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Mo-Curious

Mo’ Curious: Tracing the Underground Railroad in Missouri

A growing number of sites in St. Louis reflect the region’s importance to 19th century freedom seekers

Harriet Robinson Scott’s story is part of the National Park Service’s Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. She is buried in St. Louis’ Greenwood Cemetery. Courtesy: Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3a08392/

Before the Civil War, Missouri was territory where it was legal to own slaves. People could be bought and owned and sold. Amidst the horrors of enslavement, blacks and their allies in the region found ways to fight against the system that kept them in bondage.

On this episode of Mo’ Curious, we meet a group of historians and archivists who are researching the backstories of formerly enslaved people and are working to educate others about the lives they lived.

…and here’s more information about the National Park Service’s Underground Railroad Network to Freedom and St. Louis’ Greenwood Cemetery.

Trevor Harris's avatar

By Trevor Harris

I got involved in community radio back in 1990 and later worked in public radio. I enjoy listening to people's stories. Collecting them seemed like a logical marriage of my love of audio gathering and preserving the stories of those around me.

One reply on “Mo’ Curious: Tracing the Underground Railroad in Missouri”

The information about Henry Shaw sending a bounty hunter after the mother and son that escaped from his house is important to know and remember. Many persons of great wealth from that era derived that wealth from the bondage of other humans. Thanks, Trevor.

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