Here's History - SoundSage

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Just as the US flag had many iterations before it, in 1960, finally became what we know today, the city flag of St. Louis went through several versions before it arrived, in 1964, at the current version. Just press play to hear the whole story.

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Andrew Wanko, Arts, Entertainment, and Culture, Politics and Government,

Podcast Transcript: I’m Andrew Wanko, Public Historian of the Missouri Historical Society, and here’s history on 88-one, KDHX. ———

If you’ve spent any time in St. Louis, you’ve surely spotted the red banner with a fleur-de-lis and river-like blue lines that announces the city to the world. But while you might presume St. Louis’s flag has flown since the city’s earliest days, it’s actually a pretty recent addition to our civic symbols. Its barely older than the Gateway Arch, and wasn’t the first flag the city had. ———

In 1915, a local civic group launched a contest to design a St. Louis flag, and south side artist Edward Krondl won over 80 other entrants. His design featured Art Hill’s statue of St. Louis outlined in blue, with vivid orange and white stripes symbolizing prosperity, purity, and wealth. But when the St. Louis Board of Aldermen saw the color palette they grimaced, and in summer 1916 announced their own flag competition. ———

The second winning city flag design again featured the statue of St. Louis, now over red white and blue stripes, with four stars symbolizing that St. Louis was the nation’s 4th largest city in population. The 1916 city flag became St. Louis’s first official one, but its weaknesses quickly showed. The design looked cluttered, the horseback figure of St. Louis was reduced to a blur when the flag was waving, and the stars became meaningless as St. Louis shifted in the population ranks. ———

With St. Louis’s bicentennial approaching in February 1964, Yale University heraldry expert Theodore Sizer came to the rescue. He presented the St. Louis city flag design that now stands beside civic landmarks, waves from front porches, and graces t-shirts and coffee mugs. Sizer’s St. Louis flag embodies all five of the North American Vexillogical Association’s “good flag design” principles – it’s simple enough to draw from memory, has meaningful symbolism, uses limited colors, contains no lettering or seals, and doesn’t copy from existing flags. ———

In 2004, the St. Louis flag was named among the top five U.S. city flags, and thousands of voters in a 2020 March Madness-style social media contest crowned St. Louis’s flag the world’s best. ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Andrew Wanko and this is 88-one, KDHX, St. Louis. ———

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Sometime phenomenons can begin as a hobby. The craze around Monster Trucks began with a man here in the St. Louis who just enjoyed Souping up his truck for extreme off roading. It, however, became big business over time, and his truck named "Big Foot" became an icon. Just press play to hear the whole story.

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Podcast Transcript: I’m Adam Kloppe, public historian with the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on eighty-eight one, KDHX. ———

My nephew loves monster trucks. I know that probably isn’t the thing you were expecting to hear in a two minute history segment, but I promise I’ll bring it around. Anyway, he loves those trucks. He loves watching the highlights of the trucks doing stunts or driving over cars with their oversized tires. He has a bunch of the toys, and he convinces his parents (and sometimes his aunt and uncle) to take him to monster truck events. And he’s hardly the only kid who goes wild for monster trucks—they are big business, and between the toys, live events, video games, and everything else, the industry brings in over a billion dollars a year. ———

But it turns out that none of us may have heard of monster trucks if not for one St. Louis area man named Bob Chandler. In the 1970s and 80s, Chandler owned an auto shop outside of the city, and whenever he had free time he liked to soup up his truck for extreme off-roading. He was constantly improving on it, eventually outfitting it with tall tires from a piece of agricultural equipment so that it could go to even more outlandish places. The truck was turning heads, and Chandler decided to give it a name—Bigfoot. ———

In 1981, Chandler had an idea. He created a tape of Bigfoot as he drove the truck over some old, junked-out cars. The tape started a sensation. It was passed around among enthusiasts—no one had ever seen a truck do what Bigfoot could. Soon Chandler was getting requests to bring Bigfoot to drag races, tractor pulls, and other events. Bigfoot was often the star of the show, with fans rushing the truck to learn more about it. Other enthusiasts began building monster trucks of their own. Events were scheduled where monster trucks competed against one another in races and stunt competitions, and drivers and mechanics innovated the trucks to perform even wilder stunts. A new industry was born, and it hasn’t slowed down in the decades since. ———

Today, Bob Chandler is still involved with monster truck events, and a new version of Bigfoot still makes appearances at monster truck events all over the country. And if you want to visit Bigfoot, you can—the shop is located in nearby Pacific, Missouri. I guess I’ll have to take my nephew out there so he can see the truck for himself. ———

Here’s History is a joint production of KDHX and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Adam Kloppe, and this is eighty eight one, KDHX St. Louis. ———

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When thinking about brass band music, one probably instantly thinks about John Philip Sousa, but William Joseph Blue, a Black Man, spent his life sharing his passion for Brass music with the world as well, which is all well documented in his diary. Just press play to hear the whole story. ----- Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Cicely Hunter, Music, Arts, Entertainment, and Culture, Black History,

Podcast Transcript: I’m Cicely Hunter, Public Historian from the Missouri Historical Society, and here’s history, on eighty-eight-one, KDHX. As a notable bandmaster, talented cornetist, composer, and teacher, William Joseph Blue spent his life sharing his passion for music with the world. He was born to George and Mary Blue on July 25, 1875, in Bloomfield, Missouri. He married Eva Mapp on September 8, 1898, and the couple moved to St. Louis around 1900. -----

Blue’s musical expertise made him one of the leading Black artists in St. Louis and earned him the nickname “Professor.” At an Emancipation Day celebration in 1912, he led a brass band of 50 Black musicians playing to an estimated crowd of more than 20,000 people gathered at Handlan’s Park, located at Grand and Laclede avenues. ------

Blue enlisted in the US Army during World War I, arriving at New Jersey’s Camp Dix training camp on March 7, 1918. Four days later he was appointed assistant band leader for the 350th Field Artillery Band of the 92nd Division, one of the two Black infantry divisions that served in the war. By June 30 he was on his way to the war front in France. -------

The Missouri Historical Society’s Collection includes a fragile 136-page diary from Blue that gives the reader vital information and insight into his experiences. Blue recorded details about his enlistment at Jefferson Barracks, his time in training camp, his experiences, and thoughts on military service in France, and poems about the war. Writing about the artillery band’s performances in France, Blue noted, “Every concert was received with continuous applause until we gave the last number.” ------

Also, Blue was involved with different band organizations, including his own William Blue Band, he led the Haskell and Blues School of Music in St. Louis, founded the Shriners Band, and organized Sunday concerts at Pythian Hall and Douglass Hall. ------

For more information about St. Louis Black history, please visit our website mohistory.org/aahi. Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Cicely Hunter and this is eighty-eight-one, KDHX, St. Louis. ------

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In the St. Louis region, the name Soulard is instantly recognized as a neighborhood where, among other things, Mardi Gras is held. Names of neighborhoods usually come from somewhere, though In this case, the neighborhood is named after a person who was a great surveyor and map maker, who helped organize the city, and his wife who donated the land where the namesake, famous, market still thrives to this day. Just press play to hear the whole story. ———

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Andrew Wanko, Business, Landmarks, Women's History, People of Note, ———

Podcast Transcript: I’m Andrew Wanko, Public Historian of the Missouri Historical Society, and here’s history, on 88.1 KDHX. ———

With its mix of customs, cultures, and even languages, the bustling town of Colonial St. Louis had trouble keeping its property records straight for its first few decades of existence. The person who finally sorted things out is a name any St. Louisan of today will instantly recognize. ———

In 1795, French native Antoine Soulard became the first official surveyor general of Upper Louisiana. The territory stretched from present-day Arkansas to Montana, and in his first year on the job, Soulard would map its 800,000 square miles more accurately than anyone had before. His map was so good, American explorers Lewis & Clark would take along with them on their journey to the Pacific nearly a decade later. But in addition to mapping these vast spaces, Antoine Soulard equally put his talents into mapping the edges and boundaries of the town of St. Louis. ———

After thirty years of real estate deals based on handshakes and verbal agreements, property owners in colonial St. Louis often had misunderstandings about where their land ended and their neighbor’s began. Using prominent landmarks and geographic features to set official property boundaries, Antoine Soulard mapped out St. Louis’s world through more than 710 land surveys he completed before retiring in 1806. As St. Louis grew outwards, many of the edge lines that Soulard laid out guided the placement of the streets we drive along today. ———

While St. Louis has changed drastically from the small town that Antoine Soulard knew, the neighborhood, street, and market named Soulard all connect us to him and his wife Julia across two centuries of history. When the two married, they were given a large tract of undeveloped land just south of St. Louis as a wedding present. Antoine Soulard died in 1825, but Julia continued living on the land for another 20 years. In the 1830s she began selling off portions of the Soulard estate to be subdivided into new city blocks. In 1842, she gifted St. Louis a large piece of her land for use as the public market that still bears her name today. ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri History Museum and KDHX. I’m Andrew Wanko and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis. ———

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There have been many great voices on the airwaves of St. Louis over the years. One of those voices was Bernie Hayes. After developing an interest in radio while serving in the military, he would find his way to St. Louis, and becoming an influential voice, and a pioneer of Black radio. Just press play to hear the whole story. ———

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Cicely Hunter, Arts, Entertainment, and Culture, Black History, People of Note, ------

Podcast Transcript: I’m Cicely Hunter, Public Historian from the Missouri Historical Society, and here’s history, on eighty-eight-one, KDHX. ———

Black radio listeners who tuned in to KATZ in 1965 would hear the smooth captivating voice of Bernie Hayes, a new disc jockey who had just arrived from the West Coast. Born to John and Alberta Burns in Florida in 1935 and raised in Chicago, Hayes graduated from the University of Illinois and served in the US Air Forces. It was during his time in the military that he developed an interest in radio and began announcing with the Armed Forces Radio Services. Before landing in St. Louis, he was a radio broadcaster in other locations around the U.S. ———

Honing his skill to meet the needs of the Black community, Hayes crafted his segments to stimulate the minds of his viewers with music and knowledge. His style was so dynamic that listeners believed there were two Bernie Hayeses’ because of the two completely different sounds that graced the airwaves, with R&B and rock ’n’ roll in the afternoon and jazz during the midnight segment. ———
In his book “The Death of Black Radio, Hayes explores the power of Black music and culture, which led to a rapid change that has since dominated the market and made significant gains for non-Black radio professionals. As different Black radio personalities emerged and dedicated themselves to entertaining, educating, and enlightening their audience, there was direct resistance to authentic Black voices. In 1972 and 1977, Hayes and a few of his colleagues led protests that paved the way for many local Black-owned radio stations and their Black employees. With this picket, Hayes declares, “we changed the culture of radio for African American disc jockeys and announcers at KKSS, KWK, KATZ, and Magic 108.” ———

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When a young Black woman came to town in the 1920’s came to town to make a blues record, she accomplished that and more. Having had a successful recording career in her youth, she decided to form a record label that would keep older blues musicians recording. Just press play to hear the whole story. —— —

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Andrew Wanko, Black History, Women's History, Music, Business, Arts, Entertainment, and Culture,

Podcast Transcript: I’m Andrew Wanko, Public Historian of the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s history on 88.1, KDHX. ——

In 1926, teenager Victoria Spivey sat alone and nervous on a 600-mile, one-way train ride bound for St. Louis. It was a city bigger than any she’d ever seen during her Texas childhood, and a place where she knew no one. But more than anything, Victoria Spivey wanted to make a hit blues record, and St. Louis was where to do it. ———

At the DeLuxe Music Shoppe on Market Street, she sat down at the store’s piano, and belted out her chilling original song “Black Snake Blues.” Within a week the obvious hit was being pressed in New York City, and it would sell countless thousands of copies within the year. She became a staff songwriter for the St. Louis Publishing Company, and in 1927 scored her next smash hit. The socially conscious “T.B. Blues” chronicled the discrimination faced by the era’s victims of tuberculosis. ———

With an animated voice and distinct nasal moan she called her “tiger squall,” Victoria Spivey captivated 1920s listeners across dozens more records. When the Great Depression dissolved recording opportunities, Spivey pivoted to become an actress. In 1929 she starred in King Vidor’s film Hallelujah!, among the earliest major Hollywood productions to feature an all-black cast. The following April, she graced the front cover of The Crisis, the official publication of the NAACP. ———

Victoria Spivey retired from show business by 1950, but as the folk revival of the 1960s took hold, a new generation of fans on both sides of the Atlantic were seeking her out. In 1962 she founded Spivey Records, and got other older blues musicians – including former St. Louisans Lonnie Johnson and Big Joe Williams - recording again for new audiences. On one Spivey Records recording session, an almost completely unknown young folk singer named Bob Dylan provided backing vocals and harmonica. He wouldn’t remain unknown for long, and he and Victoria remained good friends. You can find a picture of them side by side on the jacket of Dylan’s 1970 album New Morning, released just six years before Victoria Spivey passed away. ———

Here's History is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Andrew Wanko, and this is 88.1 KDHX, St. Louis. ———

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The islands and sandbars in the Mississippi all have interesting stories, and lifespans. Their form is temporary, and dependent on the currents and levels of the River. One of these “Islands” is Arsenal Island, that has had many forms, and roles to play in history throughout the years. Just press play to hear the whole story. -----

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Amanda Clark, Civil War, Mississippi River, Military, Medical, Rivers, ------

Podcast Transcript: I’m Amanda Clark, manager of the See STL Tours program at the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History, on eighty-eight one, KDHX. ———

Imagine standing on the St. Louis riverfront today, looking across the Mississippi’s blank brown surface, your view of Illinois interrupted only by an occasional barge. The swiftly moving current swirling and curling, taking slight detours around bridge piers. ———

Now imagine something totally different – your view being obscured by several large sandbars, covered in trees, with people coming and going from them. Prior to the 1850s, you would be looking across the river at the infamous Bloody Island, site of frequent fights and duels, or down the river at the quarter-mile wide and two-mile long Duncan Island. If you traveled three miles south of downtown, you’d see Arsenal Island, sitting just offshore of the US Arsenal. Not technically islands, but sandbars, they have all shifted and are now part of the shoreline. Though temporary, each island had its own role to play in St. Louis history. ———

Arsenal Island remained in place the longest of the three. It regularly [changed] its position and size, moving enough for Missouri and Illinois to contest ownership multiple times throughout the 19th century. During the 1860s, the island was home to a quarantine hospital and a large cemetery that received the bodies previously buried at City Cemetery as well as Civil War casualties. A farm on the island provided vegetables to patients at City Hospital. When the eastern side of the island began to wash away and threaten the graveyard, the bodies were reinterred at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. ———

In the 1880s, a farmer who lived on the island was interviewed about how he and his family, who had alternated their citizenship between two different states, handled the unstable nature of the land mass. His answer was that they just moved their house every couple of years to keep up. ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri History Museum and KDHX. I’m Amanda Clark and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis. ———

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Worker in the early part of the 20th century often had to fight for their rights against low pay and poor working conditions. They were often viewed as disposable. But, in 1933, a group of women banded together to fight for their rights. If that wasn’t enough, they inspired women to do the same. Just press play to hear the whole story. ———

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Andrew Wanko, Business, Women's History,

Podcast Transcript: I’m Andrew Wanko, Public Historian of the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on 88-one, KDHX. ———

By the spring of 1933, Carrie Smith had spent 18 years working as a nut picker at St. Louis’s Funsten Dried Fruit and Nut Company. It was one of the toughest, dirtiest and lowest paying jobs around. Funsten’s thousands of nut pickers, the majority Black women like Carrie, cracked open pecans and separated out the edible portion from the shells. ———

Carrie Smith had watched as her pay was steadily sliced back for doing the same work. By 1933, she was earning just three cents per pound for intact pecan halves, and just two cents for any broken pieces. She and others fumed at the cruel injustice of processing food for a living, while not being paid enough to buy food for their families. At a Funsten nutpickers meeting on May 13, 1933, Smith stood in front of her fellow workers with a Bible in one hand and a brick in the other and shouted, “Girls, we can’t lose.” Bolstered by St. Louis’s Communist Party, more than two thousand Funsten nutpickers from five St. Louis factories marched out on strike. ———

