Mrs. Dred Scott tells the story of Dred Scott’s wife, Harriet Robinson Scott. It details her significant role in Scott’s life, the institution of marriage and slavery, and the inception of Dred Scott v. Stanford. In this chapter, Wing argues that Harriet, whose story has mostly been forgotten by legal scholars and historians alike, might have had a better case for freedom than that of her husband. Harriet and Dred filed their suits at the same time and place, yet her case was buried and subsequently forgotten in his. The chapter highlights how her intersecting identities as an enslaved woman, wife, and mother compelled the Scotts to file their suits for freedom in the first place. Wing uses bits of record evidence to draw conclusions about how the Scott’s might have made their decisions and moved through the legal system. Overall, it was a quick and interesting read that bings to light some very important facts of the case that I had never heard before. It in many ways changes the overall perception of an otherwise very well known case.
I select this chapter for Spring 2026 semester. Laura Jimenez
Mrs. Dred Scott tells the story of Dred Scott’s wife, Harriet Robinson Scott. It details her significant role in Scott’s life, the institution of marriage and slavery, and the inception of Dred Scott v. Stanford. In this chapter, Wing argues that Harriet, whose story has mostly been forgotten by legal scholars and historians alike, might have had a better case for freedom than that of her husband. Harriet and Dred filed their suits at the same time and place, yet her case was buried and subsequently forgotten in his. The chapter highlights how her intersecting identities as an enslaved woman, wife, and mother compelled the Scotts to file their suits for freedom in the first place. Wing uses bits of record evidence to draw conclusions about how the Scott’s might have made their decisions and moved through the legal system. Overall, it was a quick and interesting read that bings to light some very important facts of the case that I had never heard before. It in many ways changes the overall perception of an otherwise very well known case.
*Wing did not write this. Lea S. Vandervelde and Sandhya L. Subramanian did.
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7 Mrs. Dred Scott