Black students were not allowed to enroll in Missouri public schools until 1866. During the fugitive school era (prior to 1863), keeping Black children and youth safe from white terrorists committed not only to disrupting nascent learning but burying Black bodies became priority one for clandestine school leaders (Williamson 2005). Later, when leading white citizens finally acceded to Black concerns and turned over classroom instruction to Black adults, anti-Black policies persisted and hardened. Harsh disdain resulted, however, in a modicum of refuge. Whether in fugitive schools that were largely shielded from white eyes (and white historical record) or in counter-public schools that white administrators had little reason to visit, Black architects of nineteenth century schooling toiled away at a key endeavor on their collective freedom trail: educating Black children and youth (Watkins 2001). Matthew D. Davis examines schooling of St. Louis Black students in the 19th Century, and how it affects education there in the 21st Century.