Funsten’s factories ground to a halt as the striking workers clashed with police in the streets of Downtown. Nearly a hundred women were arrested as they marched on City Hall, demanding the Mayor aid their cause. Company president Eugene Funsten made two inadequate appeasement offers to try and break the strikers ranks, but the women remained in solidarity. After eight days, they toppled the giant. Funsten agreed to equal pay for black and white nut pickers, representation in the Food Workers Union, and all wages doubled. ———

The Funsten Nut Factory Strike of 1933 was a monumental labor movement victory led by Black St. Louis women who refused to yield in the face of injustice. A few months later in August 1933, thousands of women working in St. Louis’s garment district walked away from their machines in demand of higher wages and union recognition. The call to arms heard echoing up and down Washington Avenue was “do as the nut pickers do.” ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Andrew Wanko and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis. ———

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If you were doing well in a profession, would you have the courage to try a different profession, and changing fields drastically? One St. Louis man did just that, walking away from a successful publishing career, and going out into the great unknown. ———

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Adam Kloppe, Business, Arts, Entertainment, and Culture, ———

Podcast Transcript: I’m Adam Kloppe, public historian with the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on eighty-eight one, KDHX. ———

The idea of switching careers is exciting, but it generates all sorts of questions and anxieties. Do you have the experience you’ll need to find success? Will the change create financial hardships? Does starting over mean having to go to the bottom of the career ladder? ———

One has to wonder if questions like these were swirling around in the mind of St. Louisan Al Spink in 1890. By this point, Al had created quite a legacy for himself in publishing. He had moved to St. Louis around 1875 to pursue a career in journalism. He focused on covering sports, particularly baseball, and he quickly earned a name for himself as a reporter. In 1886, Al vaulted his career to new heights when he started his own sports publication—The Sporting News. This publication would become one of the most famous sports magazines in America, and its dedicated coverage of baseball even earned it the nickname “The Bible of Baseball.” ———

But back in 1890, Al wanted to try something new. He left the paper he founded to his brother and took his talents to a new stage. Literally. A longtime theater lover, Al had decided to try his hand at becoming a playwright. For the next three years, he worked on a play called The Derby Winner, a romantic comedy centered around St. Louis horseracing. The production was huge—the cast included over 40 people and several racehorses that were trained to run on treadmills during the racing scenes in the show. Needless to say, all of this was quite expensive. ———

The Derby Winner hit the stage of the Grand Opera House in St. Louis on August 25, 1894. The next day, the papers praised the show, but didn’t rave about it—the Post-Dispatch, for example, thought it was exciting and well-acted, but that it had a fairly corny plot. Still, the play turned into enough of a hit that Al and his co-producers decided to take the show on the road. ———

But The Derby Winner did not find success outside of St. Louis. Reviews for the show were decidedly mixed, and the crowds dwindled. By the time Al sold his stake in the play in 1896, he was reported to have lost over a quarter of a million dollars—that’d be over nine million dollars today. He eventually returned to St. Louis and went back to publishing, a field he knew he could find success in. ———

Here’s History is a joint production of KDHX and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Adam Kloppe, and this is eighty-eight one, KDHX, St. Louis. ———

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James Hannerty’s early experience began with him being robbed of his bottom dollar. But, you can’t keep a good man down. Mr. Hannerty had charm, charisma, and drive, and soon found himself dominating the theater scene. Just press play to hear the whole story. -----

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Amanda Clark, Crime, Business, Arts, Entertainment, and Culture, ------

Podcast Transcript: I’m Amanda Clark, manager of the See STL Tours program at the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History, on eighty-eight one, KDHX. ———

James Hannerty came to St. Louis in the mid-19th century and made his first headlines in 1861, with a brief story about being robbed of his entire $10 fortune but quickly recouping his loss thanks to his natural charisma. The report ends with a prediction that Hannerty will someday be richer than the newspaper’s editor. Over the next few decades it seemed that prediction had merit as he built a successful career managing just about every theater and entertainment venue in the city. Multiple articles attest to his reputation for saving struggling productions and heading the newest attractions. And this is where I found him – while researching the Globe Cyclorama, a short-lived but novel theater experience that placed viewers in the center of a massive circular space, surrounded by a mix of panoramic painted scenery, live actors, and special effects. While many cities boasted cycloramas, featuring different historic events, the Globe immersed audiences in the 1870 Siege of Paris. When ticket sales lagged, Hannerty personally walked the streets, distributing over 2,000 free passes to encourage visitors. ———

By the turn of the 20th century, the enterprising promoter found himself in demand not just for entertainment ventures, but began consulting on product and event advertisements. Hannerty is credited with designing the iconic logo and marketing materials for the 1904 World’s Fair. ———

In 1905, he made front page news by leaving the entertainment industry behind and opening the Hannerty Idea Company - a company whose only products were his ideas. In the early 20th century, the concept of not just owning ones ideas but selling them was unheard of. A newspaper profile calls him a “Doctor of Photography Who Prescribes Poses,” detailing how he gave photographers and designers artistic direction on images accompaning stories – radically changing the look and use of pictures in the newspaper. When published, these photos would be accompanied by a branding tagline that they were a “Hannerty Idea.” ———

A few years later, Hannerty left St. Louis for Manhattan, a pioneer of the modern advertising industry. ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri History Museum and KDHX. I’m Amanda Clark and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis. ———

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There was a time that the border between Missouri and Iowa was not quite defined. This led to a controversy and conflict between the governors of the states. Many shenanigans ensued. Just press play to hear the whole story. ———

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Andy Primm, Legal Matters, Politics and Government, ———

Podcast Transcript: I’m Andy Primm, Museum Educator at the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on eighty-eight-one, K-D-H-X. ———

St. Louis loves honey. Whether we’re enjoying some local honey from the farmer’s market or raising bees in our own urban hives, the sweet treat is always popular. But here’s something you might not know about honey: in 1839, it almost led to war between Missouri and Iowa. This ridiculous series of events is known today as the Honey War. ———

The whole thing started because the northern border of Missouri wasn’t clearly defined. Missouri’s first Constitution, drafted in St. Louis in 1820, referred to a northern border that “passes through the rapids of the river Des Moines.” The problem? Such rapids did not exist. Over time, several possible borders were proposed, but no one knew which one was correct. ———

In 1839, Missouri Governor Lilburn W. Boggs took decisive action on the matter and strongly asserted Missouri’s claim to the most northern boundary possible. Iowa, still a territory at the time, argued for a more southerly line. The two proposed borders were almost ten miles apart. ———

Things escalated quickly from there. Governor Boggs ordered a Missouri Sherriff to collect taxes in the disputed area. Iowans responded by tossing the good Sherriff in jail. An unknown Missourian then took it upon himself to cut down and haul away three valuable honey-producing bee trees from the disputed area. Enraged Iowa authorities convicted the miscreant in absentia and fined him $1.50. In Governor Boggs’ estimation, these actions were assaults on Missouri’s citizens and property. ———

Boggs dispatched 800 militiamen to the border. Iowa Territorial Governor Robert Lucas responded in kind, sending 300 militiamen of his own. Bloodshed seemed imminent, but the militia commanders quickly agreed that a shooting war over honey trees was in nobody’s interest. The bellicose governors relented and allowed the issue to be submitted to the courts. The matter was finally resolved in 1849 when the US Supreme Court split the disputed area roughly evenly between Iowa and Missouri. ———

How sweet it is that cooler heads prevailed! ———

Here's History is a join production of K-D-H-X and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Andy Primm, and this is eight-eight-one, K-D-H-X, St. Louis. ———

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Sometimes sports heroes are heroes in other walks of life. One Black baseball player in the area was embarking on a promising career with the Atlanta Braves when he got a call to duty and was drafted and sent to Vietnam, where he met his fate. Just press play to hear the whole story. ———

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Cicely Hunter, Black History, Civil Rights, Military, Sports, Baseball, ———

Podcast Transcript: I’m Cicely Hunter, Public Historian from the Missouri Historical Society, and here’s history, on eighty-eight-one, KDHX. ———

Stories that integrate the history of war, patriotism, and race can be told through the experiences of Black St. Louisans who served on the battlefield. 58,000 military personnel lost their lives during the Vietnam War and the story of a graduate from Kirkwood High School connects to the local and international story of the Vietnam War. It is the story of Private Udell Chambers that provides an entry point into Black life during the onset of the war. ———

Private Udell Chambers was born to Tommie and Bettie Chambers on February 22, 1948, and lived with his family in Meachum Park. Gaining notoriety as a strong baseball athlete in high school, Chambers was admired within the community for his welcoming personality and skillset. After graduating in 1966, Chambers began his promising baseball career. As a rookie shortstop player in 1967, crowds heard the ball crack against the bat and soared when he hit 12 home runs and stole 28 bases. While playing in the minor league, Chambers hit .325 in the Class A affiliate. ———

From the baseball field to the battlefield, Udell Chambers had a bright career with the Atlanta Braves that was quickly cut short after he was drafted into the Vietnam War. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment in the 1st Infantry Division. He was later killed in action at the age of 20 years old on June 21, 1968, in Vietnam, during a ground casualty that resulted from a hostile rocket. For his bravery and heroism, Private Chambers was awarded the Purple Heart, National Defense Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal and inducted into Kirkwood High School’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2013. ———

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There have been many power couples throughout history, and one of those couples were instrumental in the blues community in St. Louis in the early part of the 20th century. Through their music shop, this black couple made a huge impact and helped many people, get gigs and get recording contracts. Just press play to hear the whole story. ———

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Andrew Wanko, Black History, Arts, Entertainment, and Culture, Music, ———

I’m Andrew Wanko, Public Historian of the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on 88-one, KDHX. ———
While we often see famous musicians depicted as “lone geniuses,” even the most towering of musical talents have always had help somewhere along the way. For the early blues musicians of St. Louis, one of the best places to find help was the husband-and-wife team of Jesse and Edith Johnson. ———

When music promoter Jesse Johnson opened Market Street’s DeLuxe Music Shoppe in 1919, it sat right beside the Booker T. Washington Theatre, the city’s largest entertainment venue for Black St. Louisans. The DeLuxe Music Shoppe offered records for sale, but it also functioned as an audition booth and networking hangout for aspiring musicians. Record label representatives often scouted the store, and Jesse Johnson used his extensive industry connections to get dozens of local performers gigs and record deals. ———

In the mid-1920s, Jesse Johnson married local St. Louis blues singer Edith North. She co-ran the DeLuxe Music Shoppe, serving as judge and mentor to the musicians testing out their material. One of them was young Victoria Spivey, who in 1926 took a 500-mile train ride from Texas to St. Louis just to try and make a hit record. Victoria belted out her chilling original song “Black Snake Blues” for Edith, and five days later, the record was being pressed in New York City. It would sell 150,000 copies in its first year. ———

In addition to running the DeLuxe Music Shoppe, Jesse Johnson used his promotional sway to break the color line on the city’s excursion boats, getting Monday nights set aside for black patrons. He also brought in national acts like Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald to perform in St. Louis for Black audiences. ———

The important role of the DeLuxe Music Shoppe in the early St. Louis blues scene reminds us that the music we hear is always shaped by a historic context. For St. Louis blues legends like Peetie Wheatstraw, Victoria Spivey, Roosevelt Sykes, and Henry Townsend - and for all the artists those musicians later inspired - the helping hands of Jesse and Edith Johnson were vital in getting their voices heard. ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Andrew Wanko and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis. ———

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Riding a bicycle is fun. We take it a bit for granted these days, but early in he history of bike riding, it was a sensation. It was also something more. It was a way for women to free themselves from the confines of the oppressive restrains of fashion. Beyond that it was a doorway to personal independence, friendships, increased self-esteem, and the thing society so often stole from women’s lives – a source of fun. Just press play to hear the whole story. ———

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Andrew Wanko, Clothing and Apparel, Pastimes and Leisure, Women's History, Transportation, ———

Podcast Transcript: I’m Andrew Wanko, Public Historian of the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on 88-one, KDHX. ———

In the summer of 1896, the United States was stricken with “wheel fever.” Bicycling became a verified mania, and St. Louisans were some of the most enthusiastic riders. In 1896 St. Louis reported two million dollars in bicycle sales - at 75 dollars a bike, that’s over 27,000 bicycles in a city of 500,000 people. One St. Louis reporter was astonished when he counted more than 2,800 bike riders pass the corner of 4th and Walnut in a single day’s morning commute. ———

While complaints were plenty about bicycles clogging streets and “scorchers” flying past pedestrians in city parks, the biggest controversy was that women wanted to ride bikes too, and they were taking off their dresses to do it. Because a long dress made pedaling nearly impossible and could get dangerously snagged in the gears of a bicycle, many women adopted baggy, knee-length pants called “bloomers” that left their lower legs free. ——

“With their nether limbs exposed,” as one astonished St. Louis reporter put it, “Bloomer Girls,” dominated news about bicycling. Women’s rights advocates praised bloomers for freeing women from fashion bondage, while others vilified bloomers as immodest or even ruinous to social order. One anti-women-biking St. Louis newspaper article displayed before and after illustrations of “pale beauties” transformed into “perfect frights” by bicycle riding. With windblown hair, sun-flushed cheeks, and of course, bloomers on display, these illustrations meant to terrify must have actually looked wonderfully enticing to countless St. Louis women. ——

While “wheel fever” quickly peaked and fizzled across the late 1890s, the battles over women’s fashion and freedom that bicycling sparked were part of a much wider pushing back against the Victorian era’s strict social rules. For St. Louis women in 1896, bloomers and bicycles were more than just new clothes and transportation – they were a doorway to personal independence, friendships, increased self-esteem, and the thing society so often stole from their lives – a source of fun. ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Andrew Wanko and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis. ———

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Some people are able to channel their hardships and the obstacles they face into art and activism. Maya Angelou’s life was not easy, but she was able to do both and more. Just press play to hear the whole story. ——

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Cicely Hunter, Civil Rights, Black History, Arts, Entertainment, and Culture, People of Note, Women's History, ------

Podcast Transcript: I’m Cicely Hunter, Public Historian from the Missouri Historical Society, and here’s history, on eighty-eight-one, KDHX. ———

Maya Angelou’s words, “Still I rise,” remains etched into the hearts and the minds of those who read her poetry. The daughter of Bailey Johnson and Vivian Baxter Johnson graced the world with her presence on April 4, 1928. Due to hardships within her parents’ marriage which led to a divorce, she moved to Stamps, Arkansas, with her paternal grandmother, Annie Henderson, at the age of 3 years old. She and her brother Bailey—who gave her the nickname “Maya”—continued to move back and forth between their grandmother and parents’ homes during their adolescent years. ———

Her career took off after receiving some training as a professional dancer and singer. It was at this point in her life that she changed her name to “Maya Angelou” in 1954. That same year, she traveled to Europe and appeared in a production of Porgy and Bess and learned to speak many languages. ———
Angelou returned to the United States and joined the Harlem Writer’s Guild and produced songs, short stories, and poetry while living in New York. She also became involved in the civil rights movement and worked within the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. ———

Angelou published her first autobiography in 1969, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and it was an instant success and appeared on the New York Times’s nonfiction bestseller’s list, was nominated as a National Book Award, and has since been translated to different languages. Since her first publications, Angelou has received many awards for other works she’s produced. ——-

On May 28, 2014, she passed away at the age of 86 years old. Among the many accolades Angelou has received, she will be a part of the American Women Quarters Program, which is a 4-year program that “celebrates the accomplishments and contributions made by women…” ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Cicely Hunter and this is eighty-eight-one, KDHX, St. Louis. ———

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The founding of a town can have interesting stories, behind it The founding of Brooklyn, Illinois, is one such story. Legend has it that Brooklyn developed as a Black settlement, an asylum, and within the Underground Railroad system. Just press play to hear the whole story. ———

