In March of 2009, Lynne Jackson, the great-great granddaughter of Dred Scott, addressed the St. Louis CLUW chapter. She informed the chapter about plans to build a memorial statue of Dred and Harriet Scott in downtown St. Louis.

The Old Courthouse in St. Louis is the site of the first of the historic Dred Scott cases that led to the famous Dred Scott Decision. That decision from the U.S. Supreme Court said that neither the Scotts, who were of African descent, nor their descendants, had any rights, not even to be in court and “no rights which the white man was bound to respect”. This ruling affected all those of African descent, both slave and free. This case was a major catalyst for the civil war.

The St. Louis CLUW chapter immediately responded to Ms. Jackson that they wanted to be involved in the Penney Drive to help raise funds for the memorial statue.  At the National CLUW Convention in L.A. in October 2009, we passed a resolution submitted from the St. Louis chapter, stating that the Coalition of Labor Union Women shall:

Denounce the Dred Scott decision;

Remember Dred and Harriet Scott and the spirit, strength, and courage it took for them and their supporters to make a stand at that time for freedom, justice, and equality for all people of the U.S.;

Support the commemoration of Dred and Harriet Scott and the commissioning of statues in their images to be built in downtown St. Louis overlooking the Old Courthouse, the site of the first trials leading to the Dred Scott Decision.

Continue to work for reconciliation between all races and continue to oppose slavery anywhere on the planet.

If your chapter would like to get involved in the Penney drive to raise funds for these statues, contact the Dred Scott Foundation at: www.thedredscottfoundation.org or contact them at P.O. Box 2009, Florissant, MO. 63032-2009

Article first published in the Spring 2010 CLUW NEWS, www.cluw.org