Missouri Botanical Garden awarded $100K for connection to slavery
“It’s actually acknowledging that and that is just part of the healing”
ST. LOUIS (First Alert 4) -- The National Park Service has awarded the Missouri Botanical Garden $99,920 because of its connection to slavery.
“It’s instrumental, it’s always been here. I think it’s significant because it shows you a time period, a time frame, and it is one of the highlights of our garden,” said Michelle Martin Bonner.
Bonner is the Director of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging at the garden. She sat with First Alert 4 outside the Tower Grove House, which was Henry Shaw’s summer home. Shaw owned the property and, for at least 30 years, slaves.
“We actually have evidence of the enslavement through our records and our archives and you can see the documents, you can see the census records, you can see the tax records of the ownership. We had quite a bit of evidence to show that,” said Bonner.
In 2023, the National Park Service declared the house part of the Network to Freedom. It later awarded the Missouri Botanical Garden grant money to further educate people about its dark past.
“It really is about helping our guests and our visitors with a challenging history and helping them to put some language around having those difficult conversations because you can’t erase it,” said Bonner.
Bonner says they’re still working on the project but hopes to see signage indicating the history of slavery.
“It’s actually acknowledging that, and that is just part of the healing, that’s part of saying that’s not who we are, it’s never who we’ve been, it didn’t happen during our time and so that’s not who we are today,” said Bonner.
You can find more information on the garden’s Black History Month programs here.
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