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Cicely Hunter, Black History, Civil Rights,

Podcast Transcript: I’m Cicely Hunter, Public Historian from the Missouri Historical Society, and here’s history, on eighty-eight-one, KDHX. ———

Stories of agency, courage, strength, and resilience were told as oral history traditions passed down from generation to generation within Black communities. It is through these stories that many forebearers instructed Black Americans about their lineage, life lessons, and mapping a path forward. The history of Brooklyn, Illinois, incorporates this oral tradition. ———

Brooklyn’s story revolves around Priscilla Baltimore, often referred to as Mother Baltimore, who was born into slavery around 1805 in Bourbon County, Kentucky. She was sold off by her enslaver (her biological father) and sold several more times before purchasing her freedom for about $1,100. According to lore, she continued to liberate her family, first her mother and then her second husband, John Tobias Baltimore, by mortgaging her property in St. Louis. ———

Despite the punitive Black codes adopted by Illinois in 1819, which were designed to suppress economic, social, and political power for self-emancipated and free Black individuals, the state was a destination for Black people fleeing Missouri. In 1829, 11 families left Missouri for Illinois with Priscilla and John Baltimore as their leaders. ———

Legend has it that Brooklyn developed as a Black settlement, an asylum, and within the Underground Railroad system. The principles of family and religion were their foundation, and it was through God’s power that they were liberated during the antislavery movement. ———

Priscilla Baltimore died in 1882 and many details about her life as a beloved and revered figure within the community appeared in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. Along with John Berry Meachum, Mary Meachum, Moses Dickson, and many other pioneers that paved the way for Black liberation in the previous centuries, it’s important for us to keep the oral history about Priscilla and John Baltimore within St. Louis regional history. ———

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What Michael Jordan is to basketball, and Charles Lindberg and Amelia Earhart are to aviation, Harry Houdini is to the world of magic. But even legends have slumps in their career. Harry Houdini was having one in 1908, but figured a way to turn the tide right here in St. Louis. Just press play to hear the whole story. ———

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Andrew Wanko, Arts, Entertainment, and Culture, Business, People of Note, ———

Podcast Transcript: I’m Andrew Wanko, Public Historian of the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on 88-one, KDHX. ———

Even a century after his death, it seems like everyone knows at least something about Harry Houdini. The most famous magician in history, Houdini took to the theater stages of St. Louis at least five times across his career, but a visit in 1908 holds a special place in Houdini lore. It was then that one of his most famous and dangerous stunts made its world debut. ——— Across the early 1900s, Houdini had escaped being lashed to planks, stuffed into packing cases, and clasped into countless handcuffs. But he sensed a problem. Audiences were getting bored with seeing the same old escapes. In January of 1908, Houdini appeared before a small and lackluster crowd at the Columbia Theater in Downtown St. Louis. Manager Frank Tate, disgusted by the empty chairs, told the famous magician he wasn’t worth a five-dollar bill anymore. Houdini needed a new hook, something that brought a sense of danger to his shows. ———

On January 27, 1908, St. Louisans attending Houdini’s show at the Columbia watched as a giant galvanized metal jug was hauled onto the stage. Attendants dumped in endless buckets of water. Then Houdini stepped inside, inhaled deeply, and dropped down beneath the water’s surface. The heavy lid was slammed shut and locked with six locks, and a curtain drawn in front of the can. ———

The St. Louis audience sat in captivated silence, broken only by the occasional nervous cough. As the seconds ticked by, a panicked axe-wielding assistant came out ready to smash open the can, another carefully timed visual meant to set the audience’s pulse racing even faster. ———

After two tense minutes, Houdini whipped back the curtain to reveal himself soaking wet and alive. The crowd that just the night before was yawning and disinterested roared with applause. The Milk Can escape’s deadly stakes – or at least the appearance of them - brought Houdini’s career back to life. From its St. Louis debut it would become one of his trademark escapes, baffling audiences all the way up to his death in 1926. ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Andrew Wanko and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis. ———

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Throughout history, many of the music industry’s great artists are from right here in St. Louis. Fontella Bass is certainly up there with the legends. She was a pianist and songwriter, in addition to her vocal talents. And she helped write a famous song, that she had to fight to try and have songwriting credit on. Just press play to hear the whole story. ------

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Katie Moon, Women's History, Black History, People of Note, Music, Arts, Entertainment, and Culture,

Podcast Transcript: I am not ashamed to say that I love Motown music. Even as a young kid growing up in Ohio in the 80s I loved listening to the oldies station on the radio. Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, Aretha…I loved them all. But hands down, my all time favorite song was Rescue Me by Fontella Bass. Imagine my delight years later when I moved to St. Louis and discovered that this was her hometown. ———

If you turned on the radio in late 1965, chances are you would hear Fontella’s soulful voice singing that amazing song. But it had taken a tardy lead singer to finally convince her to step out from behind the piano and take her place on the center stage. ———

At the request of her grandmother, Fontella began playing the piano at funerals at the age of 5, and went on tour with her mother, gospel singer Martha Bass, at the age of 9. Born and raised in St. Louis, Fontella attended Soldan High School while already earning money as a musician. She became the piano player for Little Milton, a well known blues singer, and one evening, when he was late for a show, she covered for him, and her singing career began. Soon she was a regularly featured singer, and later became a highlighted act with the Oliver Sain Soul Review. ———

Fontella began recording solo records in 1962, but the songs just didn’t gain much of an audience. It wasn’t until she released a duet with Bobby McClure in early 1965 that her career really began to take off. A few months later, after an informal jam session and only 3 takes, she unknowingly recorded what would become her best-selling record. Released on September 4, 1965, Rescue Me climbed to number 1 on the R&B charts by October 30, and made it to number 9 on the Hot 100. ———

Unfortunately, Fontella wasn’t included as one of the songwriters on the album, and spent years fighting for both recognition and royalty rights for the song she co-wrote. She continued to record through the 1980s, but the high point of her career remains the unforgettable song that will forever be tied to her name. ———

Here’s History is a joint production of K-D-H-X and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Katie Moon, and this is eighty-eight-one, K-D-H-X, St. Louis. ———

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A woman arrived in St. Louis in 1818. She was, in fact, a nun and a teacher. She came here to do good and to start up some schools, but she soon came across something that she felt needed to be addressed for the good of her female students. Just press play to hear the whole story. ———

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Katie Moon, Women's History, Education, Children, People of Note, Religion, ———

Podcast Transcript: I’m Katie Moon, Exhibits Manager at the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on eighty-eight-one, K-D-H-X. ———

Most St. Louisans are familiar with the story of Sister Rose Philippine Duchesne, one of the first Catholic nuns to arrive in St. Louis in 1818 with the purpose of educating children in the area. She opened schools in St. Charles, Florissant, and the city of St. Louis before traveling to Kansas to work with Native Americans, her lifelong dream. Over 150 years later, she was canonized as a saint by Pope John Paul II. ———

As someone who dedicated her life to the church, it's easy to assume that Sister Duchesne spent her days in prayer and contemplation, unfazed and untouched by the frustrations of daily life. But that assumption would be wrong. In a letter from the Missouri Historical Society’s archives, Sister Duchesne writes to the Mayor of St. Louis, William Carr Lane, and expresses her horror at what her female students must deal with on a daily basis—walking by men and boys swimming in the creek near the school—a creek that also happened to be on Lane’s property. Public swimming was a whole different experience before swimsuits hit the scene, and she wasn’t having it. ———

She writes, “I have recourse to your authority for the redress of an abuse which I look upon as very much against the welfare of our establishment. You know, Sir, that our young ladies, day scholars, have to pass the creek that runs all around our house. The warm weather invites a number of men and boys to swimming in the creek, and every day our young ladies meet with that disagreeable sight, both coming [to] and leaving the house; and as I understand that some regulation of court forbids swimming in public places, I suppose that it is merely by some negligence of the sheriffs in discharge of their duty that it takes place. As you are Sir, the father of an amiable family I need not say how much that rudeness is against the delicacy of sentiments we strive to endow our young ladies with, and I am convinced that you will be so good as to use your power to remove that obstacle.” ———

Needless to say, Lane took care of the problem. ———

Here’s History is a joint production of K-D-H-X and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Katie Moon, and this is eighty-eight-one, K-D-H-X, St. Louis. ———

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Teens have always needed a place to gather. There was one place in the 1980’s where they could go and meet and hear the music relevant to them. It was also a place where important connections were made between people of different racial backgrounds, and different musical genres. But there were forces against them. Just press play to hear the whole story. ———

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Andrew Wanko, Music, Pastimes and Leisure, Arts, Entertainment, and Culture, Politics and Government,-----

Podcast Transcript: I’m Andrew Wanko, Public Historian of the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on 88-one, KDHX. ———

In the 1980s, punk rock and hip hop were simultaneously bringing new youthful voices to the landscape of American music. While their respective music scenes rarely crossed paths, there was one local place that became a haven for St. Louis’s punk rockers and rap fans alike. Right next to North County’s unmissable Lewis and Clark Tower is a cavernous building that was once the Mark Twain Theatre. But through the 1980s, it was known to St. Louis teenagers as Animal House. ———

Animal House was opened in 1983 by Walter Lanham, who the club-going youth knew as “Uncle Walt.” One of a handful of under-21 night clubs anywhere in the region, the music at Animal House made it common ground for both Black and white St. Louis teenagers. Friday nights were set aside for punk and new wave music, while Saturdays were hip-hop nights. The club became one of the top local places to see nationally known hip hop stars - including LL Cool J, Whodini, and Eazy E - often with St. Louis dance groups as their opening acts. The crowd was always eclectic, and the excitement stretched into the early morning hours. ———

Animal House reminds us how music can connect, but its story also reminds us how music can become a flashpoint for divisions. By the late 1980s, Moline Acres aldermen and business owners moved to shut Animal House down. They claimed the club attracted supposed gang activity, while Lanham claimed the attempt was motivated by racism toward Black youth gathering around rap music. At one of the tense city council meetins, a defiant Lanham stated “The city and county say they need something for these kids to do, but they leave it to the other guy… well I’m the other guy.” ———

Local teens stood alongside Uncle Walt, speaking about the social importance that Animal House held in their lives. Exhausted by the constant defense, Lanham finally decided to close Animal House in 1989. Other clubs would appear, but for the 1980s St. Louisans who discovered like-minded friends and bonded over music, Animal House was a second home. ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Andrew Wanko and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis. ———

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There have been many entertainment and recreational venues through the years and throughout the eras in the St. Louis region. None were quite like Clark's Natatorium. It was an aquatic wonder world of epic proportions. Just press play to hear the whole story. ———

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Amanda Clark, Pastimes and Leisure, -------

Podcast Transcript: I’m Amanda Clark, manager of the See STL Tours program at the Missouri History Museum, and Here’s History, on eighty-eight one, KDHX. ———

In the 1880s, an Irish immigrant and former championship boxer known as Professor Bill Clark opened what would become one of the best known places in the city – Clark's Natatorium. The natatorium featured a 5600 sf open-air swimming pool surrounded by spectator seating. It was a place for swimming lessons, amateur and professional racing, or just escaping the St. Louis heat. ———

Clark was a showman a heart, and unlike other natatoriums, his featured a wide range of swimming theatrics. For example, on April 27th 1890, you would have seen a show featuring Madame Josephine Denari singing a solo, followed by Prof. Alphonse King riding a marine bicycle. Next up was both duck and gondola racing…all followed by a dramatic 45-foot plunge by a professional diver. Other years featured elaborate shows where swimmers recreated famous battle scenes and fake gunfights with dramatic balcony dives when a performer was wounded. Newspapers noted the pool could be rented for anything from religious baptisms to midnight champagne swimming with chorus girls. ———

In the winter, endurance bicycle and walking races were held, including a high-profile multi-day walking race in 1893, featuring professional walkers from America, Ireland, and England – with the newspapers providing surprisingly riveting daily coverage. The fall of 1890 featured a six-day bicycle race for amateur female cyclists. ———

The natatorium was also a training facility for professional swimmers. Clark’s intense training program concluded with a requirement to dive off the Eads Bridge in downtown St. Louis. Coaches would be waiting below to bring the diver back to shore, but unsurprisingly, not all swimmers survived the stunt. ———

Clark’s original natatorium was slated for demolition in 1901 but another facility was quickly built a few blocks away and remained open until 1912. The building became home to the Irish-American Athletic Club and later Sullivan’s Future City Athletic Club. ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri History Museum and KDHX. I’m Amanda Clark and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis. ———

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There was a time when there was a magazine that covered the area's high schools' social scenes, when you got your 15 minutes of fame issue by issue. It, however, could not survive social change. Just press play to hear the whole story ------

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Andrew Wanko, Education, Pastimes and Leisure,

Podcast Transcript: I’m Andrew Wanko, Public Historian of the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on 88-one, KDHX. ———

Humans have been turning 13 years old since there have been humans, but in late 1940s America, achieving that passage of time gained you a new cultural label. You were now known as a “teenager,” and teenagers would determine the coming era’s dress code, musical tastes, and even language. It was tough keeping up with it all, but for the teenagers of St. Louis, Prom Magazine made it no sweat. ———

Created in 1947, Prom Magazine covered the dances, parties, football games, and spring musicals from more than 65 public and private high schools around the St. Louis region. It was like a local junior version of Life Magazine, except the stories happened in your cafeteria, and the photo essays featured your friends. If you showed up in Prom’s pages you were nearly guaranteed local teen celebrity status – at least until the next issue came out. ———

For just 10 cents a copy, St. Louis teenagers could drop in on the hallway chatter at every high school in the area. Each school had dedicated student beat reporters, bringing you updates about the “Roosevelt Ramblings,” “Mehlville Murmurs,” or ”Wellston Wig Wag.” Other features gave teens the scoop on fashion and music trends, like “Strictly off the Record,” a music column penned each month by a different St. Louis disc jockey. ------

By the mid-1960s, Prom Magazine claimed that over 90 percent of St. Louis’s teenagers were regular readers. But Prom’s last dance was on the horizon. The magazine’s wholesome and simplified portrayal of teen life avoided pressing topics facing young people at the time. Sex and drinking were never discussed, nor were issues like the Civil Rights movement, feminism, or being drafted for the Vietnam War. These complex conversations were on teenagers’ minds in the late 1960s, but missing from the magazine’s squeaky-clean pages. With readership falling and advertisers pulling out, Prom Magazine quietly stopped production in 1973. Former publisher Julian Miller would go on to spend decades fighting teen substance abuse through a local non-profit devoted to that cause. ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Andrew Wanko and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis. ------

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In the fight for civil rights, many groups took part. One of those was group of St. Louisans who banded together and morphed into a local chapter of CORE. Just press play to hear the whole story.

