Archer Alexander Memorial

Archer Alexander, previously enslaved, was a hero who risked his life and led sixteen other freedom seekers on the Network to Freedom.

Support the Archer Alexander Memorial on the National Park Service’s Network to the Freedom Underground Railroad.

Archer Alexander was a Missouri enslaved man who would risk his life during the Civil War to save Union troops, and later take sixteen other freedom seekers with him on his path to freedom. In 1876, he would become the National Icon for Emancipation in Washington, D.C. on the first Memorial to Lincoln by the formerly enslaved people. Buried in an unmarked grave in St. Peter’s U.C.C. Cemetery at 2101 Lucas & Hunt Road, in St. Louis Missouri in 1880. He is listed on the NPS National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.

The Archer Alexander Memorial brings together the arts and history to commemorate the last fugitive slave, Archer Alexander. The memorial sculpture will be created by renowned artist, Abraham Mohler. The memorial will honor Archer Alexander’s legacy, with his likeness beckoning to all of the souls buried in the mass grave behind him; he encourages all to rise up from the grave, inspired by the prophecy in Isaiah 65:21-23. 

If you would like to know more information on Archer Alexander, visit the Archer Alexander blog: https://archeralexander.blog/

Support the Memorial Today!

Your support will build the Archer Alexander Memorial, a historic monument on the National Underground Railroad Network for Freedom.

Join us in celebrating this American hero and contribute today!

Who Was Archer Alexander?

Archer Alexander was born in 1806, in Rockbridge County, Virginia, and he, his wife and his children were taken to St. Charles, Missouri in 1829. A talented craftsman, in stone, brick, and wood, he and other enslaved would build many beautiful homes still standing today. When the Civil War began, he and his family were still enslaved by several Southern sympathizers, and he would overhear their plans for a nearby bridge that was guarded by Union Troops. His brave action of reporting this to the military would be discovered, resulting in his need to flee on the Underground Railroad to St. Louis, and the home of William G. Eliot. This freedom seeker was helping lead several other resilient and defiant men that night as well.

When he died in 1880, Archer Alexander was buried at St. Peter’s U.C.C. Cemetery (2101 Lucas and Hunt Road) in St. Louis, Missouri in an unmarked grave among hundreds of others in a Common Lot Section. In 2024, Archer Alexander’s burial location was added to the National Park Service National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, after St. Peter’s U.C.C. Cemetery donated a location for a memorial to this national hero.

Commemorating History

Award-winning author, international speaker, and historian Dorris Keeven-Franke recently discovered that Archer Alexander is buried in St. Peters UCC Cemetery on Lucas and Hunt in Normandy, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. Historians had been led to believe since 1885, that he was buried in another location. As soon as Cemetery Superintendent Bill Baumgartner learned this hero lies in their Common Lot, where hundreds of individuals, both black and white are buried in unmarked graves, the cemetery’s Board of Directors voluntarily offered a solution to rectify this.

On February 28, 2019, they offered a beautiful location, near today’s front entrance, for friends and family to place a memorial to this man. In September of 2023, the NPS National Underground Railroad, Network to Freedom, added St. Peters to their list of over 750 nationwide sites marking these freedom seekers. Currently, Archer Alexander is recognized by the nation in one of the most controversial monuments in our country, the Emancipation Monument in Washington, D.C. There he represents the thousands of formerly enslaved on their memorial to President Abraham Lincoln.

Inspiring Generations to Come

Very early in 2023, a very talented St. Louis sculptor, Abraham Mohler, was asked to propose what he envisioned for the Archer Alexander Memorial, at St. Peters UCC Cemetery. He shared his vision of Archer Alexander rising from his Common Lot burial location, beckoning people to rise and follow him, just as they had that night in 1863. St. Peters UCC Cemetery, descendants, and friends have begun their work to see this beautiful testimony to this man, husband, father, and freedom seeker. This memorial shares how Archer Alexander was not only a craftsman of buildings, but a greater future for all his people. They will be assisted in their great mission by the St. Louis Arts Chamber of Commerce led by Executive Director, Sandy Brooks.