Illuminating local history and celebrating unsung heroes, the Springfield-Greene County African-American Heritage Trail is preparing to grow.
Eight markers on trail are in place already. In 2018, the first one was dedicated near Timmons Temple — now called Timmons Hall — in Silver Springs Park, the only Springfield public park open to Black residents during segregation. It was a hub of family life and social gatherings.
The most recent marker — added in August 2024 — was for Mary Jean Price Walls, the first Black applicant at Missouri State University. Qualified yet denied, she later received an honorary degree and the Multicultural Resource Center on campus now carries her name.
Other existing markers denote the locations of once-thriving Black-owned businesses, historic Black churches, a school and cemetery, as well as the horrific 1906 Easter lynchings on Park Central Square.
“We have identified 23 locations in total that we would like to eventually mark,” said Lyle Foster, a co-organizer of the trail. “We are in the process of raising money and working toward reaching that goal. We see the trail as an ongoing process.”
The ninth marker will be dedicated in February on the campus of Drury University.
Referred to as Church Square North, the marker will explain the significance of the Benton Avenue African Methodist Episcopal Church — undergoing renovation for its new chapter as a museum and education center — and Washington Avenue Baptist Church.
Foster, a sociologist and educator, took a sabbatical from Missouri State in the fall to research and map the next five or so stops on the trail.
His work involves meticulously fact-checking the history, verifying details so the words chosen for the maker not only make a clear case for its inclusion but help the story come alive for those reading.
“We want to see how this contributed to the development, the legacy, the heritage of the African-American community and, in some cases, to the larger Springfield community as a whole,” he said. “What does it teach us about the history of Springfield? What can we learn from it? And is there any particular nuance?”
As an example, Foster pointed to the life of Price Walls. She planned to be a teacher, but after being denied entry by Missouri State and unable to afford studying at a historically Black college further from home, she worked as a janitor while raising her family.
Years later, a letter she wrote to the university that explained her desire for an affordable education close to home was uncovered. Foster said that despite the rejection, there is inspiration to be found in her story and quest for an education.
“To us, it’s a huge lesson for students,” he said.
“Suppose she had been a teacher, that could have changed maybe the generational legacy of her family. Particularly at a university, what an educational experience to say — and I’m a sociologist — to say the power of education to break a cycle.”
Upcoming markers to honor church, Milly Sawyers
The roots of the trail can be found in a multimedia oral history project called The Journey Continues: African Americans in the Ozarks that involved Foster and collaborators Tim Knapp and Lucie Amberg, faculty members at Missouri State. A booklet was also produced.
Foster and Knapp are part of an advisory council that scrutinizes and helps finalize proposed sites for inclusion on the trail. Other members include Wes Pratt, Charlotte Hardin, John Oke-Thomas, Cora Scott, Tracey Wolff and Rabekah Stewart.
After the decision is made and research is done, the biggest barrier is cost. Markers are now $6,200 to fabricate, due to inflation, and funds must be privately raised.
Foster said the Church Square North marker is complete and another one is currently at the fabricator. It will honor Milly Sawyers, a formerly enslaved woman who won her freedom in the newly created Greene County court system.
More:A black woman won her freedom in court. Then Springfield’s founders beat her in a street.
In 1836, Sawyers was inside a home on the corner of Olive Street and Boonville Avenue, north of Park Central Square — currently a parking lot near Martha’s Vineyard dance club — and was beaten. Little is known of her life after that point.
“In an area where people did have slaves, you have this former slave who got her freedom and it was a woman,” Foster said. “What was the audacity, the courage to apply and go through the process, and the risk. Of course, she incurred the risk because she got beat up in the middle of town. It is a strong statement.”
Next up will likely be Silk Stocking Lane, the section of Sherman Avenue from Division Street to Chestnut Expressway. It was where many professional Black men and women lived, including teachers, doctors, lawyers, undertakers. Foster said there will be markers at both ends of the corridor.
“It was a source of pride and community heritage. This was our professional district,” he said. “The nickname for it ‘Silk Stocking Lane’ is because people were well-dressed. There was a lot of pride and attention to who they were.”
Sandwiched between the Drury and Ozarks Technical Community College campuses, the designation is also part of an effort to prevent any further encroachment.
Locations of the existing African-American Heritage Trail markers
The eight existing markers include:
- Alberta’s Hotel, located in the parking lot between Jordan Valley Community Health Center and the Springfield Municipal Court building;
- Church Square South including Gibson Chapel, at the corner of Tampa and Washington Avenue; Pitts Chapel United Methodist Church;
- Graham’s Rib Station and Modern Motel Court, corner of Washington Avenue and Chestnut Street;
- Lincoln Memorial Cemetery, located at Chestnut Expressway and Barnes Avenue;
- Lincoln School on the campus of Ozarks Technical Community College;
- Mary Jean Price Walls at Missouri State University;
- Silver Springs Park, Springfield’s only public park open to Black residents during segregation and home of the Park Day Reunion; and
- The site of the 1906 Easter Lynching on Park Central Square.
Some of the markers are fairly close together and can be visited by foot. Others are just a short drive away. Foster said he hopes there will be designated dates in the future where volunteer guides or docents dressed in period clothing will give short talks for visitors.
Foster said some markers serve as warnings, or conditions to avoid in the future.
“We can learn. We can hopefully get a lesson that we never want to be in this place again. Its why we go see the house that Anne Frank lived in, in Amsterdam. It’s why we go to the Holocaust memorials because we want to learn from our mistakes,” he said. “That, to me, is what excites me about the trail.”
Other markers are celebrations, Foster said, pointing to the hotel that Alberta Ellis created. Located three blocks off of the historic Route 66, it was listed in The Negro Motorist Green Book beginning in 1954.
“What tenacity. She went on the courthouse steps and bought that building with $10,000 cash, which was something, and she turned it into something really special,” he said.
Foster said Ellis also ran a farm, growing vegetables that she would serve in her bed-and-breakfast. He described her as a “savvy entrepreneur.”
“For me, all of these are unsung heroes that maybe history thought they’d be forgotten, that we’d never know about them ever in life again,” he said. “Actually, these markers bring their story back to life and keep it alive for perpetuity.”
How to support the trail
Each marker on the Springfield-Greene County African-American Heritage Trail costs $6,200 to make. Donations for the markers can be made to the Community Foundation of the Ozarks or the Missouri State Foundation.