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Cicely Hunter, Black History, Civil Rights,

Podcast Transcript: I’m Cicely Hunter, Public Historian from the Missouri Historical Society, and here’s history, on eighty-eight-one, KDHX. ———

Poised with the determination to change the racial dynamic in St. Louis, residents led the charge to mobilize their efforts. The Congress of Racial Equity also referred to as CORE was a national interracial organization designed to utilize nonviolent tactics to combat racial violence and segregation. The primary factor that guided their involvement derived from Mahatma Gandhi, whose practices helped them to expose the brutality and inhuman beliefs espoused by racists. The belief of active resistance, through nonviolent measures, became their primary tactic to address injustices. ———

A local chapter of CORE was born in St. Louis during 1947 after Bernice Fisher, a Chicago activist, inspired a small group to organize. Irv and Maggie Dagen were the primary leaders and organizers of the small group, Humanity, Inc., which morphed into the St. Louis chapter of CORE following their meeting with Fisher. ———

The next year, the St. Louis local chapter of CORE determined to galvanize their efforts by demonstrating at sit-ins at Stix, Baer & Fuller, a department store and other businesses like Famous-Barr, Woolworth, Walgreen, and more. The group contained students and faculty primarily from colleges and graduate schools, but also some high school students and faculty members from institutions like Washington University, Saint Louis University, Stowe Teachers College, and a couple of high schools in the area. ———

As CORE and other activist groups embarked to change the racial landscape in St. Louis towards an integrated society, there was a glimmer of hope in 1948 when the first bill was introduced to prevent racial discrimination with a public accommodations bill. Thirteen years later, on May 19, 1961, a bill passed to address the discriminatory practices and was enacted on June 1, 1961. ———

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Some find it easy to adjust to St. Louis when moving here. Others find it quite the experience. A Young medical student named F.M. Pepper had quite the rough experience when first coming here. Just press play to hear the whole story. ------

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Katie Moon, Disaster, Natural Disaster,

Podcast Transcript: I’m Katie Moon, Exhibits Manager at the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on eighty-eight-one, K-D-H-X. ———

When I moved to St. Louis from Ohio over 20 years ago the first thing I remember is being overwhelmed by how hot it was, especially during that first weekend in July. But my initial experience of St. Louis doesn’t even begin to compare to that of medical student F.M. Pepper, who, in his first 3 weeks in the city, experienced not just scorching heat but also an earthquake and a city-wide fire. ———

He wrote this letter to his family on October 1st, 1891, and despite his optimism, it sounds like a rough start to the school year. ———

Dear Sir and Brother, This writing leaves me in St. Louis attending medical college. I have been here three weeks today, and am very well satisfied with my school. Our school is the largest in the city, matriculating at present over 200. I attend eight lectures a day: from 9 to 12: from 1 to 6, and dissection from 8 to 10, when it gets cooler. You will very readily infer from this that I have no time to gossip around town. ———

The heat has been dreadful since I have been here, excepting the last few days. Last Saturday night, St. Louis was visited by an earthquake, which was something dreadful. It shook bottles from off the shelves in the drugstores, and threw persons out of their beds, and shook things up generally. ———

Sunday eve, at about 9 o’clock, fires broke out and before morning 23 had broken out; every fire department in the city was out several times. I saw a 9 story building burn; it covered one whole block. It was a grand, magnificent night, yet fearful and appalling in consequences. You have seen heavy hail storms—if you will imagine the hail to be balls of fire you can form a meager description of the fire. ———

It is very nearly lecture time so I will close hoping this will find you all well and happy, and expecting to hear from you soon. With love to all I remain Your Brother, F.M. Pepper . ———

Here’s History is a joint production of K-D-H-X and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Katie Moon, and this is eighty-eight-one, K-D-H-X, St. Louis. ———

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Many remember Elizabeth Keckley from the film “Lincoln” as Mrs. Lincoln’s dressmaker and confidant. But the story of the woman behind that film character is much deeper and fascinating and dramatic than most know. Just press play to hear the whole story. ———

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Cicely Hunter, Black History, People of Note, Women's History, ———

Podcast Transcript: I’m Cicely Hunter, Public Historian from the Missouri Historical Society, and here’s history, on eighty-eight-one, KDHX. ———

Black women displayed their skill and brilliance as they wove and stitched together pieces of fabric to create beautiful ensembles. One woman whose ingenuity brought her from St. Louis to Washington D.C., was Elizabeth (Lizzie) Hobbs Keckly (also spelled Keckley). Her toiling and skillful hands whisked her into prominence as she created dresses for President Abraham Lincoln’s wife, Lady Mary Todd Lincoln. Widely held as a controversial book, Elizabeth Keckley published a narrative detailing her experiences and life in Behind the Scenes: Or Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House in 1868. ———

Keckley was born enslaved in Virginia during February 1818, and she worked as a domestic servant from a young age, learning how to sew alongside her mother. Keckley’s slaveholders moved her, her mother, Agnes, and her son, George, to St. Louis in 1846 in hopes to improve their economic fortune. She was hired out as a seamstress and dressmaker to sustain the Garlands. She expressed, “With my needle I kept bread in the mouths of seventeen persons for two years and five months.” ———

Keckley desired freedom and labored as a skilled seamstress to obtain it, gaining a reputation as the best dressmaker in St. Louis and working with prominent families. Her clients offered to loan her the money to purchase her and her son’s freedom, and in November 1855 she borrowed $1,200—about $35,000 today. For the next five years, she worked to repay them. ——— In 1860 she moved east—first to Baltimore and then Washington, DC. She was soon sewing dresses for the wives of Jefferson Davis and Stephen Douglas and her most notable client, First Lady Mary Lincoln who Keckley became her confidante and dressmaker. ———

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The history of the different professional ballparks in St. Louis over the years is fascinating and dramatic. This is the story of one of the lesser know ballparks, which involves a horse racing track and fires. Just press play to hear the whole story.-----

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Adam Kloppe, Baseball, Sports, Business,-----

Podcast Transcript: I’m Adam Kloppe, public historian with the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on eighty-eight one, KDHX. ———

For many folks in St. Louis, the stadiums that the Cardinals have called home are special places. The names Sportsman’s Park and Busch Stadium recall the feats of players like Dizzy Dean, Stan Musial, Bob Gibson, and Albert Pujols. But as important as these stadiums are to baseball fans, there is one park where the Cardinals played from 1893 until 1920 that receives a lot less fanfare in Cardinals’ history. You can’t visit this park today—it is long since torn down—but it’s troubled history would change the fortune of the Cardinals. ———

Before the 1893 season, St. Louis team owner Chris von der Ahe decided that his team needed a new park to call home—the old Sportsman’s Park at Grand and Dodier was becoming quite dilapidated. So, he opened a park that he called “New” Sportsman’s Park, at the corner of Vandeventer and Natural Bridge, just south of Fairground Park. Situated to take advantage of new trolley lines, the new park opened with a lot of fanfare, including parades and promises of exciting, championship baseball. ———

But, within a few years, opinions on the new ballpark had begun to sour. Desperate for profits, and unable to field a winning team, von der Ahe installed a horse racing track and an amusement park ride in an effort to attract guests—a move decried by baseball purists. After a fire decimated the park in 1898, von der Ahe was forced to sell the team. The new owners repaired the stadium and changed its name to League Park. They eventually also changed the team name to the Cardinals. But the stadium continued to have problems—it suffered a fire again in 1901 and saw several more ownership and name changes. But the Cardinals just couldn’t seem to get a winning team on the field. Fans stayed away. ———

In 1920, the Cardinals had finally had enough of League Park. That June, they moved back to the old Sportsman’s Park, leasing the stadium from the American League St. Louis Browns, who had done extensive renovations after moving in in 1902. The Cardinals used the money they saved on stadium upkeep to develop talent in their minor league system. The move paid off in 1926 when the Cardinals won their first World Series title, mostly behind players developed on their minor league teams. Since then, they’ve won ten more titles, and become one of the most storied franchises in Major League Baseball. ———

Here’s History is a joint production of KDHX and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Adam Kloppe, and this is eighty-eight one, KDHX St. Louis. ———

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There is a mystery surrounding Castlewood State Park. Namely, what happened to a predecessor park. Details are sketchy, but it involves fruit, shares being sold, and vines being gifted by the Grand Duke of Russia. Just press play to hear the whole story. -----

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Amanda Clark, Business, Parks, Pastimes and Leisure, Rural,

Podcast Transcript: I’m Amanda Clark, manager of the See STL Tours program at the Missouri History Museum, and Here’s History, on eighty-eight one, KDHX. ———

25 miles outside of Downtown St. Louis, Castlewood State Park has provided an escape for generations of St. Louisans. For some, Castlewood State Park brings back memories of hot summer nights and riverside revelry. Others may recall stories shared about prohibition-era hideouts and train cars that included space for canoes. These days, Castlewood is for hiking and mountain biking, always packed to the brim on the first warm weekend in the spring. A walk through the park includes the sight of stoneworks and structures in ruin, giving a sense of discovering a lost civilization. I recently wandered through an 1870s map of St. Louis County and found something else lost long before the canoe trains arrived and the speakeasies opened--the Castlewoods site was actually the former home of the grand 400-acre St. Louis Park of Fruits. ———

The name is what caught my eye--and the 1870s map shows a densely built network of roads in an otherwise wide-open part of the county. Intrigued, I consulted the few resources available in search of an explanation. Turns out, the story starts with a newspaper ad placed in May of 1864. A man named Charles Haven, the Secretary of the St. Louis Vine Growers, offers shares in the building of a new private park. For $25 per share, members would receive an equivalent value in fruits produced by the Park of Fruit’s plants. Haven describes the park as a source of perpetual revenue, to include avenues and walks, winding for miles through plantations and vineyards, spread over a hill and valley, with the addition of a member’s resort hotel. By 1869, the Park enters fruit and plant specimens at the St. Louis Horticultural Fair, with wines being produced and sold by 1873. In 1873, the first mention of the name Castlewood appears in an ad. 1874 sees a massive banquet on the grounds as well as vines being gifted by the Grand Duke of Russia. The park is mentioned in several guides to St. Louis as being one of the principal attractions in the entire city, on par with forest and Tower Grove Parks. ———

And then, abruptly, the story stops. Charles Haven gets caught up in a lawsuit and all mention of the park ceases. What happened to the fruits of Haven’s labor? Did the plants keep growing? Does an expedition need to be launched in search of the Grand Duke’s vines? ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri History Museum and KDHX. I’m Amanda Clark and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis. ———

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In this episode, Adam MacPhàrlain, Curator of Clothing and Textiles at the Missouri Historical Society details the career of a woman who was key in the fashion industry in the St, Louis area. Just press play to hear the whole story.

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Podcast Transcript: I’m Adam MacPhàrlain, Curator of Clothing and Textiles at the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History, on 88-1, KDHX. ———

Who is one of the most fashionable people you know? Someone who is always chic and stylish. ------

In the mid-20th century in St. Louis, one name was always at the top of the best dressed list: Alice Topp-Lee. ———

You might say that it’s no surprise to see her on the list, as she was in the fashion industry herself. Topp-Lee spent much of her career as the executive designer at Doris Dodson Dress Company, a clothing brand produced by Forest City Manufacturing here in St. Louis. The brand was one of the mainstays of the junior wear market, which grew from the city in the late 1930s. ———

From 1947 to 1990, Alice Topp-Lee donated garments from her personal wardrobe to the Missouri Historical Society. The donations included famous names like Christian Dior and Balenciaga. But one name stands above the rest: Charles James, a designer known for his sculptural approach to dressmaking. MHS holds 12 James ensembles, all from Topp-Lee. In her own words, a James dress “had no time, year, season. It expressed only the woman it was made for, her attitude, her styles, her requirements.” ———

One of the donated dresses in particular is a testament to James’s timeless style. The designer called this one “Green Eyes.” It is a white wool evening gown with hints of dark green velvet at the bust and lower back, which complimented Topp-Lee’s green eyes. She wore the gown multiple times from 1949 through 1960, including aboard the Queen Elizabeth 2 ocean liner and to a dinner honoring New York socialite Millicent Rogers. Topp-Lee went so far as to call Green Eyes a “true friend.” ———

Throughout her life and career, Alice Topp-Lee had an indelible sense of style, which is beautifully represented in the Missouri Historical Society collection. ———

Here's History is a joint production of KDHX and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Adam MacPhàrlain, and this is 88-1, KDHX, Saint Louis. ———

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Cars are ubiquitous in our day and age, but this wasn’t always so. There is a first for everything, and one man got to experience a ride in a car, that happened to be the very first automobile built west of the Mississippi. And he notated it well. Just press play to hear the whole story ———Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Katie Moon, Transportation, ------

Podcast Transcript: ’m Katie Moon, Exhibits Manager at the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on eighty-eight-one, K-D-H-X. ———

Driving a car for the first time is always exciting. Driving the first car ever built in St. Louis must have been an even bigger thrill. In 1893, cars were pretty much unheard of, but a curious young man by the name of J. D. Perry Lewis built his own and even took it out for a drive. In a stroke of luck, he wrote about that experience in great detail, and the full record lives in the archives of the Missouri Historical Society. Here’s some of what he wrote: ———

So one afternoon in June 1893 I backed out of my mothers carriage house at the rear of 3014 Morgan Street in the first successful automobile that was built west of the Mississippi River and took a drive through the western part of the city. ———

I had no license plates on the car, and no restrictions as to where and how I should drive, no traffic signs, nor police officers to bawl me out for making a U turn on Broadway. The machine was an open roadster driven by an electric motor which derived its power from storage batteries under the seat. The speed was about 12 to 15 miles per hour downgrade and about 8 to 9 miles uphill. ———

After backing out of the carriage down into the alley a friend got in and we drove out to Grand Avenue, then South on Grand to Olive Street, on which street cable cars ran in those days. We went with a whirring sound of the gearing to Lindell Boulevard where we turned west for Forest Park. By this time several horse drawn vehicles were following the car but when I hit the downgrade to Vandeventer Avenue I outran them until I was almost to the park when they caught up again. ———

The return trip was just the same with the exception of the last two or three blocks from home we stalled and the crowd that gathered helped us the rest of the way by pushing. ———

Many good rides were had in the little car after that first trip and never a word from the law against me for the way I drove. ———

Here’s History is a joint production of K-D-H-X and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Katie Moon, and this is eighty-eight-one, K-D-H-X, St. Louis. ———

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St. Louis, of course, has had its share of musical legends. In Rock-n-Roll, of course, there's Chuck Berry among others. In Hip Hop, there's Nelly, and others. Lesser know, though, is a Gospel hero in Willie Mae Ford Smith. Just press play to hear the whole story. ------

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Podcast Transcript: I’m Andrew Wanko, Public Historian of the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on 88-one, KDHX. ———

When you hear the word “gospel,” does a particular city spring to mind? Maybe Detroit, New Orleans, or Memphis? Well next time think of St. Louis. St. Louis has long been a gospel hotbed, and a presence on the scene for decades was Willie Mae Ford Smith. ———-

Born in 1906, Willie Mae Ford Smith started singing in St. Louis gospel choirs as a teen, becoming a powerhouse soloist in an era when it was still uncommon to hear women’s voices alone. In 1939 she began leading the prestigious Soloists Bureau of the National Convention of Gospel Choirs gaining fame as one of gospel music’s top vocal teachers. She taught students not just how to make their singing dramatic, but also how to create a paced atmosphere with body movements, beginning with one’s approach to the church pulpit. Among her countless students were Mahalia Jackson, Clara Ward, and Dinah Washington. ———

In the 1950s, Willie Mae Ford Smith was ordained a minister at St. Louis’s Lively Stone Apostolic Church. With her booming voice, flowing robes, and oversized glasses, she embodied the ideal gospel balance of loving warmth and towering power. She never sang a hymn straight ahead - she added to it, slowed it down, and threw in sermonettes, wiping sweat from her forehead through joy-filled performances. Fellow St. Louis gospel legend Zella Jackson Price called her voice a “building wrecker.” ———

Willie Mae Ford Smith’s first album didn’t come out until she was 69 years old, and a 1972 appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival marked her first wider exposure to audiences outside the gospel world. In the 1982 gospel documentary film Say Amen Somebody, she tells director George Neirenberg “I may have cracks in my voice as wide as the banks of the Mississippi, but the old Mississippi River keeps on flowing.” In 1988, Willie Mae Ford Smith was presented the Heritage Award from the National Endowment for the Arts, the highest honor in the country for folk and traditional arts. She passed away at age 89 in St. Louis. ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Andrew Wanko and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis. ———

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When world events enter the picture, property rights of even entire towns and cities can get stepped on, or worse. Three small towns learned this the hard way when, in 1940, their land was needed for the war effort. Just press play to hear the whole thing. -------

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Podcast Transcript: I’m Adam Kloppe, public historian with the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on eighty-eight one, KDHX. ———

In the autumn of 1940, the United States was still over a year away from entering into World War Two, but the war was already having a huge effect on the United States. For evidence of that, you only need to look at three small towns in St. Charles County—Hamburg, Howell, and Toonerville. But that’s the thing. You can’t really look at these towns anymore. That’s because in the autumn of 1940 they ceased to exist. ———

