THE DRED SCOTT HERITAGE FOUNDATION WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

DRED SCOTT SYMPOSIUM MARCH 1-3, 2007

March 1-3, 2007 witnessed a most impressive gathering of many of the most elite scholars of the Dred Scott Decision at a symposium held by the Washington University Law School in honor of the 150th Anniversary of that decision. Under the most committed and capable leadership of Dr. David T. Konig, Professor of Law and Professor of History spearheaded a most impressive symposium was presented which included the participation of 8 of the 9 Missouri Supreme Court Justices in the final session.

With the capable assistance of Dr. John Baugh and Dr. Christopher Bracy, this event began the official kickoff of the week of the anniversary in St. Louis, MO. The presiding Chief Justice of the Missouri Supreme court and an avid scholar of the Dred Scott case, Michael Wolff gave the keynote address at the opening session at Graham Chapel. In his reflections he said, “Dred and Harriet Scott are symbols of our greatest failure. We do not celebrate the Dred Scott decision, but let us not forget it or them.”

“The Supreme Court of the United States’ pronouncement was as deeply political as any in our history,” Wolff observed.
Overlapping the event on Saturday, March 3, was the kick-off of the Old Court House Opening of the brand new Dred Scott exhibit. The Dred Scott Heritage Foundation coordinated the family so they were able to attend both sessions at the most crucial times. Approximately 30 of the descendants of Dred Scott were in attendance at Washington University at some point over the three day event.

Most appropriately held in the Bryan Cave Mock Courtroom, on the Washington University Campus, at one point, descendants sat right next to the recognizable portrait of one of Bryan Cave LLP’s most distinguished Chairmen, William Van Cleve. Lynne Jackson, Bryan Cave’s General Services Manager and founder of the Dred Scott Heritage Foundation, was pleased to share the significance of his portrait with family and friends who attended.

Law School Dean Kent D. Syverd and Drs. Konig, Baugh, and Bracy hosted dinner on three evenings for the participating scholars and the Scott descendants. Many of Dred and Harriet’s descendants live in St. Louis. Others came from Texas, Kansas City, Michigan, and New York.

The sessions were full of history, commentary, research, thesis and were quite attention grabbing. The impressive array of topics and presentation styles made for a most memorable symposium.

Please see the web site http://artsci.wustl.edu/~acsp/dred.scott for a list of speakers and presentation material. The University is making the sessions available on DVD and a literary work is forthcoming based on the symposium.

Some of the Dred Scott descendants were literally overwhelmed to see how much information was presented and to see how passionate the presenters were about their topics. It was a magnificent three day presentation for which the family will always be grateful and extends their deepest thanks to Washington University Law School, all participants and the support of Bryan Cave LLP for their commitment to making the nuances of this history known and for acknowledging this anniversary in a monumental way.
http://law.wustl.edu/news/index.asp?id=5499