In 1847, John Berry Meachum created the original Freedom School of Saint Louis, Missouri, in order to set children free from bondage of slavery. Before then, Meachum had bought his own freedom and become a successful businessman. He acquired slaves in his wealth, taught them a trade, and subsequently freed them. In addition, he had started a school in the basement of his church. However, a new Missouri law prohibited educating slave children. Undaunted, Meachum realized that the nearby Mississippi River was under Federal jurisdiction. He moved the school to a riverboat and continued to educate slave children through the 1850′s.

In 1997, one hundred fifty years later, The Freedom School (University City, Missouri) was founded by New City Fellowship Church (Presbyterian Church in America) to free children from the bondage of sin and its effects e.g., racism, poverty, materialism, broken families, drug addiction, and paternalism, which contribute to the failure of local school systems and the perception of personal failure.