Archer Alexander

  • The Legacy of the Emancipation Proclamation: A Historical Overview

    The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except for punishment of a crime. On October 20, 1940, the U.S. Postal Service issued a 3 cent postage stamp with the image of that Monument. The Emancipation Monument served as the primary national memorial to Lincoln in DC until 1922, when the Lincoln Memorial…

    Read more →

  • ARCHER ALEXANDER DAY

    ARCHER ALEXANDER DAY

    On September 24, 1863, a St. Louis newspaper announced “Archer Alexander, a negro … whose last master was Richard Hickman Pitman of the County of St. Charles…is hereby declared to be an emancipated slave and a free man!

    Read more →

  • Family History

    Family History

    Since this story first aired, the site of freedom seeker’s Archer Alexander’s burial has been listed on the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom….

    Read more →

  • Emancipation

    Emancipation

    The controversial Emancipation Memorial in Lincoln Park in Washington DC with President Abraham Lincoln includes Archer Alexander, an enslaved man seen rising in freedom given by the Emancipation Proclamation, first announced on this date…

    Read more →

  • September is National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom month

    Sharing a recent story in Missouri Life Magazine about Archer Alexander …

    Read more →

  • From Virginia to Missouri

    From Virginia to Missouri

    In 2019, I retraced the steps of Archer Alexander as he was brought from Virginia to Missouri, with his wife Louisa, and his son Wesley. They had spent over eight weeks traveling over 1,000 miles, a trip that can be made today in less than 11 hours.

    Read more →

  • ARCHER ALEXANDER MEMORIAL

    Archer Alexander was the last fugitive slave captured in Missouri, and received his freedom on September 24, 1863, for his important services to the United States Military (Union) after informing them of a plot to destroy a local railroad bridge. He saved hundreds of lives, and a vital link conveying troops, funds and supplies for…

    Read more →

  • Archer Alexander Program Added

    National Park Service adds the Archer Alexander and the Underground Railroad to the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program 

    Read more →

  • April 14th

    April 14th

    Originally called the Freedom Memorial, the Emancipation Memorial, still stands today in Lincoln Park, in Washington, D.C. The Memorial to President Abraham Lincoln, dedicated on April 14, 1876, was the first memorial to Lincoln erected by the formerly enslaved in grateful appreciation for the Emancipation Proclamation. The enslaved man seen with Lincoln was a real…

    Read more →

  • March 30, 1863

    March 30, 1863

    On this date, abolitionist William Greenleaf Eliot would make his final attempt to contact Archer Alexander’s enslaver Richard Hickman Pitman, of Cottleville, asking to purchase him, in order to see him emancipated.

    Read more →

  • Howell’s Ferry Crossing

    Howell’s Ferry Crossing

    The discovery that Archer Alexander had been the informant who had passed information to the Union Troops about the Confederate’s plans, sent the whole area around Dardenne Prairie into turmoil! While the trains were halted, and the bridge repaired, everyone from Flint Hill to Naylor’s Store to Cottleville was looking for Pitman’s enslaved man….

    Read more →

  • that all persons held as slaves are and henceforward shall be free

    Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was an executive order that read “on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be…

    Read more →

  • The Gold Watch

    The Gold Watch

    This spring, a new exhibit at the museum, titled “COLLECTED” will share Archer Alexander’s Gold Watch helping to bring his story to life once again… Read More

    Read more →

  • Emancipation Day

    Emancipation Day

    Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation declared all enslaved people shall be considered free on January 1, 1863. When Lincoln was assasinated on April 14, 1865, a memorial to Lincoln was erected paid for and dedicated in Washington, D.C. by the formerly enslaved. The enslaved man seen rising is Archer Alexander, the National Icon for Emancipation.

    Read more →

  • Giving Tuesday

    Giving Tuesday

    Since then, the talented sculptor Abraham Mohler has been chosen to create this memorial, that is way past due. After many discussions, the Archer Alexander Memorial will depict this man who not only resisted enslavement but was a leader among his people. Future generations will come to know the story of this real hero. His…

    Read more →

  • Jubilee

    Jubilee

    Join us as we celebrate Archer Alexander’s Day of Freedom! On Sunday, September 22, 2024 at 1:00 pm at St. Peter’s U.C.C. Cemetery (2101 Lucas & Hunt Road St. Louis 63121)

    Read more →

  • UNDERGROUND

    UNDERGROUND

    A short YouTube video shares Archer Alexander’s historic run for freedom on the Underground Railroad…

    Read more →

  • September events

    September events

    Come hear the story of Archer Alexander’s dangerous route to freedom on the Underground Railroad or join us at his Jubilee…

    Read more →

  • Emancipation Memorial

    Emancipation Memorial

    As we celebrate Juneteenth, we must recall the reason. The Emancipation Memorial was erected in 1876, by the formerly enslaved, and freedom seekers, to “the best friend the colored people ever had” President Abraham Lincoln. The man with Lincoln is freedom seeker Archer Alexander… read more

    Read more →

  • Juneteenth is a celebration of Freedom

    Look closely at the look on Archer Alexander’s face. Have you seen this memorial before? It was dedicated in 1876, with over 25,000 black people attending and its original name is the Freedom Memorial. It was entirely paid for by thousands of formerly enslaved black people.

    Read more →

  • LOUISA

    LOUISA

    …and I send yourself my best Love, I am your affectionate wife, wrote Louisa Alexander to her husband Archer Alexander in November 16, 1863

    Read more →

  • MUHAMMAD ALI’S GREAT-GREAT-GREAT GRANDFATHER

    Archer Alexander is the great-great-great grandfather of Muhammad Ali.

    Read more →

  • Happy Birthday President Lincoln

    Happy Birthday President Lincoln

    Read more →

  • Archer Alexander and the Underground Railroad

    Free Virtual Program about Archer Alexander and the Underground Railroad on February 28, 2024 at 6:30 pm.

    Read more →

  • An American hero

    An American hero

    Archer Alexander’s burial site is listed on the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. Archer Alexander is the Great-Great-Great grandfather of Muhammad Ali. Dorris Keeven-Franke is an author and public historian. A professional genealogist and archivist, she shares the story of this enslaved man born in 1806 near Lexington, Rockbridge County, Virginia. Taken to Missouri…

    Read more →