaign phase to start in 2006. The 150th anniversary of the event was celebrated last May with 1500 people attending.
What IS the Underground Railroad? Occurring before the Civil War in 1861, the ‘Underground Railroad’ was the loosely organized escape of 1000’s of African American slaves traveling from Southern slave-holding states to free Northern states and sometimes Canada. The term ‘Underground’ refers to the secrecy of the activity, which broke U.S. law, and often resulted in severe punishment for slaves if re-captured. The term ‘Railroad’ refers to the most commonly used routes that slaves, and the black and white persons who helped them, used to reach freedom. The Underground Railroad’s memory is important to all Americans who value freedom.
SUMMARY OF THIS 1855 UNDERGROUND RAILROAD EVENT IN NORTH ST. LOUIS
The site of a ‘flight to freedom’ is located on a Mississippi River bank in North St. Louis City, “a short distance above Bissell’s Ferry”, where a party of 9 enslaved African Americans launched a skiff in the early hours of May 21, 1855. Their goal was freedom; their immediate destination, Illinois, the ‘free’ state across the Mississippi River. The pursuit of freedom had been ‘conducted’ by Mary Meachum, a free woman of color and widow of John Berry Meachum, known nationally for liberating slaves. Contemporary newspapers reported that the freedom-seekers were met on the Illinois shore by a sheriff and owners. Shots were fired and five were caught. Mary Meachum was arrested for running an “underground railway depot” in her St. Louis home. Freeman, an “abolitionist agent”, was reportedly shot that night. Esther, one of the escaping slaves, was re-captured and ‘sold down river’ to Vicksburg without her children by her owner, Henry Shaw, the founder of the Missouri Botanical Gardens.
Today the spot from which that skiff was launched looks much as it did in 1855. To the south a railway bridge (Merchants) has replaced the ferry, but the site itself is vacant as it was then, largely untouched by the commerce the bridge would bring. Its location on the river side of a pedestrian and bicycle pathway, the Riverfront Trail, assures that it will remain accessible to both local residents and tourists. Its size suits it for re-enactments, family gatherings, or other celebrations of the Freedom Crossing.
(The complete application to the National Park Service with 19th century references substantiating the occurrences that night is available upon request, based on research provided by Dr. Kristin Zapalac of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
For More Information: Doug Eller, Grace Hill Settlement House , 314-584-6703.)
Sincere Appreciation goes to the site design supporters:
Great Rivers Greenway District, Confluence Greenway, Edward Jones, and the U.S National Park Service
