(The Standard) - Every year, Missouri Public Affairs inducts new members to their Hall of Fame. This year they will be inducting an iconic figure of the civil rights movement: Dred Scott.
“His impact was not something I suspect he ever understood when he was alive, or when he was making his demand for freedom,” said Ryan DeBoef, MSU chief of staff and chair of the public affairs selection committee. “But the state of Missouri and America as a country will never be the same.”
Dred Scott was born a slave around the beginning of the 19th century in Virginia. It was in Missouri, however, that Scott sued for the freedom of himself and his family.
“I think a lot of people don’t recognize his connection to our state,” DeBoef said.
Scott’s case eventually made it to the U.S. Supreme Court, where it was ruled slaves are not citizens, the Missouri Compromise and Northwest Ordinance was unconstitutional, and slavery will be allowed in all states. This decision is one large event that led to the Civil War.
Among the four other inductees, Lynn Jackson, the great-great granddaughter of Dred and Harriett Scott, will attend the induction ceremony on April 17. Jackson is the president and founder of the Dred Scott Heritage Foundation, which aims to educate the public about the impact of the Dred Scott decision.
Scott won’t be the first posthumously inducted member. Since the hall of fame was created in 2014, one legacy award can be given each year. Last year the legacy award was given to Maya Angelou, and to John Pershing the year before her.
The guidelines for induction are the same for legacy awards as all other inductees. The nominee must have a connection to the state of Missouri and are chosen based on their support of public affairs and engaged citizenship.
DeBoef said Scott’s induction was encouraged by conversations about Scott taking place in recent years across the state, between his foundation pushing for his inclusion in the Hall of Famous Missourians recently, as well as a local retired attorney Tom Strong educating about the Dred Scott case.
“There’s been more talk in southwest Missouri and throughout the state of Missouri on Dred Scott, I think in large part thanks to Tom Strong taking it upon himself to really dig into that and start broadcasting the word on the impact that Dred Scott had on the emancipation of slaves, civil rights and on the state government,” DeBoef said.
DeBoef said all five inductees this year have left a major mark on the state of Missouri, and that there’s much to learn from these individuals including Scott.
“I think we should look at the lives that these people have led, and the impact they’ve had on our communities,” DeBoef said. “We should aspire to find our own way to have that kind of impact.”
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