The great-great granddaughter of Dred and Harriet Scott will speak on the Lincoln University campus on Tuesday, February 25. Lynne M. Jackson, President and Founder of the Dred Scott Heritage Foundation, will speak at 7 p.m. in Richardson Fine Arts Center. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Scott’s great-great grandfather was the namesake for the United States Supreme Court Case Dred Scott V. John F.A. Sanford (1857), commonly known as the Dred Scott decision. In their decision, the court ruled that Scott, an enslaved person who had resided in the free state of Illinois and free territory of Wisconsin, was not entitled to his freedom due to that fact that the United States Constitution did not consider African Americans citizens of this country. This decision added fuel to the growing discourse that would eventually lead to the Civil War.