Tag Archives: History

Award, Event, Recognition

Dred Scott Freedom Awards Reception 2026

YOU ARE INVITED TO ATTEND OUR RECEPTION AND CELEBRATE WITH US 16 OUTSTANDING INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE GIVEN A LIFETIME OF SERVICE AND ARE MOST WORTHY OF RECOGNITION

Zaki Baruti
Lois Conley
Etta Daniels
Tom Guignon
Dr. Malika Horn
Fr. Gerald Kleba
Brenda Mahr
Dr. Art McCoy

Michael P. McMillan
Joan Trumpauer Mulholland
Dr. Sowandé Mustakeem
Eugene Redmond
Michelle Tucker
Honorable Judge Milton Wharton
Pastor Aeneas Williams
Dr. John Wright

Mistress of Ceremonies
Dr. Kelley Hoskins, FOX2News Award Winning Journalist

Tickets for this exclusive black-tie event are $125.00 per/person
This is a black-tie affair but tuxes are NOT required.

Register here!

Legacy Sponsorships

We invite you to support us with your sponsorships and be a part of the souvenir program.

Dred Scott Freedom Sponsor Level $10,000
Harriet Scott Courage Sponsor Level $7,500
Abraham Lincoln Leadership Sponsor Level $5,000
Roswell Field Advocate Sponsor Level $ 3,000
Taylor Blow and John Lebourgeois Family Level Sponsor Level $1,000
Eliza and Lizzie Scott Family Sponsor Level $500
Program Support Ads $100

Become a sponsor now!

Peggy Lewis LeCompte
Reception Chairman
[email protected]
(618) 593-7196

Lynne Madison Jackson
President & Founder
[email protected]
(314) 532-5613

Commemoration, Education, Event

2025 Dred Scott Footprints & Attendant Black History Bus Tour

October 25, 2025

This is a half day bus tour, lunch is optional with the group (at your expense) immediately after. Registration is limited so sign up early.  

Happy to work with the St. Louis Racial Reconciliation Network on this Fall tour. 

Click to register or use the QR Code Below
Education, Event, Recognition

Local Film Festival Wins 10 Awards!

July 27, 2025

Film Producer Father Gerry Kleba and Film Director Tony West are the proud recipients of TEN Film Festival Awards! Those of us who are honored to have participated were all at the premier at the Hi-Pointe Theatre on July 27, 2025! Also, at the Atlanta Film Festival, the movie won BEST DOCUMENTARY.

A Black History Tour of St. Louis was inspired by and starred Fr. Gerry Kleba, whose appreciation for civil rights caused him to share the historic places of St. Louis and his role in it with many people, including Archbishop Rozanski. 

The cast includes: Fr. Gerald Kleba, Fr. Vincent Nyman, Jobyna Foster, Lynne Jackson, Vivian Gibson. Also in the photo is our friend Stephanie Bliss, Director of the Field House Museum which provided a space for the Dred Scott story filming in 2024 while the Old Courthouse was still closed for renovation.

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Announcement, Education, Event, Reconciliation

Marshfield 2025 Descendant of Nat Turner and Dred Scott

Join us  on  Friday, April 25, 2025 at 4:30 p.m.  for the 14th Annual Dred Scott Reconciliation Forum – Two iconic freedom fighters’ descendants will be presenting “Two Historic Roads to Freedom” – Dr. Bryan Moore (Nat Turner’s great-great grandson) and Lynne Jackson (Dred Scott’s great-great granddaughter) will share the inside stories and answer puzzling questions about their ancestors who were neighbors in Southampton, VA. Peeling back the complex layers of their ancestor’s stories that marked our history for perpetuity and what they are doing today in response to reconciling the hurts – Marshfield Assembly of God (1538 W. Washington, Marshfield, Missouri.)

Dr. Bryan Moore,
Nat Turner’s great-great grandson
Lynne M. Jackson
Dred Scott’s great-great granddaughter

Announcement, Commemoration, Education, Reconciliation

GRAND REOPENING OF THE OLD COURTHOUSE AND FESTIVAL IS MAY 3, 2025

After being closed for 5 years, the Old Courthouse in St. Louis will celebrate its long-awaited Grand Reopening on Saturday, May 3 at 10:00 a.m. with a ribbon cutting ceremony. Along with totally revised galleries on the first floor and an expanded and beautifully attired new book store and gift shop, there is now an elevator to the second floor.

The building is now telling more of the stories of the history of the cases, uses, purpose and construction of the edifice.

Mock trails will continue to be held on the first floor’s new courtroom as well as in the refurbished original courtrooms upstairs.

Dred and Harriet Scott have a new gallery dedicated to the legacy of the impact of their story. 

Special guests will join the occasion that day.

Cbabi Bayoc is the designer of the festival’s theme. 

Across from the Scott’s room is the Pathways to Freedom gallery that explores African-American life in St. Louis, etc.

The festival will take place in Kiener Plaza until 3 p.m.  The courthouse will be open for visitors throughout the day until its closings at 5 pm.  The public is invited.

Gateway Arch Park Foundation – Old Court Grand Reopening

Spectrum News Article

Education, Event

U.S. Magistrate Judges’ National Workshop – Hilton Ballpark, St. Louis, Missouri

Lynne M. Jackson will be the plenary speaker on Monday, April 14th at the U.S. Magistrate Judges’ National Workshop – April 14-16, 2025, Hilton Ballpark, St. Louis Missouri. Lynne M. Jackson will be the plenary speaker on Monday, April 14th. This event is not open to the public.

Announcement, Education, Reconciliation

The Civil War Roundtable of D.C – Dred Scott: Struggle for Freedom and Continued Legacy

The Civil War Roundtable of D.C. and President Lincoln’s Cottage have partnered to welcome Lynne Jackson, President and Founder of the Dred Scott Heritage Foundation and the great, great granddaughter of Dred Scott.

Mrs. Jackson will give a presentation on Dred and Harriet Scott’s
11-year legal battle for freedom and the work of the foundation to promote commemoration, education and reconciliation in today’s fractured environment.

Click here for more information and to get tickets

Announcement, News

M1 Bank Selects DSHF as one of  their new charities.

M1 Bank’s new world headquarters opened in Clayton, MO in September 2024. Ken Poteet and his wife Stephanie Bahn-Poteet started M1 Bank in 2017 as The Power of Mission and Purpose. Dred Scott was selected along with five other non-profits for support this year. Donations designated by attendees through the Giving Grove were given to the organizations by M1 Bank.   

We are extremely grateful for this relationship and the faith and purpose in the hearts of this couple to reach out to the community in this way. Many thanks to Ken and Stephanie!