ST. LOUIS — As the statue commemorating the hundreds of slaves who petitioned Missouri Courts for freedom has been completed and placed in the eastern plaza of the St. Louis Civil Courts Building, a ceremony with officials and community leaders is set for Monday evening.

What You Need To Know

  • Freedom Suits Memorial honors the 400 slaves and St. Louis lawyers who petitioned for freedom in Missouri Courts.  

  • The statue has been finished and is located in the eastern plaza of the St. Louis Civil Courts Building.

  • It was designed by Preston Jackson, a well-known painter, sculptor, and educator in Illinois.

  • A groundbreaking ceremony is set for Monday evening where Mayor Jones and other community leaders will speak. 

The Freedom Suits Memorial statue was designed by Preston Jackson, a well-known painter, sculptor, and educator in Illinois, according to St. Louis City Circuit Court’s Freedom Suits Memorial Project online page.

His “dynamic and visual narrative” proposal was selected by the The Freedom Suits Memorial Steering Committee in March 2015, which “memorialize the hundreds of courageous slaves and lawyers who went to court in St. Louis to sue for their freedom from 1806 through Emancipation in 1863,” the project page states. 

A total of 400 slaves filed freedom suits in Missouri Courts from the time of Louisiana Purchase until the Emancipation Proclamation 57 years later, according to project page. 

The sculpture is aligned with the Gateway Mall and the Old Courthouse, where most of the suits were tried, including Dred and Harriet Scott's case.

“It was a great challenge for a slave to get to court, but once there, they had a legal precedent on their side: ‘Once free, always free.’

"Under this theory, the courts had held that a slave who had been moved to a free state or territory for any length of time then returned to a slave state or territory could sue for his or her freedom,” the project page states.

A group of anti-slavery lawyers were successful in freeing many slaves.

Mayor Tishaura Jones, Circuit Judge David C. Mason, Adolphus Pruitt, president of St. Louis City NAACP and a member of the Freedom Suits Steering Committee, are scheduled to speak at the ceremony set for 5 p.m. at Eastern Plaza of the Civil Courts Building, located at 10 N. Tucker Boulevard. 

The Freedom Suits Memorial is a cast bronze statue that is eight feet wide by four feet deep and 14 feet tall. Each angle of the sculpture is a pictorial lesson on the lawsuits and the times, according to the project page.

It incorporates “both free-standing and relief sculptures in a construction recalling the dome and cupola of the Old Courthouse.”

“This is a very important project, which fits my life’s work, telling the visual history of our country in a compelling and effective manner that is appropriate for all,” Jackson said on the project page. 

“I feel it is imperative that the descendants of slaves see themselves as strong people, as survivors, and this sculpture will certainly send that important message.”

Fundraising came from private donors and sources, which was conducted through the St. Louis Bar Foundation, the project page states. 

For more information, click here.