The Freedom School - St. Louis Missouri

WHAT’S IN THE NAME?

Our name symbolizes the school’s vision: God’s provision of responsible, redemptive, and creative education for his children, and of reconciliation and hope for our community through the truth of the Gospel of His Son, Jesus Christ.

The name also honors a wonderful history of the pursuit of justice and freedom for children in St. Louis. Ex-slave John Berry Meacham founded the original Freedom School in 1847.
A teacher and ordained minister, Meacham, with the help of a white Baptist pastor, Reverend Peck, opened a school for black children in St. Louis in the late 1820s

In 1847, however, Missouri banned education for blacks and took away blacks’ right to assemble. Undeterred, Meacham moved his school to the Mississippi River, which was free from Missouri’s jurisdiction. Every morning, skiffs transported children to Meacham’s “Freedom School”, located on a steamboat anchored in the middle of the river. News of the school spread and people all over the country sent resources to this unique school.

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