That year, the United States War Department was looking for about 18,000 acres of land on which to build a TNT plant. The land, they stipulated, had to be away from the coasts. It also needed to have access to water, rail, and roadway shipping lanes, and needed to have a nearby labor force that could quickly be hired to work in the plant. ———

By the autumn of 1940, the government had selected a tract of land in St. Charles County. But there was a problem. Three small towns sat in this tract of land—the towns of Howell, Hamburg, and Toonerville. The towns had schools and stores and various small businesses. Over 500 people called the area home. Some families could trace their roots back to folks who founded Hamburg in the 1830s. But the plant was deemed as something vital for national security. The towns would have to be torn down. ———

As these plans became public, people in the affected area at first expressed disbelief. Within months, though, most people had given up any resistance, especially as government officials promised folks that they would receive fair compensation for their land and their lost property. However, several families never received compensation and took the US Government to court. This case wound up in front of the US Supreme Court in 1945—and was ruled in favor of the past residents. ———

By the time this ruling came down, though, the TNT plant had already been shuttered. After the war, two conservation areas were carved from the tract. But some of the land was used for a uranium refinement facility that remained open until the mid-1960s. Pollution from this plant, and the old TNT plant, led to intense decontamination efforts in the area. These efforts culminated in the creation of the Weldon Spring Site, where a stone mound has been constructed to hold the contaminated waste for the next 1000 years. ———

Here’s History is a joint production of the KDHX and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Adam Kloppe and this is eighty-eight one, KDHX St. Louis. ———

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Urban renewal alters the landscape drastically, reshaping things, and sometimes erasing a whole neighborhood and its history. One of the few buildings to survive the urban renewal project around the Mill Creek Valley neighborhood was the The Berea Presbyterian Church. Just press play to hear the whole story. ------

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Amanda Clark, Architecture, Black History, Religion,

Podcast Transcript: I’m Amanda Clark, manager of the See STL Tours program at the Missouri History Museum, and Here’s History, on eighty-eight one, KDHX. ———

In the mid-20th century, several neighborhoods were demolished in the name of urban renewal. One of the largest was the Mill Creek Valley neighborhood near St. Louis University, home to over 20,000 African Americans. 6,000 buildings were demolished, leaving few hints of the neighborhood’s vibrant culture and community. One survivor is the former home of the Berea Presbyterian Church, which is now known as St. Louis University’s Il Monastero banquet space and was built in 1929. ———

The Berea Presbyterian congregation was founded in the 1880s and was the first African American Presbyterian Church west of the Mississippi. For the Mill Creek Valley community, the church served as an important community hub – and of the 40 churches in the neighborhood, it was the only one that survived demolition. ———

In 1964, the innovative public housing project Laclede Town was built nearby, and it brought a vibrant community back to Berea. The same period also brought the church its first white pastor, Carl Dudley – an activist and dedicated supporter of the Black community. Under Dudley, Berea and Laclede Town became the center of St. Louis counterculture and Black arts. Their popular coffee shop, Circle, was the de facto community center for Black artists and activists including members of the Black Artists Group, known as BAG. BAG’s nearby headquarters housed artists and activists, provided meeting and performance space, and provided arts classes to over 200 Black children. ———

Berea, Laclede Town, and BAG were deeply entwined – the director of Laclede Town offered 3 months of free rent to musicians that would there, which was most often at Berea Church’s Circle Coffee – which was managed by BAG member LeRoi Shelton. BAG member Shirley LeFlore and Shelton were also members of Berea Church where LeFlore lead the Berea Messenger Singers, an all-female a cappella ensemble. ———

Laclede Town was demolished in the 1980s and Berea Presbyterian Church relocated its congregation to the Compton Heights neighborhood, where it is still active today. ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri History Museum and KDHX. I’m Amanda Clark and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis. ———

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Almost everyone loves a ghost story, and St. Louis would briefly succumb to a craze concerning a a certain ghostly specter that supposedly haunted Pine Street. Just press play to hear the whole story. -----

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I’m Amanda Clark, manager of the See STL Tours program at the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History, on eighty-eight one, KDHX. -----

In 1887, on a chilly January Sunday, over 10,000 St. Louisans gathered to catch a glimpse of the impossible. The anxious crowd spent over 12 hours packed shoulder to shoulder after reading in the previous day’s Globe Democrat that a phantom horse and buggy had been appearing daily for over a month. The so-called Pine Street Specter would traverse what is now the campus of Harris Stowe University before vanishing. Eyewitnesses alleged that the buggy crossed paths with other vehicles and passed right through them. The Globe’s reporter claimed he had not only seen the apparition, but had even ridden the buggy for a block or two, peering into the carriage in search of the missing driver.-----

Unsurprisingly, neither the horse nor buggy materialized before the massive, expectant crowd. Police struggled to contain the mob of disappointed spectators. The next morning, the paper published a correction. They didn’t retract their claims, they said only that they had left out a crucial piece of information – the ghost never appeared on the Sabbath. Similar scenes recurred for several days, with crowds swelling to 15,000 despite freezing conditions. Some residents of the upper-class neighborhood complained that their servants stopped working out of fear though others hosted lavish specter-themed parties and seances. One young woman was treated to a very public display of affection when her beau hired a ghost-costumed chorus to serenade her. ------

Though many Pine Street residents continued to insist the specter was real, the curious hordes gave up hope after a week or so. The story lived on for another year in the ghost’s absence, turning into a shared joke among newspaper writers, who blamed the specter for unsolved robberies and stock market losses. Eventually, though, memory faded, and the Pine Street Specter was again as invisible as it had been on that first cold January afternoon. ------

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri History Museum and KDHX. I’m Amanda Clark and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis. ------

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Long before youtube, or television for that matter, entertainment looked quite different. One artist's take on it was to make a 1,300 foot panorama of the entire Upper and Lower Mississippi, which toured from city to city to the delight of viewers. Just press play to hear the whole story.

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Podcast Transcript: I’m Hattie Felton, Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on eighty-eight-one, K-D-H-X. ------

Entertainment looked a lot different in the 19th century. Before smart tv’s with surround sound, before epic IMAX films, before virtual reality goggles, people looking for an entertaining experience could see a panorama show. These panoramas were painted scenes hundreds or even thousands of feet long, aimed at giving viewers an immersive, theatrical look at faraway cities or historic battles. St. Louis-based artist Henry Lewis once painted a 1,300-foot-long panoramic depicting the Mississippi River.

How do you go about reproducing every major town and landmark along the Mississippi River onto one long panorama? Lewis did it by floating down the river in a homemade raft, making notes and sketching everything he passed. He toured the resulting colossal painting from city to city, where audiences could marvel at the natural landscape and burgeoning towns along this watery thoroughfare of America’s west. Lewis’s original panorama is lost to history, but two of his sketchbooks depicting the Upper Mississippi River are preserved at the Missouri Historical Society. -----

Henry Lewis, originally from England, came to St. Louis in 1836. He found work as a carpenter but quickly discovered his true passion was art. Being self-taught didn’t hold Lewis back, and by the 1840s, his reputation as a skilled landscape painter earned him notice in the newspapers and the business of local citizens. Not content to spend all his time in a studio, Lewis took trips to paint the Mississippi River, which inspired his idea for a magnificent panoramic painting of the entire Upper and Lower Mississippi. -----

In 1848, Lewis and several assistants began their voyage from Minneapolis to St. Louis. The pages of his books are filled with sometimes detailed, but often fleeting pencil sketches, occasionally accented with bright touches of watercolors. The margins contain Lewis’ notes to help when it came time to transform his small sketches into the panorama. Among the many scenes he captured during that summer journey are Fort Madison Iowa, Quincy, Illinois, the Mormon Temple at Nauvoo, and Hannibal, Missouri. Lewis created these sketches to wow his 19th century audiences, but today they give us a peek into life along the river, preserving rare glimpses of historic buildings and seldom-seen towns. -----

Here’s History is a joint production of K-D-H-X and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Hattie Felton, and this is eighty-eight-one, K-D-H-X, St. Louis. ------

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There are many modern conveniences that we take for granted. One of those is Light. Today, for most of us, we simply turn on a light switch and we have all the illumination we need. But it wasn’t always so. In the past the process of lighting a space could be smelly, dangerous, and time consuming. Just press play to hear the whole story. ———

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Andrew Wanko, Science and Technology, ------

I’m Andrew Wanko, Public Historian of the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on 88-one, KDHX. ———

Every time one of the Missouri Historical Society curators shows me something new from our artifact collections, I get the same feeling. For all I know about the lives of past generations of St. Louisans, there is always more to uncover. Lately it happened when I got to see a tin candle mold, once used by a St. Louisan of the early 1800s to provide a homemade source of light after dark. ———

While the wealthiest early 1800s St. Louisans could afford the whale oil candles brought into town on riverboats, most residents made their own candles at home using animal fat. The candlemaker began by simmering a cauldron of meat and water over an open fire for hours. As the water evaporated, it left behind a floating layer of liquified fat, called “tallow.” ———

With the fuel source prepared, the candlemaker turned to a tall and narrow metal candle mold with anywhere from two to twelve openings. String wicks were tied to a rod above and left to dangle in the mold’s openings, and then the scorching hot tallow was skimmed from the pot and poured in. It was a delicate process - the candle mold’s openings were barely an inch wide, and burns or accidental housefires were a constant risk. After a few hours of cooling, the hardened tallow candles could be carefully wiggled out of the mold and set aside to use. ———

Tallow candles went rancid quickly and usually burned down in just a few hours, so candle making was a weekly chore for many St. Louisans. Tallow candles also had the downsides of smelling like burnt meat and producing thick clouds of black smoke, but those inconveniences probably seemed minor to the alternative of spending your evenings sitting in the dark. ———

History gives us many things, including reasons to be grateful. Next time you’re at the store, standing beneath hundreds of light bulbs and picking out a new vanilla or lavender candle just for fun, be thankful that the smells, mess, and danger of making your own source of light are concerns for St. Louisans of the past. ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Andrew Wanko and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis. ———

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We take for granted many of the conveniences of the modern day, transportation among them. One man saw the transportation needs of the early city had rushed in to fill them. And he made his fortune along the way. Just press play to hear the whole story. ———

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Katie Moon, Transportation, Business, People of Note,

Podcast Transcript: I’m Katie Moon, Exhibits Manager at the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on eighty-eight-one, K-D-H-X. ------

Public transportation in St. Louis has been the subject of much debate in recent years, and it’s easy to forget that this isn’t just a modern problem—people in St. Louis have always been trying to get places. Over a century ago, St. Louis developed an extensive electric streetcar system that transformed the city, but the demand for public transportation in St. Louis actually began much earlier, and one enterprising transplant saw the opportunity and jumped on it. ------

A young man by the name of Erastus Wells (yep, the same Erastus Wells who founded Wellston, served in Congress, and was the father of Governor Rolla Wells) came to St. Louis from New York in the early 1840s with no plan other than to make something of himself and to make a profit doing it. ------

The population was booming, and businesses were sprouting up all over. The challenge for many St. Louisans was figuring out a reliable and convenient way to get from place to place. Wells saw that need and had a solution. He partnered up with a financial backer, and the two started the first public transportation system in the city, in the form of an Omnibus. ------

The name sounds strange to modern ears, but at the time, it was a popular mode of transportation in the east, and was simply an enclosed wagon with multiple seats and windows. Wells had his omnibus built by a local wagon maker, and purchased two horses with the last of his own money. He developed a daily route that covered the busiest streets in St. Louis, and drove whether he had passengers or not. Each fare cost 12 and half cents…what was then known as 1 bit. ------

After a slow start, the idea caught on and eventually as many as 90 omnibuses were operating across the city. In just a few years, Wells sold the company for a hefty profit and turned his attention to other endeavors. After a groundbreaking start in 1842, the last horse-drawn omnibus made its way down Jefferson Avenue in 1896, marking the end of an era. -------

Here’s History is a joint production of K-D-H-X and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Katie Moon, and this is eighty-eight-one, K-D-H-X, St. Louis. ------

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Some bands achieve fame, only to find themselves unable to recreate it with their subsequent recordings. They are, of course called, “one hit wonders.” One such band experience happened right here in St. Louis. Just Press play to hear the whole story. ———

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Podcast Transcript: I’m Andrew Wanko, Public Historian of the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on 88-one, KDHX. ———

St. Louis record label Musicland USA only released one major song, but it was a big one. In St. Louis, no other one-hit wonder approaches Bob Kuban and the In-Men’s “The Cheater.” ———

An eight-piece band formed in 1964 by local drummer Bob Kuban, the In-Men sounded snappier and more sophisticated than most of the countless 1960s Beatles-inspired groups. The band was poised for fame, and in late 1965 at Technisonic Studios, they laid down the track that would launch their pop stardom. Released that October, “The Cheater” told the story of a pride-filled stealer of significant others eventually getting his due. It had vibrant horns, a chorus that lingered in your head for days, and baritone crooner Walter Scott’s Elvis-inspired vocals. ———

By the spring of 1966, the Cheater had shot up the Billboard Hot 100 chart to number 12. Bob Kuban and the In-Men landed a national television appearance on American Bandstand that April. The group was suddenly sharing concert stages with acts like Otis Redding and the Turtles, and they even joined the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra for a classical performance of “The Cheater” at the Kiel Auditorium. ———

“The Cheater” seemed like the first brick in a tower of hits, but the song’s main hook “He’s gonna build you up, just to let you down” was about to sound like foreshadowing. In the spring of 1966, the group’s follow-ups, “The Teaser,” and a cover of the Beatles song “Drive My Car,” stalled out at numbers 70 and 93 respectively. They tried releases of “the Batman Theme” and a novelty dance song called “The Pretzel” but with no luck. As quickly as they’d arrived, Bob Kuban and the In-Men fell out of pop music’s fickle spotlight. ———

St. Louis never lost its “Cheater fever,” and the band outlived quite a few other famous local institutions. For example, Bob Kuban and the In-Men played at the opening of Busch Memorial Stadium in 1966, and also at the last game played there on October 2, 2005. ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Andrew Wanko and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis. ———

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The St. Louis Zoo is a large place indeed, and there is much ground to cover in a visit to see the animals and sights. Starting in 1963, a new alternative to walking was given to the patrons of the zoo, a miniature rail line. Just press play to hear the whole story. ------

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Podcast Transcript: I’m Adam Kloppe, public historian with the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on eighty-eight one, KDHX. ———

The Saint Louis Zoo is one of the true gems of St. Louis. Every year, about three million people visit the zoo to see animals from all over the world, including Asian elephants, orangutans, tigers, and penguins. For many St. Louisans, a summer vacation just isn’t complete without one trip to the zoo. ———

For many visitors, though, the highlight of the trip isn’t necessarily the animals. The highlight is a chance to take a trip around the zoo on one of the locomotives of the Zoo Line Railroad. And even those who prefer getting around the zoo on foot can’t help but smile and wave at the passengers as the train rolls past with a blast from its whistle. ———

The beginnings of the Zoo Line Railroad date back to 1963. In January of that year, zoo director Marlin Perkins announced that the Zoo had begun construction on a one and a half mile rail line that would travel around the grounds. This rail line would feature three real, gas-powered miniature locomotives that would pull passengers seated in small coaches. In his announcement, Perkins stressed that while the train would undoubtedly provide entertainment, its main function would be to deliver passengers to planned stops at popular spots on the zoo grounds. Admission would be 30 cents. ———

Construction took a little longer than expected, especially as workers had to dig large tunnels under sections of the zoo, as the trains would not be large enough to haul passengers up some of the hilliest sections of the grounds. But by late August, the line was complete. On August 29, Howard Baer, the chairman of the zoo board, drove in a golden spike to ceremonially complete the line, and zoo officials took an inaugural trip around the zoo. The next day, the rail line opened to the public. It was an instant success—even if some youngsters had to be convinced not to place rocks on the tracks to see what would happen. ———

