Underground Railroad Site in Trouble

[IfasehunReincarnated]

Chonda DeBoise refuses to let what may be a piece of African-American history get demolished without a fight.

"This is part of African-American history. I live just a few blocks away from here, and I cannot let everyone's hard work and effort go to waste without a fight," said DeBoise, who lives near an archaeological site at 3314-3318
Lemp Ave. that may be connected to the Underground Railroad that guided fugitive slaves to free states.
The site was the focus of archaeological and historical research during 1999, 2000 and 2001. Years of archaeological work by area college and high school students may be lost, as the site is becoming available for sale by the Benton Park Housing Corporation.





"I am in the real estate business and work for a mortgage company," DeBoise said. "I understand the property value would increase with a new development, but this is history. This is priceless."

Since New Year's Day, community activists and neighborhood residents like DeBoise have been working with politicians, educators and civic leaders to preserve the remaining structure. A crucial house at the site was previously demolished by the city of St. Louis.

"Our main concern is that this piece of history should not be put into private hands. Our goal is to make this site into a museum and educational facility," said Glenn Burleigh, a community activist with Take Back St. Louis, a non-profit, grass-roots effort.

"We want to make the housing corporation and the city of St. Louis do more than give lip service to this effort. We want them to get behind this effort in an economic way."

Ninth Ward Alderman Kenneth Ortmann says stories circulating about the demolition of the site are unfounded.

"I will make every effort to see that the Benton Park Housing Corporation does everything in its power to preserve this historic house and site," said Ortmann, who serves on the housing corporation board.

On Wednesday, the Benton Park Housing Corporation met to go over bid proposals for the property. No decision has been reached on disposal of the property, Ortmann said.

The initial Lemp Avenue research was directed by Chip Clatto, an African-American teacher and scholar at Gateway Technical High School, with support from Washington University graduate students and faculty.

"I recall five years ago, when (then-10th ward Alderman) Craig Schmidt had the house on our archaeological site raised. It really broke my heart," Clatto said.

Erika Williams, Clatto's former student and a sophomore at the University of Missouri-Columbia, was devastated to here the news of a possible sale to private contractors for new residential housing.

"I spent two long, hot summers in the basements of those homes, recovering historic artifacts that possibly connected those homes to the Underground Railroad system," Williams says.

Williams recalls her and other students recovering cowrie shells, a small seashell carried as a symbol of a slave's African roots and used for religious ceremonies and currency.

"We also recovered a bone carving of an elephant's trunk. We were really onto something," Williams said.

"We thought that if a German abolitionist lived on the site in the 1850s could be confirmed, then the artifacts at the scene would be considered as strong evidence of Underground Railroad activity."

Washington University professor Dave Browman, who supported Clatto's earlier archaeological efforts, says the Lemp Avenue property still holds more questions than answers about a possible Underground Railroad site.

"It may not be possible to confirm or deny the site's use as a stop on the Underground Railroad," Browman said
"Excavations have already confirmed occupation prior to the Civil War, and artifacts associated with Africans or African-Americans have been recovered. If possible, further excavation may uncover evidence
supporting Underground Railroad activity at the site, and the Lemp Avenue site would be the first documented Underground Railroad stop in Missouri."

The Lemp houses were first identified as an Underground Railroad station five years ago by Mark Sarich, a Benton Park resident, based on oral history.

At the rear of the house, the ground sloped sharply down to a basement entrance. A rear wooden porch was built over the slope, covering the entrance to a tunnel. According to oral accounts, the tunnel eventually leads into Cherokee Cave.

"The presence of the tunnel and cave exit provides a hidden means of transporting slaves to the Mississippi River without being noticed by police and slave catchers," Clatto said.

"Cemeteries were sometimes used as landmarks in describing the location of Underground Railroad stops. A German Evangelical cemetery and a Baptist cemetery were situated near the Lemp Avenue site," Clatto said.

Unfortunately, Clatto said his initial archaeological efforts are being thwarted. A house that stood at 3314 Lemp was demolished by the city of St. Louis five years ago at the very moment when permission was granted to him to continue investigation of the site.

"I was out there the day of the demolition. It broke my heart," Clatto said.

"It would have been very easy to keep that structure up. What evidence we had unearthed was buried beneath the debris."

Now, excavation will have to be concentrated on the other portions of the site, which may hold secrets of their own.
Browman of Washington University said the site has historical value, regardless of its connection to fugitive slave routes:

"If no evidence is found directly supporting the Underground Railroad connection, a great deal could still be learned about the lives of early African-American residents of South St. Louis."