Bridging the Red Sea : the Saint Louis African-American community and the exodusters of 1879

Access restricted to the OSU CommunityIn 1879, nearly 20,000 African-Americans fled the post-Reconstruction South and traveled to Kansas in a search for racial equality, political rights, economic independence, and land ownership. The migrants called themselves "Exodusters" in reference to the biblical story that spoke of escape from oppression. Most of the Exodusters made their way to Kansas by traveling north up the Mississippi River to St. Louis, and then west to Kansas. Many spent all of their money paying their passage to St. Louis, and arrived in the city destitute. St. Louis was a complex city that proved to be a barrier to many of the destitute travelers. City officials refused to aid the Exodusters for fear of encouraging more migrants. The Exodusters were left stranded in St. Louis with little food or shelter, and no way to continue their journey. One Exoduster referred to St. Louis as the "Red Sea" that had to be crossed before the Exodusters could achieve freedom. The St. Louis African-American community organized relief for the Exodusters, and provided them with funds to continue their journey. This dissertation examines the St. Louis African-American community at the time of the Exodus, and explains the reasons behind the St. Louis relief effort. Previous Exodus studies have explained the relief effort as an act of charity, but this dissertation explains that the St. Louis African-American community's efforts to aid the Exodusters were more complex. The St. Louis African-American community recognized that the Exodusters were asserting their right of freedom of movement. They also recognized that if the southern whites and St. Louis city officials were able to stop the Exodus, then the rights of all African-Americans would be limited. The men who organized the St. Louis relief effort, Charlton Tandy, Moses Dickson, John Wheeler, James Milton Turner, and others, were men who were active civil rights activists throughout their lives. This dissertation places the Exodus relief effort within the context of other civil rights work by the St. Louis African-American community, and concurrently explains the complex relationships that existed within St. Louis in the post-Civil War era