Title

Old City Jail - Jailed and Longing to Be Free – Lucy Delaney

Description

In 1842, twelve-year-old Lucy Delaney sat huddled inside a damp, crowded cell here at the Old City Jail, longing to be free. For seventeen months, the enslaved girl was forced to endure horrific conditions inside the jail while the courts weighed whether they would allow her to live as a free girl or they would send her down the Mississippi with a slave trader to be sold. While waiting, she fell ill and nearly died. Lucy was one of likely hundreds of enslaved men, women, and children who waited for the results of their freedom suits inside this filthy jail. Lucy ended up gaining her freedom. However, the fates of many enslaved people who sat in a jail cell longing for freedom just like her whose stories remain untold.

Creator

Lindsay Davis

Semester

Intro to Public History

Subject

Historic Marker Nominations

Lucy Delaney

Old City Jail

Enslaved People

Slavery

Justice

Freedom

St. Louis History

Black and African American History

Language

English

Publisher

UMSL Digital Humanities Lab

Date

2020

Identifier

Coordinates: 38.6280562, -90.1903314