In the years since it has been open, the Zoo Line Railroad has been a smash hit. Zoo officials estimate that it is still the most popular paid attraction at the zoo, and that almost 40 million people have taken a ride on the miniature rails since 1963. Admission no longer costs thirty cents, though—today a day long ticket to the Zoo Line Railroad will cost you $7.95. But for many visitors that’s a small price to pay for the chance to travel around the zoo on a train. ———

Here’s History is a joint production of KDHX and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Adam Kloppe and this is eighty-eight one, St. Louis. ———

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Some thought that prohibition would solve many problems in the United States. But, in fact, many problems got worse as drinking went underground. Among them, drinking amongst women increased dramatically. Just press play to hear the whole story. ------

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Podcast Transcript: I’m Darby Ratliff, a researcher at the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on 88.1 KDHX. ———

One of the biggest questions around Prohibition was whether or not it was effective. When Prohibition came into effect, people believed that it would greatly improve American life. Billy Sunday, a celebrated preacher and evangelist during this period remarked the following when the amendment was passed: “The reign of tears is over…The slums will soon only be a memory. We will turn our prisons into factories and our jailhouses into storehouses and corncribs. Men will walk upright now, women will smile, and the children will laugh.” ———

Yet, when the ban on the use and distribution of alcohol went into effect on January 17th, 1920, many would notice that instead of a dry nation, Americans were drinking more than ever. In fact, after seeing a rise in the number of alcoholics treated in City Hospital, the St. Louis Health Commissioner Max Starkloff commented, “There is no such thing as prohibition in St. Louis.” ———

So what were the effects of Prohibition? One of the most obvious lasting effects is evident in today’s drinking establishments. Prior to Prohibition, it was mostly men that were drinking in saloons. However, once Prohibition went into effect, saloons were immediately in danger, and many tried to pivot, becoming restaurants or soda parlors. Only about 60% survived the first year of Prohibition. Notably, one saloon that did make it, Garavelli’s, would stay open through the mid-1970s. Most famed among its many owners is Cardinals pitcher Stan Musial. ———

While saloons struggled, speakeasies flourished, and while we might today picture a 1920s speakeasy filled with flappers, flowing cocktails, and loud jazz music, speakeasies also revolutionized the way people consumed alcohol. First, speakeasies were made to cater to both women and men, incorporating table service, powder rooms, and entertainers—none of which would have been found in saloons. Additionally, it was unusual to refer to liquor using a brand name in a saloon., People starting using brands to avoid drinking questionable alcohol that may have been made at home as well as to express their sophistication and taste. ———

When Prohibition ended, some saloons welcomed the transition back—or, at least the legal transition back—to selling alcohol, but many of the changes to the social side of drinking were here to stay. After all, there were an estimated 3,000 speakeasies in St. Louis alone! ———

Here’s History is a joint production of KDHX and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Darby Ratliff and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis. ———

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Some artists seem to be way ahead of their time, and they leave their mark because of it. In the early part of the 20th century, Hugh Ferriss was designing cities in a way that still influences today's filmmakers and artists today. Just press play to hear the whole story. -----

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Andrew Wanko, Architecture,

Podcast Transcript: I’m Andrew Wanko, Public Historian of the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on 88-one, KDHX. ———

What do Batman’s moody Gotham City, Superman’s soaring Metropolis, Dorothy’s glimmering Emerald City, and the dystopian Los Angeles of Blade Runner all have in common? They all owe some of their style to the drawings of one St. Louisan. ———

Born in St. Louis in 1889, Hugh Ferriss enrolled at age 17 in the architecture program at Washington University. After graduating, he gained a national reputation for his trademark style of architectural illustration. In a 1916 feature in the Post-Dispatch, St. Louisans got a look at ten of his brooding, powerful images of local buildings. In the images, structures like the Art Museum and New Cathedral float half-concealed in shadow above a moody nighttime world. But while Ferriss produced mesmerizing images of real-world buildings, it was his 1929 book The Metropolis of Tomorrow that pushed the imaginative limits of architects, poets, and filmmakers alike. ———

In The Metropolis of Tomorrow, Hugh Ferriss presented hypothetical visions of a near-future megacity meant to show readers where he believed urban life was headed. In his glowing future metropolis, skyscrapers are the size of mountains and floating superhighways cut through buildings. He presents interconnected building-top sky gardens, vertically stacked airports, and suspension bridges with high-rise apartment buildings hung between the cables. ———

Whether you find the Metropolis of Tomorrow’s futuristic city hopeful and heroic, or overwhelming and terrifying, the images themselves are undeniably magnificent. Though Ferriss never constructed a building, few people have had a greater influence on how we perceive cities. Both the aesthetic look and dramatic atmosphere of the Metropolis of Tomorrow have been borrowed thousands of times over, in stage sets, comics, science fiction novels, movies and more. ———

Hugh Ferriss passed away in 1962 and was buried at Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis. In honor of his legacy, the American Society of Architectural Illustrators gives out the annual Hugh Ferriss Memorial Prize for excellence in architectural rendering. ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Andrew Wanko and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis. ———

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History, and historic places, can be lost if not preserved properly. There was a time that, in the name of progress, entire neighborhoods were torn down to make way for new things. One woman, Ruth Kamphoefne, decided that the Lafayette Square neighborhood should be preserved, however. Just press play to hear the whole story.

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Katie Moon, Architecture,

Podcast Transcript: I’m Katie Moon, Exhibits Manager at the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on eighty-eight-one, K-D-H-X. ———

It’s hard to imagine it now, but there was a time in St. Louis when the idea of saving old buildings was a foreign concept. Progress usually meant tearing down anything old or in need of repair. Old homes and businesses were generally seen as a hurdle to moving forward, and typically the solution was to tear everything down and start from scratch. For decades, buildings and entire neighborhoods were destroyed across St. Louis in the name of urban renewal and progress. Historic preservation wasn’t a term anyone used, let alone practiced. ———

But not everyone was on board with that idea of progress, including a young widow by the name of Ruth Kamphoefner. On a house tour of the Lafayette Square neighborhood in 1970, Ruth somehow managed to see the potential for a different type of progress. At the time, the entire area was slated to be demolished. The crumbling neighborhood was home to several brothels, crime of all kinds was rampant, and insurance fires were a common occurrence, with owners of the vacant and deteriorating properties attempting to make a buck by reporting the damage. Saving the historic neighborhood seemed like a hopeless cause. ———

But despite a limited income and 5 young children to raise, Ruth chose to dive in head first, purchasing one of the dilapidated homes and getting to work. She would later describe herself as an urban pioneer, finding it nearly impossible to get repairman to come to her home, and ended up doing many of the repairs and updates herself, including a fierce battle against the rats and roaches that had claimed the house as their own. Her dedication inspired others to move into the neighborhood and in 1972, the Lafayette Square neighborhood was designated as a historic district, which saved it from complete demolition. ———

Ruth finished that initial renovation and sold her house in 1983, but went on to purchase 17 more homes in the neighborhood, fully restoring 7 of them. But it was her first risky choice, and a determination to stay in the city to save just one house—it was that decision that inspired a movement, and evidence of her amazing fortitude is now everywhere in St. Louis. ———

Here’s History is a joint production of K-D-H-X and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Katie Moon, and this is eighty-eight-one, K-D-H-X, St. Louis. ———

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There are many pioneers in women’s history in the lore of St. Louis. One of those was Marguerite Martyn. Her illustrations got her foot in the door in journalism, but she had skills beyond that, and was soon making a name for herself as a daring interviewer. Just press play to hear the whole story.

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Adam Kloppe, Journalism, Women's History, Civil Rights, People of Note,

Podcast Transcript: I’m Adam Kloppe, public historian with the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on eighty-eight one, KDHX.------

In the early twentieth century, journalism was a male dominated field. But, in 1905, one woman would upend the newsroom of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She wrote reports on some of the most important events of early twentieth century St. Louis. Her perspective proved that women needed to be a part of the newsroom. Her name was Marguerite Martyn. ------

Initially, Martyn was hired by the Post-Dispatch as an illustrator. In 1904, Martyn submitted several sketches of the World’s Fair to the Post-Dispatch. Based on the strength of those drawings, the paper hired her as an illustrator in 1905. Martyn began taking her sketchpad all over town, drawing pictures of the notable people and events of early twentieth century St. Louis. -----

Soon, though, her editors recognized that Martyn had a talent for interviewing in addition to her skill as an illustrator. Over the years, she would interview everyone from socialites to sports team owners to presidential candidates. Oftentimes, Martyn would not schedule interviews with her subjects, but show up unannounced to their homes or hotels to ask for a few minutes of their time. Through her tenacity and personality, she was able to gain trust from nearly every interview subject. That trust got her quotes and insights from subjects that were unique and illuminating. Her writings proved extremely popular, and soon readers were searching for Martyn’s byline. ------

Martyn also campaigned for causes she believed in during her thirty-six years working for the Post-Dispatch. Using both drawings and words, Martyn advocated for things like stronger child labor laws and women’s suffrage. In 1916, for example, Martyn covered the Democratic National Convention in St. Louis, and paid special attention to the Golden Lane suffragists protests, where women held a silent protest to encourage convention goers to support granting women the right to vote. Martyn’s drawings of the protests, and her written takedowns of the men who fought against suffrage, are still effective, and illuminate this important moment in US history in ways that still resonate today. ------

Martyn retired from the Post-Dispatch in 1941. Her drawings and words are still important, and they offer us a unique window into how women navigated St. Louis in the first half of the twentieth century.------

Here’s History is a joint production of KDHX and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Adam Kloppe, and this is eighty-eight one, KDHX, St. Louis. -----

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Milk once had varied levels of quality and even safety. The history of what it took to guarantee safe milk for everyone was filled with controversy and rancor. Some considered the licensing process to be burdensome and off putting, but in the end it was all for the best. Just press play to hear the whole story.

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Darby Ratliff, Food, Health and Wellness, Business,

Podcast Transcript: I’m Darby Ratliff, a researcher at the Missouri History Museum, and Here’s History on eighty-eight one, KDHX. ----

Today, you need a license to drive a car, a boat, even sell milk. Wait—what? ———

That’s right, if you’re looking to sell pasteurized milk, you need a license, and there’s a thorough process for licensing processors and distributors of milk in Missouri. So how did we get here? ———

Try to picture a glass of milk, whether it be dairy, soy, oat, or coconut. Now, imagine the milk of the early twentieth century, which often contained clumps of dirt and was rarely white. Some bacteria even colored it blue, green, or red. As you might guess, milk like this posed health hazards to infants whose parents had just recently switched from breast to bottle feeding, especially for those living in poverty. Problems like this led to a series of regulations and reforms beginning in the late 19th century, setting up standards for testing both product and the cows from which milk was drawn. ———

The first milk licenses were granted in the 1880s, and health officers would evaluate the conditions of a farm on which milk was produced for distribution. As one St. Louis Post-Dispatch article would read in 1920: it was “the duty of the city” to ensure the safety of milk for all St. Louisans. Yet, inspections and regulations often put a heavy burden on farmers, who needed to ensure that their barns were well ventilated and that an effective waste management system was in place. As a result, herd sizes were kept small, with about five to ten cows, so that farmers could feasibly provide adequate conditions for a passing inspection. ———

However, in St. Louis, one man disagreed with the city’s ability to determine whether or not he could sell milk. In 1916, Harry Kellman was fined $25 for selling milk without a license. He first appealed to the court of criminal correction, which reduced the fine to $10. He continued to appeal until his case reached the Missouri state supreme court, arguing that it was unconstitutional for the city to regulate the sale of milk. Ultimately, the court did not rule in his favor, backing the city’s milk ordinance and reinforcing the city’s responsibility to guarantee safe milk for all St. Louisans. ———

Here’s History is a joint production of KDHX and the Missouri History Museum. I’m Darby Ratliff, and this is eighty eight one, KDHX, St. Louis. ------

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As the world transitions to more digital forms of currency, and away from paper money, it's worth remembering that there was a time when the world transitioned to paper money away from other things. Much skepticism ensued. Just Press play to hear the whole story. -----

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Andrew Wanko, Business,

Podcast Transcript: I’m Andrew Wanko, Public Historian of the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on 88-one, KDHX.-----

When was the last time you paid for something with paper money? I still do now and then, but it’s getting rarer by the day. Credit cards and electronic payments have almost completely replaced the slips of green paper and metal coins that once were a part of every purchase I made. Well St. Louisans of the 1810s were also feeling the times change when it came to their purchases – except back then, paper money was just showing up. ———

In 1810s St. Louis, few people trusted what they nicknamed “rag money,” and rightly so – every bank issued their own separate bills. There was no way to guarantee the worth of any of them the next day or next town over. Plus, counterfeiting was incredibly easy on the American frontier. Most people instead relied on bartering, using fur pelts, chunks of lead, whiskey, or bags of grain as payment options. It worked fine, except values swayed wildly from trade to trade. As St. Louis grew, merchants needed a more reliable system for financial transactions. ———

In December 1816 the Bank of St. Louis opened, offering the town’s first formal institution for borrowing and storing money. Unfortunately, it almost immediately ran into catastrophe. Bank cashier John B. Smith wrote huge, unrestrained loans to personal acquaintances, and many early investors turned and ran. But overextended resources weren’t even the full problem. The end of Europe’s decade-long Napoleonic Wars upset the world’s economies, leading to a massive financial panic in the summer of 1819. The Bank of St. Louis collapsed, after less than three years of operation. ———

While the Bank of St. Louis proved a flop and caused many to double down on their belief that paper money was untrustworthy, it did leave behind something pricelessly valuable. At the center of its 1817, ten-dollar banknote is an accurate drawing of St. Louis, with a keelboat lazily floating by on the Mississippi River. The small image is the oldest known depiction of St. Louis that survives today. ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Andrew Wanko and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis. ———

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In this episode, Adam Kloppe examines the life of one of the members of Lewis and Clark's expedition, who wasn't in any hurry to get back from the mission, taking side trips each time he was almost within site of St. Louis. Just press play to hear the whole story.

