BLACK HISTORY
We Should Never Forget Why We Needed A Floating Freedom School
When a law banned teaching Black people to read and write, John Berry Meachum got creative
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and where there’s racism, there’s sure to be resistance. Have you ever heard of John Berry Meachum? Born enslaved in 1789 in Virginia, he worked in a saltpeter cave in Kentucky, earning enough money to purchase his freedom. This was not something most Black people had the opportunity to do, as it required permission from their enslavers. In that respect, Meachum was fortunate, but as his life’s work would show, he was interested in uplifting more than himself out of bondage.
Once free, Meachum wanted to liberate his family members, but a cruel enslaver sold his wife before he could save enough money to buy her freedom. Nevertheless, he was persistent and had no plans of giving up and abandoning her. Instead, he trailed his wife, Mary Meachum, to St. Louis, Missouri, where he negotiated and eventually purchased her freedom. The pair became abolitionists. Having won their freedom, they wanted to help the movement in any way they could. In 1827, Meachum founded the First African Baptist Church, where Black abolitionists taught up to 300 students, providing religious and secular…
