The Saint Louis Zoo Emerson Zooline Railroad has added a new train named “Mary Meachum,” which runs on electricity in support of its green initiative. The electric train now accompanies six other locomotives that circle the zoo throughout the day.
Meachum was an abolitionist in St. Louis who was instrumental in educating Black people and played an important role in the Underground Railroad. Born a slave, Meachum’s husband, John Berry Meachum, bought her freedom when they were
married. Meachum founded the first African American Baptist Church in St. Louis in the 1820s.
The Meachums violated Missouri law by educating African Americans, reportedly on steamboats on the Mississippi River. During the 1850s, Mary Meachum was a “conductor” on the Underground Railroad in the St. Louis area. At that time in history, Missouri was a slave state and Illinois was not. She would help slaves cross into freedom, and there is a location on the Mississippi River called
the Mary Meachum Freedom Crossing. A commemorative reenactment is held annually at the crossing site.