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Adam Kloppe, Rivers, Exploration,

Podcast Transcript: I’m Adam Kloppe, public historian with the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on eighty-eight one, KDHX. ------

Most people have experienced some form of being homesick during a prolonged stretch away from home. For some of us it happens after a week, and some of us start to feel it after a month. But eventually almost everyone starts to miss the people and the things that they left behind. But there’s one man with ties to St. Louis who was built a little differently. If his actions tell us anything, it’s that he never felt homesick. That man’s name was John Colter. ------

Colter was born in Virginia around 1774. By 1803, he was already a skilled outdoorsman and hunter. After a meeting with William Clark he was recruited to join the Corps of Discovery—better known today as the Lewis and Clark expedition. In May of 1804, the expedition set off from St. Louis to explore parts of the continent that were then unknown to anyone in the United States. Over the next two years, as the expedition made its way from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean and back again, Colter demonstrated his skills in hunting, wayfinding, and communication with Native American peoples. ------

In 1806, the expedition was making their way back to St. Louis. They had been away for two years—anyone would be forgiven for wanting to get back home after so much time away. But that wasn’t John Colter. When the expedition made a stop in present-day South Dakota, they ran across two fur trappers making their way west. Colter asked for permission to join them. His request was granted and just like that, Colter was headed west again. -----

In 1807, Colter was finally headed back to St. Louis. But when he was only a few days out from the city, he bumped into St. Louis fur trader Manuel Lisa. With Lisa were several of Colter’s old friends from the Corps of Discovery, and they were going west to establish a trading fort. Colter couldn’t resist, and he headed west once again. While there, Colter undertook another mission of discovery, spending the winter of 1807-1808 exploring areas we today know as both Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. ------

Finally, in 1810, Colter came back to St. Louis. He hadn’t seen the city in six years. He got married and settled down, but city life didn’t suit him. He bought a farm in Franklin County, where he lived the rest of his life. ------

Here’s History is a joint production of KDHX and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Adam Kloppe, and this is eighty-eight one, KDHX St. Louis. ------

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Amazing and dedicated scientist Gerty Cori's accomplishments were overlooked because she was a woman. Unequal pay with men, and a condescending attitude in the male dominated profession did not deter her, however. She went on to great acclaim. Just press play to hear the whole story. ------

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Katie Moon, Women's History, Health and Wellness, Medical, People of Note, Science and Technology,

Podcast Transcript: I’m Katie Moon, Exhibits Manager at the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on eighty-eight-one, K-D-H-X. ———

Today, Gerty Cori is celebrated as the first American woman to win a Nobel Prize in science. But one hundred years ago, she was just a brilliant, motivated scientist who had to push her way into a system that viewed women, at best, as second-class academics. ———

Gerty Cori and her husband Carl were born the same year in the same town, and received the same education, both earning medical degrees in 1920, which was also the year that they married. They worked in the same research lab in Prague, published papers together, equals in every way. They would continue to be committed to working together for the rest of their careers. However, in 1922, Carl was offered a professorship in Buffalo, New York. Gerty received no such offers. Instead, she eventually worked as a research assistant in Carl’s lab, earning just one-tenth of his pay. ———

In 1931, the Coris moved to St. Louis to work at Washington University, but Gerty was again forced to take a low-paying job as her husband’s assistant. Despite differences in public status, she and Carl always worked as equals. When Gerty gave birth to a son in 1936, she was out of the lab for just 3 days before returning to work. ———

After 20 years of conducting research in close partnership with her husband, Gerty finally began to receive some recognition for her own exceptional work, and was promoted to assistant professor. Shortly after, in 1947, the Coris received the Nobel Prize for their discovery of the Cori cycle—the process the body uses to break down glycogen or sugar for energy, an important step in figuring out how to manage and treat diabetes. ———

Gerty was only the 3rd woman, and first American woman, to receive the Nobel Prize in science—preceded only by Marie Curie and her daughter. ———

For the next 10 years, until her death in 1957, Gerty received numerous awards, and prominent scientists from all over the world flocked to St. Louis to work with her. The Cori’s lab at Washington University was recognized as a National Historic Landmark in 2004. ———

Here’s History is a joint production of K-D-H-X and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Katie Moon, and this is eighty-eight-one, K-D-H-X, St. Louis. ———

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There have been many trailblazers in the history of women’s struggle for respect and equity, among them, Helene Britton. She, in a time where women were thought not to be capable, and weren’t allowed to vote yet, owned a professional baseball team… in fact, it was the St. Louis Cardinals. Just press play to hear the whole story. ———

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Adam Kloppe, Women’s History, Baseball, Sports, Business, ———

Podcast Transcript: I’m Adam Kloppe, public historian with the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on eighty-eight one, KDHX. ———

In 1911, the St. Louis Cardinals made history, but it wasn’t for anything the team did on the field. In March of that year, the owner of the Cardinals, Stanley Robison, passed away. In a move that shocked many people at the time, he left his stake in the Cardinals to his niece, Helene Britton. Just like that, in a time before women were allowed to vote in the United States, Britton became the first woman to own a professional sports team. ———

But this groundbreaking moment was not treated as such by the men involved in baseball. The press mocked the idea that Britton could run a team, with one report jokingly suggesting that the team’s uniforms would now be replaced with bloomers. The other male owners pressured her to sell. They all felt that a woman could not own a baseball team. ———

But those men all underestimated Helene Britton. Over the next several years, Britton took an active role in the leadership and operation of the Cardinals. She would move her family from Cleveland to St. Louis to be closer to the team, and she often attended Cardinals games with her children. She also insisted that the Cardinals bring back a Ladies’ Day, to encourage more women to take an interest in baseball. ———

Britton often faced challenges in her time as the Cardinals owner. For example, when she took over the team, the team’s manager was Roger Bresnahan. Britton faced public pressure to replace Bresnahan, as the Cardinals were struggling on the field, but she believed in the manager, and elected to keep him on board. Her belief paid off, and the Cardinals improved the next season. However, Bresnahan had an interest in buying the Cardinals himself, and often pressured Britton to sell. Soon, Britton and Bresnahan were arguing about the team. During an argument after the 1912 season, Bresnahan reportedly angrily told Britton that he would not listen to a woman when it came to baseball. She quickly fired him. ———

By 1918, though, Britton was ready to sell the team. She had started to face financial difficulties in the wake of her divorce from her husband, who had recklessly spent her money and was also physically and emotionally abusive. She sold the Cardinals for $350,000. And though some people had doubted her, she proved to the world that women had a place in baseball. ———

Here’s History is a joint production of KDHX and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Adam Kloppe, and this is eighty-eight one, KDHX St. Louis. ———

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Discrimination can take many forms. When J.D. and Ethel Shelley simply tried to purchase a house, they found themselves involved in a landmark legal case to fight for their right to move into their property. They were battling a restrictive covenant that tried to exclude them based on their race. ———

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Cicely Hunter, Landmarks, Black History, Civil Rights,

Podcast Transcript: I’m Cicely Hunter, Public Historian from the Missouri Historical Society, and here’s history, on eighty-eight-one, KDHX. ———

For St. Louis to be named the 10th segregated city in the United States might have come as a surprise to those who heard it back in 2017, but St. Louis’s history is similar to many other urban cities. With all the hidden gems and history that surrounds this city, racial segregation became more fixed and evident as public policies and private practices tightened restrictions against Black communities. But these instances of discrimination and racism were often contested. We can look to Shelley v Kraemer, a court case that was argued in the Supreme Court and outlawed state enforced restrictive covenants. ———-

J.D. and Ethel Shelley and their children moved from Mississippi to Missouri. They were looking to purchase a home, so Elder Robert Bishop, who was their pastor and a realtor, showed them 4600 Labadie Avenue. The Shelley’s loved the home so much that they made an offer, and it was accepted. But, since the house had a restrictive covenant, the Shelley’s racial identity became a determining factor that restricted Black people from entering, purchasing, or occupying certain areas based on residential segregation. ———

The Marcus Avenue Improvement Association with Fern and Louis Kraemer as the plaintiffs were determined to stop the Shelley family from living in their newly purchased home. The Circuit Court ruled that the restrictive covenant was poorly executed since the property owners failed to sign the document. Then, the Missouri Supreme Court reversed the lower court’s decision and argued the restrictive covenant remained a legitimate agreement. The final ruling by the Supreme Court on May 3, 1948, established that restrictive covenants violated the Fourteenth Amendment and could not be judicially enforced even though it was a private contract. ———

St. Louis was important to the civil rights movement, and at the center of Black legal resistance, with court cases like Shelley v Kraemer and Gaines v Canada, and Dred and Harriet Scott’s freedom suit. In 1988, the Shelley House was dedicated as a National Historic Landmark and served as a “living memorial to the Shelley family and their fight against racial discrimination.” ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Cicely Hunter and this is eighty-eight-one, KDHX, St. Louis. ———

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Flooding has historically been frequent in the St. Louis region, including the 1844 and 1993 floods, which are probably the most famous. In 1903 another major flood took its toll on the eastern side of the river. Just press play to hear the whole story.-----

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Adam Kloppe, Environmental History, East St. Louis, Engineering, Mississippi River, Natural Disaster, Rivers, Disaster,

Podcast Transcript: I'm Adam Kloppe, Public Historian at the Missouri History Museum, and Here’s History on 88.1 KDHX. ———

If you've lived in the St. Louis area long enough, you were sure to have some experience with floods. The city is situated near the confluence of the two greatest rivers on the continent, the Missouri and the Mississippi, and the area has seen its share of devastating floods that have wiped out homes and businesses and farms over the years. ———

Stories of the greatest of these floods, like the floods of 1844 and 1993, are told time and time again. But other historic floods have been just as damaging to the St. Louis area. In 1903 in fact, East St. Louis faced the most devastating flood it has ever seen. That year, the Missouri River flooded its banks, devastating towns throughout Kansas and Missouri as the high water swept through. As the floodwaters from the Missouri rushed into the Mississippi in early June of 1903, the levees on the eastern side of the river began to give way as the river reached heights of 38 feet. Smaller towns on the river were completely washed away. Still, officials in East St. Louis were confident that they would stay dry. Over the years, streets had been elevated and levees and dikes have been built to help protect the city. None of that preparation was the payoff however. ———

On June 6, both the Madison County and Cahokia levees broke, even as men tirelessly worked to raise them. A few days later, on June 10, the last protection that East St. Louis had, a causeway that had been built by the Illinois Central Railroad line, gave way. Water rushed into the city, which at the time had a population of over 34,000 people. Some men with lanterns and pistols ran through the streets, firing into the air to wake their neighbors and warning them of the incoming water. Other folks made their way to the rooftops of houses and factories, often with their only remaining possessions as the clothes on their backs. Many others weren't even that lucky as dozens of people were lost in the floodwaters. ———

Over the ensuing hours, hasty efforts were made to rescue the stranded East St. Louisans. Boats were constructed to try to rescue those who have been trapped by the high waters. Once folks were rescued, they were taken to refugee camps for food and shelter. Some St. Louisans from the western edge of the Mississippi were a part of that rescue effort, as they gave money to flood relief efforts or offered their boats to help pick up refugees. Others weren't so helpful, and they made their way to the Eads Bridge to stand above the swollen banks of the river and take in the scenes of devastation. ———

Overall, the papers estimated that the damage done to East St. Louis would total over $16 million dollars. After cleanup from the flood was over, East St. Louis erected higher levees to keep out future floodwaters. These levees have been improved several times over the years and have worked to keep the city mostly dry as the years have passed. ———

Here's History is a joint production of the Missouri History Museum and KDHX. I'm Adam Kloppe and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis. ———

St. Louis is no stranger to floods. Stories of the greatest of these catastrophes, like the floods of 1844 and 1993, are told time and time again. But a lesser known one, which happened in 1903, nearly destroyed East St. Louis.

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Dogs are often called “man’s best friend.” When their population grows out of control, however, it can be quite the opposite. Just after the American Civil War, dog populations had become unmanageable in St. Louis, and rabies ran rampant, leading to… the dog wars. Just press play to hear the whole story. ———

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Katie Moon, Animals, Medical, Legal Matters, Politics and Government, ——

Podcast Transcript: I’m Katie Moon, Exhibits Manager at the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on eighty-eight-one, K-D-H-X. ———

If you’ve lived in St. Louis for any length of time, you’ve probably noticed that pretty much everyone owns some sort of animal…dogs, cats, chickens, you name it. And that when one of those animals escapes or is seen roaming free, it’s a huge deal. Well, in 1865, people in St. Louis had other animal problems to deal with—stray dogs were EVERYWHERE. The Civil War had just ended, and the entire country was trying to regroup, but in St. Louis, dogs, particularly “mad dogs” or what we would now call rabid dogs, presented a more immediate concern. Newspapers regularly carried stories of people getting severely bitten and also dying from hydrophobia, or rabies. ———

Without the modern technology of spaying and neutering, the number of dogs in the streets just kept growing, and the mayor decided he was going to fix the problem. In July of 1865, he passed an ordinance which require owners to muzzle their dogs and stay with them while they were on the street. Any dog found unmuzzled and loose could be immediately killed by the police. ———

Many wealthier dog owners moved their animals to the country during this time, and not without reason. Within a week of the law going into effect, the police shot and killed several hundred dogs. But their mission wasn’t without mishaps (and happy results for the dogs). One officer chased a dog all the way to the Levee, where it jumped to safety onto a raft that happened to be floating by. When the officer attempted to follow, he fell into the Mississippi River and had to be rescued. ———

The initial public response to the mayor’s initiative wasn’t overwhelmingly positive, for several reasons, and it didn’t improve. The police were using valuable ammunition to kill dogs. In response, the mayor amended the law, stating that the officers should use means other than shooting. Needless to say, this didn’t improve the public opinion of the entire initiative. By the end of November, the vast majority of police officers were no longer enforcing the law. Instead, the city hired 2 dog catchers who would hold the animals until they were claimed by their owners, died from rabies, or unfortunately had to be put down. ———

Here’s History is a joint production of K-D-H-X and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Katie Moon, and this is eighty-eight-one, K-D-H-X, St. Louis. ———

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Politics has always been a hot button issue in St. Louis, but in 1875, the average citizen would have had trouble keeping track of who the mayor of the city even was. In that one year, there were three plus one more who should have been there. Just press play to hear the whole story ——

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Andrew Wanko, Politics, Altercations,

Podcast Transcript: In 2017 St. Louisans will take to the polls to vote in a new mayor of St. Louis. The election process will certainly be full of ups and downs. But chances are it won't compare to the strange year of 1875. If you were alive in 1875, it would have been tough remembering who the mayor was. There were three plus one more who should have been there. ——

For the first four months of 1875, Joseph Brown was in office as the 21st mayor of St. Louis. Since his appointment in 1871, he had overseen some pretty big changes in the St. Louis landscape. Giving St. Louisans a day at the park was high on Mayor Brown’s list of goals because his term oversaw Tower Grove Park opening to the public, as well as the legislation to create Carondelet Park, O'Fallon Park, and Forest Park. He also oversaw the opening of the Eads Bridge and ran a soup kitchen for hungry St. Louisans that he funded out of his own pocket. ——

In April 1875, Mayor Brown stepped down and Arthur Barrett took over as the 22nd mayor of St. Louis. But Arthur Barrett would soon set a record. No mayor would want the shortest term of any mayor in St. Louis history. Arthur had a robust history of raising cattle and helping put on the annual St. Louis Exposition Fair. But less than two weeks after taking office, he died. Shortly after being sworn in, Arthur became seriously ill and stumped the team of doctors who were desperately trying to save him. He passed away on April 24th, 1875, just 11 days after taking office. ——

For the rest of 1875, the city of St. Louis might have elected the wrong man as mayor. After Arthur Barrett’s sudden death, a special election was held, and bank president James Britton was declared the 23rd mayor of St. Louis, but his opponent, Henry Overstolz, smelled something fishy. Overstolz cried corruption and blamed Britton’s supporters of stuffing the ballots with hundreds of fake votes. When all was sorted out, the decision was reversed. Overstolz was found to be the winner, and he became the 24th mayor of St. Louis in February 1876. ——

Police officers surrounded City Hall as protesters threatened to storm it and burn it down. And the back and forth argument of who was truly the mayor made St. Louis a laughingstock. In the end how many votes separated Henry Overstolz and James Britton? Just 77 out of nearly 30,000 cast. ——

Here’s History is a joint production of the Missouri History Museum and KDHX. I’m Andrew Wanko and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis. ——

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The birth of Granite City on the east side of the Mississippi River is an interesting origin story. It involves two brothers, an invention, and a lack of space in St. Louis. Just press play to hear the whole story. -----

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Podcast Transcript: I’m Andrew Wanko, Public Historian of the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on 88-one, KDHX. ———

If you’re anything like me, preparing a meal is a messy undertaking. I always seem to end up using every item in my kitchen cabinets, and cleaning it all is always the hardest part. We shouldn’t complain though – today’s nonstick frying pans and heatproof plastic utensils make cooking drastically easier than was for St. Louisans of the past. The 19th century’s tin and iron kitchenware was notoriously difficult to keep clean and rust free, but in the 1870s, two St. Louis brothers came to the rescue. ———

German immigrants William and Frederick Niedringhaus had spent years making tin and iron kitchenware at their St. Louis Stamping Company, when they developed a goldmine idea. Hard and readily available granite could be ground down into an ultrafine powder, mixed into liquid enamel, and fused onto metal surfaces in kilns that hit 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit. The result was a slick mottled blue coating that was attractively unique on every piece made. Burn resistant, durable, and easy to clean, this “graniteware” made the perfect finish for any kitchen item imaginable. ———

Patenting graniteware in 1877, the Niedringhaus brothers produced everything from frying pans and coffeepots to flytraps and spittoons. Their early catalogs even doubled as cookbooks, providing examples of mouthwatering dishes you could make in your stylish new graniteware pots. But as their kitchenware empire boomed, the brothers had trouble finding factory expansion space on St. Louis’s dense north riverfront. ———

