Ulysses Grant, the celebrated Union Army general who would become U.S. president, spent many years living and working on land which has since become Grant’s Farm.
His family abhorred slavery and it shaped his view of the nation and his calling to defeat the Confederate Army in the Civil War.
On July 21, 2023, the Missouri Humanities Council presented the 10th Annual
Ulysses S. Grant Symposium at the Soldiers Memorial Museum in St. Louis. Cecilia Nadal, playwright and sociologist, opened the symposium by detailing how the history of German abolitionists in Missouri inspired her play, “An Amazing Story.”
Nadal shared the historic roles of German immigrants Carl Strehly and Eduard
Muehl in Hermann, Mo., who started the German language newspaper the Hermanner Wochenblatt, which advocated for the end of slavery while also assisting runaway slaves that sought assistance on the Missouri River.
She also explained the role of Judge Arnold Krekel, a German immigrant and abolitionist that assisted members of the 62nd and 65th Colored Infantry to start Lincoln Institute that would become the current Lincoln University.
Nadal called the alliance between Black veterans, German and Black abolitionists a “dream team” that left an important and visible legacy in the State of Missouri.
She told the audience that George Hussmann, who is considered the “father of the wine industry of Missouri” was a member of the writing committee for the development of the emancipation decree that freed slaves in Missouri. He also spent time in Hermann and worked with Arnold Krekel who headed the convention emancipating slaves.
Nadal said she delved into research conducted by fellow Skinker DeBaliviere resident Sydney Norton, who have shared speaking tours on Germans and African American throughout the state.
