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How does an enslaved girl become the namesake of Cape Girardeau's public square? It is an unlikely destiny for a girl of African descent born in early 1820s Southeast Missouri.

Records indicate Harriet was likely sold as many as three times and "hired-out" five times before she was 40 -- each incident a gut-wrenching separation from mother, then husband, then possibly children. Harriet's injustices were repeated in the lives of thousands until Missouri abolished slavery in January 1865. Slavery was so cruel a fact of our city's foundational history, it is difficult to openly discuss in its reality or to know the names of those who endured slavery's oppression.

Slave owners Moses and Margaret McClean dictated Harriet's labor, whether cooking, washing, tending their children or toiling in McClean's smelly tanyard at the southwest corner of Spanish and Independence streets. Scraping raw hides of fat, flesh and hair, slopping skins among vats of caustic lime solutions, and mixing tannin barks into stain vats, slaves daily exhausted themselves pulling, stretching and curing dried hides until pliable. Master McClean's business fashioned finished leather into goods essential for harnesses, shoes, boots and belts to drive mechanical components of Cape's industry.

McClean died in 1850, leaving his estate in jeopardy. Administrators rented the tanyard and hired out the slaves to provide income for widow Margaret and children. Annually, McClean slaves were paraded to the markethouse at the public square to be inspected and bid upon by people who had no interest or means to own a slave, but rented their bodies as laborers for yearlong contracts.

Harriet married Jim in the "custom of slaves" in 1853, but they were denied a life together until 1858, when Harriet, and their three children, were purchased from McClean by Jim's owner. Sales usually separated families. This transaction united, but still denied freedom. Ironically, the Civil War kindled hopes of freedom, and the family made a bold, courageous, but risk-filled decision. Jim volunteered for military service the first day enlistment of blacks was allowed in Cape Girardeau, leaving his family and slavery, but tragically dying in service.

Widowed at the dawn of freedom, Harriet faced many challenges. Defying social norms, the illiterate Harriet, with the guidance of lawyer Hamilton G. Wilson, applied for war widow's pension. Her first claim was rejected -- the former slave lacked supporting documents. But Wilson persisted, added testimony of former owners, until Harriet's pension was granted. Harriet toiled as a laundress, combining wages earned from washing dirty laundry with pension, and became one of the first women of color to own property in Cape Girardeau. From her home at Middle and Jefferson streets, Harriet ran her business, raised her educated children, paid taxes and, when she died, in 1897, left a legal will to distribute assets among her heirs.

Unanimous consent of the City Council of the City of Cape Girardeau ascribed the names of Harriet and James Ivers to the public square in June 2017. A future column will feature James Ivers' story.