In spite of slavery, a number of African Americans made remarkable achievements. One such individual was John Berry Meachum, pastor of First Baptist Church at 1 Memorial Drive in St. Louis. He defied the law which forbade African Americans from being educated by building a steamboat and anchoring it in the middle of the Mississippi River. The boat served as a school which provided hundreds of African Americans an education in the 1840s and 1850s. Because the river was under federal jurisdiction, Meachum’s school was allowed to function. One of Meachum’s pupils was James Milton Turner, who went on to be America’s first African American diplomat. (Photo courtesy of Central Baptist Church.)
Arcadia
