Thanks to a brave free black woman and nine slaves, St. Louis has special significance as a stop on the legendary Underground Railroad located in a former slave state.
On Saturday, residents can rewind the hands of time nearly 160 years to gain first-hand understanding of a mode of transportation stretching across the nation that had one destination – freedom.
“Every year, we do a different reenactment,” said Doug Eller of the Grace Hill Settlement House – one of the organizers of the event that for the past 10 years has created a live connection with history.
“The first few years were just about Mary Meachum. But we eventually started doing other aspects of history from around that time. This year we will be doing the Civil War and what it meant for African Americans.”
Most carry the assumption that with the war came automatic freedom for slaves.
Nothing could be further from the truth. This fact will be illustrated through the 9th anniversary reenactment festivities kicking off at noon on Saturday.
“We will show how the Underground Railroad was still in operation during the Civil War,” Eller said. “Even after African Americans were free, they were still not truly free. This event speaks to freedom – and that it was so important to people that they risked everything, including their lives, to achieve it.”
A posse of horses will join an ensemble that blends professional actors and community members to create a compelling and realistic experience of historical significance that leaves a lasting impression on the hundreds that visit each year.
The actors include Wendy Gordon, Natasia Griffin (and her two children), Phillip Barry, Victoria Thomas, Amenthra Thomas, Gary Stoff and many more.
For the past five years, the production has been written and directed by Angela da Silva, whose National Black Tourism Network is a co-sponsor of the event, along with Great Rivers Greenway, Confluence Partnership, Grace Hill and Lindenwood University’s School of American Studies.
“She is amazing,” Eller said of da Silva. “This production has really helped explain the evolution of freedom for us in the United States. As we know, it was not a complete product during that time and it’s important to talk about how that evolved.”
This year’s Mary Meachum crossing carries special significance. Saturday’s festivities will include the unveiling of plans to redevelop the location into a national tourist attraction.
Eller said, “We want the site to become a tourist destination that people will come from all across the U.S. to see, to support the community and provide a huge amount of cultural education for people of North St. Louis and the community in general.”
Grace Hill has managed the Riverfront Trails – the original site of the original Mary Meachum Crossing. For the past 10 years, Grace Hill has been relentless in assuring that location and the brave individuals who made it famous have their historical significance preserved.
“We are just a hop, skip, jump from the site – maybe 20 feet,” Eller said of Grace Hill Settlement House. “So this worked out perfectly for us.”
This year they have engaged more than 300 community people to participate in the site development planning process with developers from Washington, D.C.
In the meantime, Saturday’s reenactment will do exactly what Meachum had in mind when she staged an attempt to lead others on a successful navigation through the Underground Railroad: pool available resources to build a sense of community and offer a taste of freedom.
“It’s really a powerful grassroots production in which the local community attends and performs,” Eller said. “And it shows the community is involved in this sort of effort. We talk about freedom, but we don’t define it really well. This reenactment does that.”
The 9th Annual Mary Meachum Freedom Crossing Reenactment will take place on Saturday, May 21 at The Riverfront Trails on the banks of the Mississippi River. Festivities kick off at noon. To learn more about the Mary Meachum Freedom Crossing, call Angela da Silva at 314-865-0708 Angela da Silva or Doug Eller at 314- 602-4808.
