February has been designated African American History Month in the United States by every president since 1976. The beginnings of African American History Month, also know as Black History Month, dates back to 1915 when historian Carter G. Woodson and minister Jesse E. Moorland founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History.

 

While at a national level there is a rich history behind this important month, we also have a significant amount of history at a local level. To honor African American History Month in Cape Girardeau, we are going back in time and looking at prominent locations in our town and the connection they have to African American history.

 

 

Court of Common Pleas

Location: Spanish & Themis Streets
On Monday, December 3, 1855, 24 slaves were auctioned off in front of the Cape Girardeau Court of Common Pleas as part of local slave owner Hiram Sloan’s estate that was apportioned upon his death.

For slaves in the area, being sold “down river” was a terrifying fate. Slave auctions like this were common practice and occurred the first day of every new year on the Court of Common Pleas property until the abolishment of slavery in Missouri in 1865.

 

Fairmount Cemetery

Location: 835 Caruthers

Some of the U.S. Colored Infantry (USCI) Soldier Veterans are buried at Fairmount Cemetery. These soldiers were buried in section “C”, once known as the colored section.

Local historian Denise Lincoln had this to say about the cemetery history, “Cemetery grave markers are government monuments to the legacy, the courage and the heroism of the

USCI soldiers in our midst, therefore our most tangible link to the life stories. It was the experience of finding the life stories of these few men at Fairmount, which put me on the path of

responsibility to try to embrace the larger story.”

 

Holy Family Catholic Church

1507 South Sprigg Street
In 1940, African American teenagers Alberta and John Spicer and Walter Lee approached a local Catholic priest, Father Darling, about establishing a Catholic Church for neighborhood African Americans.

The church was established as a mission of St. Vincent De Paul Parish and given the name “Holy Family”.

A two-classroom school was housed in the basement of the church and it opened in 1942 with 43 students.

 

Lincoln/John S. Cobb School

Merriwether & Ellis Streets and 731 Merriwether

Lincoln School was built in 1890 to educate African American children in Cape Girardeau from its opening in 1890 until 1953. It consisted of students ranging from elementary to high school.

In 1925 the school was renamed the John S. Cobb School to honor John S. Cobb, a slave from Tennessee that moved to Cape Girardeau in the 1880s, eventually becoming one of the top African American educators in the state of Missouri.

 

While these are only a few highlights of the significant historical sites in Cape Girardeau, there is much more to uncover.

 

Want to take a self-guided tour of these sites? Download the African American History Driving Tour here: http://bit.ly/39SgAv1