On Wednesday, Aug. 27, the African American Heritage Trail unveiled a marker honoring Milly Sawyers, a formerly enslaved woman, on the corner of Boonville Avenue and Water Street.
Sawyers successfully sued for her freedom in Greene County in August 1835 on the grounds that she previously resided in Ohio, a free state. Less than a year later, she was brutally beaten by a pro-slavery mob that included Springfield founder John P. Campbell, according to the marker.
Approximately 50 people were present for the unveiling, including speakers H. Wes Pratt and Lyle Q. Foster. Their speeches emphasized honoring the previously disenfranchised to produce a more just society.
A new plaque will be placed at Missouri State University’s Kentwood Hall this fall, according to Foster…