History comes to life on Saturday at the 22nd Annual Mary Meachum Freedom Crossing Celebration, held at Missouri’s first National Underground Railroad historic site.
“There will be food vendors and activities throughout the day, but everything pauses for the play,” says event manager Angela da Silva, a historian, educator, performer, and the founder of the National Black Tourism Network. (You may recall da Silva from her 2011 reenactment of a slave sale on the Old Courthouse steps, marking the start of Civil War sesquicentennial commemorations.)
Attendees can expect horses, wagons, and a reenactment crew, including members from the Blue Gray Alliance, who will depict three escape attempts by enslaved individuals in Missouri. The event occurs at the historic 1855 river crossing from Missouri to freedom in Illinois, led by Black abolitionist Mary Meachum. “There’s nothing on the site,” da Silva notes. “It’s the very same view those nine enslaved people would have experienced in 1855.”
Besides Meachum’s daring nighttime crossing with nine enslaved individuals, the event will also spotlight two additional escapes.
One dramatization will showcase the 1842 escape of Caroline Quarlls, a teenager who sometimes passed for white due to her lighter skin and received assistance from Underground Railroad conductors. “She was the first enslaved person to explore the route through Wisconsin to Canada,” explains da Silva. “There’s a mob scene where Caroline’s owner hired lawyers and slave catchers to retrieve her; they nearly succeeded, but the townspeople rallied to help her.”
The second reenactment revolves around Washington Reed and his family’s 1847 escape. “When enslaved families fled with children, they had only a 17 percent chance of survival, but this family succeeded,” da Silva states. “The runaway notice suggested they might be traveling with a white man in a wagon. We’re bringing in a historical wagon from a museum in Arkansas, featuring iron wheels.”
The event, named “Wouldn’t Take Nothing for my Journey,” promises to be impactful, yet at times difficult to witness, according to da Silva, who emphasizes the importance of bringing history to life. “It will get intense… It’s realism—I won’t sugarcoat the brutality.”
The festivities kick off at noon with a community bike ride hosted by Trailnet. Attendees can enjoy various food vendors, magnetic poetry installations, engaging activities for children, and live music performances, including gospel choirs. The reenactments are set to commence at 3 p.m.
“That river symbolizes both a boundary and a horizon,” remarks da Silva. “It’s a boundary for slaves from Missouri—they must get across it. Conversely, it becomes a horizon if you succeed; it remains a boundary if you don’t. It is sacred ground, marking where those nine individuals began their perilous journey.”
Guests can access the event site, located on the Mississippi Greenway/Riverfront Trail just north of Merchant’s Bridge, by parking on East Prairie Avenue and utilizing a free shuttle service. The event runs from noon to 5 p.m. with no admission charge.
