In 2023, a small one-acre plot of land called Smith Chapel Cemetery was recognized by the National Park Service’s Program, the NATIONAL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD NETWORK TO FREEDOM, due to the resilience and courage of three enslaved men who were seeking their freedom using the Underground Railroad. In the winter of 1864, at the height of the Civil War, they would flee their enslavers and join the Union Army’s U.S. Colored Troops.
In 2024, the Wesley Smith Church in Wright City was granted funds for a project funded by the National Park Service’s NATIONAL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD NETWORK TO FREEDOM for the Smith Chapel Cemetery Restoration, to enable them to hire a professional Cemetery Restorer named Jerry Prouhet and for historian and writer Dorris Keeven-Franke to work with Professor Grace Moser and her students at St. Charles Community College. The students are taking the Service Learning Class American History 101 and 102 and are helping to research the signs that will be erected to tell the story of Smith Chapel.
In February 2025, Journalism Students from the University of Missouri in Columbia became aware of the project, and wanted to learn more about the cemetery and its’ people. Join us on August 23, 2025, in Oglesby Park, 2801 W. Meyer Road, (St. Charles County Parks) in Foristell, from 6pm til Sunset as we premiere their documentary called BURIED HISTORY, UNCOVERED STORIES. The public is invited; this event is being held by those working on the cemetery, who want to share the story with everyone. The screening will be outdoors in the pavilion at the back of the Park near the Douglass Schoolhouse. Please bring lawnchairs. For more information, email stcharlescountyhistory@gmail.com
For more about Smith Chapel Cemetery, see smithchapelcemetery.com
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