Remembering Dred Scott on Juneteenth at Gateway Arch in St. Louis
Today is Juneteenth, our newest national holiday, which commemorates the end of slavery. Short for June 19th, Juneteenth has long been celebrated by African American communities in Texas. On June 19, 1865, enslaved people in Texas were finally told, two months after the Civil War had ended, that they were free.
It seems appropriate on this day to share photos from my recent visit to Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis, Missouri. Why? Because at St. Louis’s Old Courthouse, which faces the Arch across a green plaza, an enslaved man named Dred Scott famously sued for his freedom in 1846, hoping to free not only himself but his wife, Harriet, and their children.
Dred Scott’s case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in 1857 that this was an issue of property rights, not human rights, and that Black Americans were not and never could be U.S. citizens, with all the rights that entails. This gross injustice galvanized Northerners and helped usher in the Civil War, ultimately leading to the end of slavery for all Black Americans.
Today Dred and Harriet are memorialized in a bronze statue that stands at the corner of the Old Courthouse.
A plaque explains the significance of the case and the Scotts’ courageous fight for their freedom.
The shameful legacy of slavery hangs over us all to this day. But in the story of Dred and Harriet, we can recognize the courage and tenacity of two Americans whose fight for liberty, though unsuccessful in the courts, helped lead to momentous change.
I’m thinking of them this Juneteenth.
Up next: Part 1 of my visit to St. Louis’s acclaimed Missouri Botanical Garden.
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Digging Deeper
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All material © 2024 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
Hi. Great post, but the slaves in Texas found out they were free 2 YEARS after the end of the Civil War, not 2 months.
Hi Steve. That’s not correct. Juneteenth marks the announcement on June 19, 1865, by the federal army in Galveston, Texas, that slavery was finished — two months after the Civil War ended. It was, however, two years after Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863.
Like Steve, I had understood it was 2.5 yrs after the Civil War, but that information now stands corrected–it was 2.5 yrs after the Emancipation Proclamation. I had heard of Dred Scott as in “the Dred Scott decision” but never what that was about. Thanks for the interesting, historical enlightenment!
You’re welcome, Beverly. I learned about it myself in researching this post.
I stand corrected. Thank you for the information, Pam!
Thank you for this post!
You’re welcome. Thanks for reading!
Nice Work as always love traveling with you! Hopefully a giant step towards liberty and justice for all is really happening. And the long row to hoe of understanding all the ramifications of what I call subcultural differences of the human experience can proceed.
I hope so too, Tom. Thanks for your comment.
What a story. I didn’t know this. Great photos.
Thanks, Lisa.
Another great post! It is amazing how many people don’t know this. That just underscores how ignorant most of us are of the nasty side of our history even though it still conveys benefits to some of us at the expense of others of us.
I confess I was one who didn’t really know what Dred Scott was all about, Paula, until I visited St. Louis and saw the statue and read the plaque. I was very moved by it. It’s an ugly part of our country’s history, but as you say, it’s critical to know about it so we don’t repeat our mistakes over and over.
Well done post. I grew up in St Louis, but didn’t know about Dred Scott until high school history classes. Looking forward to your posy on The Garden.
Gail, the garden was amazing. I’ll start posting about it this week.
Thanks for this post, Pam. Definitely a story to remember for Juneteenth.
You’re welcome, Maggie.
Thanks for the post, Pam!
Thanks for reading it, Kris!