LHWHS Students Recognized for Contributions with Visit from Dred Scott’s Great-Great-Grandaughter
Lynne Jackson, great-great-granddaughter of Dred and Harriet Scott, visited teacher Rob Good’s class on Thursday, December 1, 2011 to personally thank the students of Ladue Horton Watkins High School for participating in the penny drive which will help to fund a life-size statue of Dred and Harriet Scott. LHWHS was one of just a few high schools in the area who raised over $500 to help build the statue to be erected near the Old Courthouse – site of the first Dred Scott freedom trials — in downtown St. Louis.
The statue will be dedicated as a symbol of victory for freedom fighters…past, present and future. The Dred Scott Decision in 1857 was a major catalyst that brought on the Civil War, motivated Abraham Lincoln to run for President, and resulted in the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. In little more than a decade after that decision, the nation abolished slavery, granted equal citizenship to all, and guaranteed the right to vote regardless of color.
Students at the high school produced a video about the Penny Drive which has been posted on The Dred Scott Foundation website.
