Grace Hill commemorates Mary Meachum Freedom Crossing
Special to the American
On Saturday, May 21, hundreds of area residents hit the Riverfront Trail in North St. Louis to celebrate the 151st anniversary of a prominent Underground Railroad event.
In the early morning hours of May 21, 1855 a small group of nine runaway slaves and their guides crossed the Mississippi River at St. Louis, attempting to reach a route to freedom through Illinois. Mary Meachum, the widow of John Berry Meachum, a prominent African-American clergyman and abolitionist, was later called the “conductor” of the event and arrested.
The May 21 celebration’s events were highlighted by a vocal reenactment of the 1855 slave escape and balloon launch representing the souls of the thousands of slaves who chose to make the dangerous flight to freedom.
Along with dozens of food and souvenir vendors, the celebration featured activities including The Boeing Corporation Day of Discovery and main stage entertainment that included gospel music, storytellers and ethnic and praise dancers.
“At the event, we celebrated that hope and passion for freedom,” said Douglas Eller Grace Hill Settlement House Director of Community Development.
In addition to hundreds of residents, the celebration was attended by state Senator Maida Coleman; state Representative Connie Johnson; Paula Smith, a commissioner of Great Rivers Greenway; Judy Dungan of U.S. Senator Kit Bond’s office; and Charles Bryson of Mayor Francis G. Slay’s office.
The Mary Meachum Freedom Crossing, the first nationally recognized Underground Railroad site in Missouri as designated by the U.S. National Park Service, is being developed into a national tourist destination. The site is in North St. Louis City almost directly east down Grand Avenue on the Mississippi riverfront.
The Riverfront Trail, including the Mary Meachum site, is managed and promoted primarily by the Grace Hill Settlement House AmeriCorps Trail Rangers, young adults from North St. Louis who care about their community. The Grace Hill Settlement House AmeriCorps Trail Rangers, trained through the National Black Tourism Network, have been giving dramatic presentations about the Mary Meachum site to seniors, adults and children for the past three years.
This Underground Railroad site is virtually unique because the event has 19th century documentation including detailed records from Henry Shaw who owned some of the slaves and the escape was led by Mary Meachum, a free woman of color. In December 2001, the Mary Meachum Freedom Crossing was dedicated as part of the National Park Service’s Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.
A part of St. Louis for more than 100 years, Grace Hill consists of sister organizations, Grace Hill Settlement House and Grace Hill Neighborhood Health Centers, Inc., that bring together a full range of resources including primary care health centers, Head Start centers, a neighborhood organization system called M.O.R.E. based on a bartering concept, business development, and family services.
Grace Hill serves neighborhoods with a combined population in excess of 100,000. All services are implemented not only to be neighborhood-based, thus accessible, but also to reach, serve and involve residents of the service areas as providers and leaders.
