How to Honor an Ancestor
Fulton Courthouse
Callaway County, Missouri
Listen | Hidden in Plain Sight
Where in Missouri?
Margot and Heather travel to the Fulton Courthouse in Callaway County, Missouri, where they learn about one of the most troubling events in the state’s history, and a decades-long effort to right historic wrongs. They explore the story of Celia, an enslaved woman who in 1855 was convicted and executed for murder, after daring to fight back against sexual violence.
This is also the story of Celia’s descendants, and the people of Callaway County who have for more than twenty years pressed for justice for Celia. We speak with Celia descendants Pam Westbrooks-Hodge and Casondra Turner about the broad-based efforts to honor Celia.
-
-
Keep up to date about events and efforts to honor Celia at the Celia Newsom Foundation.
Access the WPA collection of slave narratives (collected by the Federal Writers Project of the Works Progress Administration, 1936-1938) through the Library of Congress.
Gates, Henry Louis. 1998. Six Women’s Slave Narratives. Oxford University Press.
Greene, Lorenzo J. and Gary R. Kremer & Antonio F. Holland, eds. 1993. Missouri's Black Heritage. University of Missouri Press.
“Margaret Bush Wilson.” Dains, Mary K. 1989. Show Me Missouri Women: Selected Biographies. Thomas Jefferson Press.
McLaurin, Melton A. 1991. Celia, A Slave. Georgia Press.
-
Do you know of a great Missouri story hidden in plain sight? We'd love to hear it! Please Contact Us.