In 1892, the Niedringhaus brothers bought 3,500 acres of prairie land just across the river in Illinois. They hired St. Louis City engineer Julius Pitzman to lay out not just their factories, but an entire new city. Granite City boomed across the early 1900s, with the Niedringhauses’ steel rolling mills and graniteware enameling works employing thousands. From these beginnings in kitchenware, Granite City would become one of the most important centers of steel production in the United States. ———
Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Andrew Wanko and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis. ———

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Everyone is a part of history, no matter how the history books are written. Sometimes, there's a figure you'd think should be all over the history books based upon their accomplishments, but they only stand at the edge of written history book. William Taussig was such a person. Just Press play to hear the whole story. ------

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Podcast Transcript: I’m Amanda Clark, with the Missouri Historical Society, and this is Here’s History on eighty eight one, KDHX. ———

Some of the biggest stories in St. Louis history – the 1849 cholera epidemic, the Eads Bridge and Tunnel, the Civil War, the building of Union Station, and more, involve a man named Dr. William Taussig, a name unfamiliar to most. Taussig is one of those who stand just at the edge of the historic record, their extraordinary life stories hidden between the lines of other’s biographies. But Taussig’s story is one of bravery, strong leadership, and dedication to St. Louis that few can match. ———

Born in Prague, William Taussig arrived in St. Louis in 1847, working first as a chemist and then a physician. During the 1849 cholera epidemic, he worked directly with sick patients at the city’s quarantine station. Two years later, he would be named the first mayor of Carondelet and was an outspoken abolitionist. In 1855, Taussig was aboard a train full of local dignitaries when a bridge collapse caused the cars to plunge into the Gasconade River. The horrific crash would kill over 30 people, including Taussig’s brother-in-law, who had been seated next to him. Despite his own injuries, he was able to quickly begin rescuing others, treating the wounded, and help coordinate recovery efforts. ———

During the Civil War, as threats to the city increased, Taussig personally raised the funds to provide for two local regiments when the city could not, and when Confederate marauders attacked the state asylum, Taussig immediately organized a daring rescue mission through enemy territory without military transport, bringing the patients safely back to St. Louis. ———

But Taussig’s biggest contribution to St. Louis history would begin when James B. Eads named him chairman of his bold bridge-building project – a role that would require herculean political and financial effort. Taussig devoted the rest of his career to the railroad industry, including the building of the magnificent Union Station in 1892. ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri History Museum and KDHX. I’m Amanda Clark and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis. ———

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Who knew that bicycling could be so scandalous? But in the late 1800's a bicycling craze would lead some women to dress in a way that was not in the social norms at the times. Just Press play to hear the whole story.

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Podcast Transcript: I’m Andrew Wanko, Public Historian of the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on 88-one, KDHX. ———

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Bevo Mill is a well known landmark today, and it is thought of as being whimsical and fun. Its origin story was, however, rooted in its being a propaganda tool to counter early 20th century calls for Prohibition. Namely, to convince the public that the brewing industry has always been a harmonious contributor to society and family life. Just press play to hear the whole story. -----

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Podcast Transcript: I’m Andrew Wanko, Public Historian of the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on 88-one, KDHX. ———

While its architecture might seem like whimsical fun today, South St. Louis’s Bevo Mill was once a carefully crafted piece of propaganda in a life-and-death struggle. When early 20th century calls for Prohibition of alcohol threatened to leave the nation permanently “dry,” Anheuser Busch launched an architectural rebuttal – they would build a series of picturesque old world taverns to help convince the public that the brewing industry has always been a harmonious contributor to society and family life. ———

Taking its name from the Slavic word for beer, Bevo Mill was the largest and most lavish of these taverns. It was the polar opposite of the average 1916 saloon. A whirling windmill beckoned families inside, where they found crisp tablecloths, roaring fireplaces, and cuisine carefully prepared in full view of diners. Cooking the food was chef Henry Dietz, a St. Louis culinary celebrity thanks to his cooking tips column in the St. Louis Post Dispatch. To draw even more attention to Bevo Mill, Dietz and his family lived in the three-story apartment inside the windmill. ———

With heavy wooden brackets, white stucco, multiple roof peaks, and rubble stone walls tucked beneath its towering windmill, Bevo Mill almost looks like a self-contained medieval European town. There isn’t even a defined architectural style we can claim it belongs to. It pulls influences from a millennium of built history, including touches of Romanesque, Gothic, Tudor, Flemish, and Craftsman architecture. And only the sharpest-eyed St. Louisans will notice the artificial stork nest, complete with fake concrete birds, on top of one of Bevo Mill’s chimneys. According to German and Dutch folk tradition, storks nesting on your chimney brought good luck. ———

But apparently those storks didn’t bring enough good luck, because Bevo Mill couldn’t stop national Prohibition from becoming reality in 1919. While its charm fell short on that front, it never fails to provide the thrill of spotting a rustic windmill popping up amongst South City’s brick homes. In 1971, Bevo Mill was declared a St. Louis City Landmark. ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Andrew Wanko and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis. ———

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In 1912, the threat of tuberculosis was very real. One woman used her considerable wealth and influence create the first open-air “rest camp” for young working women to try to help the situation. Just press play to hear the whole story. ------

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Podcast Transcript: I’m Katie Moon, Exhibits Manager at the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on eighty-eight-one, K-D-H-X. ———

July Thomson Collins wanted St. Louis women to get some fresh air. In fact, she believed their lives depended on it. The threat of tuberculosis was very real in 1912, especially for overworked, underfed, and poorly housed city workers. Some US cities tried to thwart the disease by providing facilities where workers could eat, rest, and spend time outdoors. But no such place existed in St. Louis. ———

July used her considerable wealth and influence to create the first open-air “rest camp” for young working women. As a regular customer at many of St. Louis’s retail stores, she became friends with the shop girls, who shared concerns about their health. Fear of tuberculosis was at the top of their list. As a mother of 4 daughters, July must have felt a particular responsibility to help these women, and quickly got to work. ———

After convincing the president of Laclede Gas Company to donate three acres of land in south St. Louis for a rest camp, July began the hard work of fundraising. Despite claiming that she didn’t have a mind for business, she raised nearly half of her $5,000 goal in just two weeks. When she received a check for $10,000, she created an endowment fund, which earned interest at 6 percent. ———

In less than a year the Night and Day Camp opened its doors at 9500 South Broadway, conveniently located close to a streetcar line that the women could ride from downtown. A newly built house on the property provided accommodations for 28 women, many as young as 15, and for the weeks they were there, all of their meals were provided, along with medical care and ample time to rest and recuperate and enjoy the natural environment. No men were allowed on the property, other than the regular visits of the attending physician. ———

Although the camp later shifted its focus to serving undernourished children, it remained in operation for more than three decades. ———

Here’s History is a joint production of K-D-H-X and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Katie Moon, and this is eighty-eight-one, K-D-H-X, St. Louis. ———

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One of the things that would set St. Louis on its path toward being world renown in medicine, was the arrival of Antoine Saugrain. A doctor who, among other things, gave the first small pox vaccines west of the Mississippi. Just press play to hear the whole story. ------

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Podcast Transcript: I’m Adam Kloppe, public historian with the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on eighty-eight-one, KDHX. ———

When St. Louis was established in 1764, it was a small trading outpost. Its founders had grand visions for what that trading outpost might become, but one thing that they probably never imagined is that St. Louis would become a home of world-class hospitals and cutting-edge medical and pharmaceutical science, the way it is today. That’s because, for over twenty years after St. Louis was founded, there were no doctors in St. Louis. ———

That all changed in 1799, when the Paris-trained physician and chemist Antoine Saugrain chose to move here. Soon after Saugrain arrived he was performing surgeries, diagnosing illnesses, and prescribing cures for the ailments of St. Louisans and folks from the surrounding region. While Saugrain had many medicines shipped in to St. Louis, he also hand-made many treatments out of the medicinal herbs and plants that he grew in his own garden. In addition to offering medical treatment to the city’s residents, Saugrain also helped trappers and traders heading west to stock up with the medical equipment they would need on their journeys. Most notably, Saugrain helped to outfit the Lewis and Clark expedition with medical provisions—even hand-making and calibrating the thermometers they would use as they traveled to the Pacific and back again. The tools Saugrain provided to Lewis and Clark proved invaluable to the expedition. ———

Dr. Saugrain was also well known in St. Louis for his charitable spirit. One of the best-educated early St. Louisans, Dr. Saugrain had a huge private library of over 450 books. He often opened that private library to the public, so that citizens of St. Louis could read the latest cultural and scientific texts from around the globe. But he began performing his most charitable act in 1809. That year, Saugrain began administering the smallpox vaccine in St. Louis, the first time the vaccine had been available west of the Mississippi River. In an act of charity, Dr. Saugrain advertised that he would administer the vaccine to anyone, regardless of their ability to pay. His selflessness saved many lives as people traveled from all over the territory to receive the vaccine. Saugrain died in 1820, but the city he called home continued to lead the way in the medical field long after his passing. ———

Here’s History is a joint production of KDHX and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Adam Kloppe, and this is eighty-eight-one, KDHX, St. Louis. ———

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In the great march for civil rights and social justice, few stories of enslaved people are as compelling as the story of Dred and Harriet Scott and their family. They ultimately gained freedom, but not through the courts as they intended. Just press play to hear the whole story. ------

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Podcast Transcript: I’m Cicely Hunter, Public Historian from the Missouri Historical Society, and here’s history, on eighty-eight-one, KDHX. ———

The story of Dred and Harriet Scott is one that students often hear about in schools across the country. The Scotts’ infamous court case demonstrated how African Americans fought for their freedom through the legal system. Though their story is one of the most well-known, there were hundreds of cases like theirs in St. Louis between 1814 and 1860. Over the course of 11 years, their case, which began in the St. Louis Circuit Court would reach the highest court in the land, the Supreme Court, with a disheartening decision that found Dred, Harriet, and their two children, Eliza and Lizzie Scott, as enslaved people. ———

Dred Scott was born in Virginia around 1800 and was enslaved by the Blow family. After he was sold to Dr. John Emerson, a surgeon of the US Army, Dred traveled with him to Fort Armstrong, near Rock Island, Illinois. By 1836, Dr. Emerson relocated to Fort Snelling, located in the free territory of Wisconsin, and where Dred met and married Harriet. ———

The Scotts sued Dr. Emerson’s widow in 1846 for their freedom. In the final Supreme Court decision in 1857, Chief Justice Roger Taney stated African Americans “had no rights which the white man was bound to respect,” because they were not considered citizens and could not pursue legal action in federal court. ———

Though the Scotts did not win their freedom as they had hoped in 1857, Mrs. Emerson soon remarried a U.S. Congressman and abolitionist, who quickly transferred ownership of the Scotts to Taylor Blow, the son of Peter Blow, so they could be emancipated. ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Cicely Hunter and this is eighty-eight-one, KDHX, St. Louis. ———

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The first Modernist Style Church in St. Louis was St. Mark's. Instead of the vivid images of cherubs, saints, and sunbursts usually found in religious stained glass, these windows would carry abstract visions of the current era’s deepest challenges, including war, poverty and union issues. Just press play to hear the whole story. ———

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Podcast Transcript: I’m Andrew Wanko, Public Historian of the Missouri Historical Society, and here’s history, on 88.1 KDHX. ———
St. Louis’s churches have no shortage of dazzling stained glass windows. But in the small south city church of St. Mark’s Episcopal, you’ll find a set of radical and controversial windows that didn’t use visual grandeur to leave their impression. ———

Built in 1939 in St. Louis Hills, St. Mark’s Episcopal was the first Modernist style church in St. Louis. The budget-strapped church had just eight thin window openings. Instead of the vivid cherubs, saints, and sunbursts usually found in religious stained glass, these windows would carry abstract visions of the current era’s deepest challenges. To amplify their serious social messages, glass artist Robert Harmon used only washed out shades of blue, purple, and yellow glass. ———

One window spoke to the human and economic toll of modern warfare, showing soldiers marching beneath trees that sprouted bullets, bones, and money. Another depicted the importance of labor unity, with two workers pounding away on a gigantic nail twice their size. Yet another featured a striking union worker yanking a rope held by his feather-capped employer, and a shirtless black laborer battling a wealthy white man. These challenging modern images were counterbalanced by depictions of Biblical stories, including Jesus feeding 5,000 people with just five loaves of bread and two fish. ———

At their 1939 unveiling, the windows of St. Marks were so controversial that they incited suspicion and outrage from neighbors. A complaint that the church could be secretly spreading Communism was even lodged with the FBI, and officers from the St. Louis Police Department’s anti-Communist “Red Squad” made threatening house visits to congregation members. ———

At a time when the weary faithful struggled to make sense of World War I, the Great Depression, and the staggering inequality in the United States, the stained glass windows of St. Marks Episcopal reflected their fears, hopes, and frustrations. Over 70 years later they still feel provocative, and continue to remind St. Louisans that the struggle for peace, justice, and equality is an effort that transcends generations. ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Andrew Wanko and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis. ———

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Aida Mayham was a proud, independent woman in a time where it was even more difficult to do so. Originally wanting to be a doctor, she focused a great deal of her life on the upstart technology of electrology, the removal of unwanted hair. In her time, she was also a journalist, an ambulance driver, and once even helped out the FBI on a case. Just press play to hear the whole story. ----

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Podcast Transcript: I’m Amanda Clark, manager of the See STL Tours program at the Missouri History Museum, and Here’s History, on eighty-eight one, KDHX. ———

Usually, studying historic local figures leads me to hidden architectural gems. But every so often, it’s the architecture that leads me to uncovering extraordinary lives otherwise lost to history. ———

Recently, an odd architectural detail on a seemingly normal home led me to a woman deserving of her own spot in St. Louis history. The detail that caught my attention was on a single family Central West End home with two entrances, one being along a major thoroughfare. Research showed the house was built in 1905 for a prominent St. Louis physician and the second entrance served his home practice. Further digging revealed that the home’s second owner, a Ms. Aida Mayham made her mark on the world through that door. When I I saw that Mayham purchased the large home as a single woman in 1918, this was a clue that told me I may be onto to someone interesting. As it turns out, Aida treated 1,000s of people from around the world in her home practice – pioneering the field of electrology as a profession. While her original dream was to be a physician, her life took a different route when she learned about the emerging science of using electricity to remove unwanted hair growth. She understood immediately that electrolysis could go beyond a purely aesthetic use, but could offer improved quality of life and mental health outcomes for women with health conditions causing excessive facial and body hair. Aida devoted over 50 years to her career – including a fight against the unsafe use of radiation for hair removal. She partnered with the FBI on an operation to shut down illegal x-ray clinics throughout St. Louis. In addition to her career, Aida served as a Red Cross ambulance driver during WWI, a correspondent for a Japanese newspaper during the 1904 World’s Fair, and she traveled extensively, including a trip to England on the Queen Mary. While she won’t be found in any history books, Aida found a way to live an exciting, meaningful, and full professional life on her own terms and I always count myself as beyond lucky when I’m able to share stories like hers. ——-

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri History Museum and KDHX. I’m Amanda Clark and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis.

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Riding the wave of popularity of national teen dance shows of the 1950’s, St. Louis Hop, hosted by Russ Carter would debut in 1958. More than 47,000 teen dancers would appear on the show regardless of their dance skills, and, it ignored color lines. Just press play to hear the whole story. ———

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Andrew Wanko, Arts, Entertainment, and Culture, Television, Civil Rights, Music, Pastimes and Leisure, ———

Podcast Transcript: I’m Andrew Wanko, Public Historian of the Missouri Historical Society, and here’s history, on 88.1 KDHX. ———

In the 1950s, television would reshape the nation’s relationship with popular music. Shows like American Bandstand brought your favorite singers into your living room, and let you see the latest dances, clothing fashions, and attitudes that went along with their songs. Plenty of St. Louis teenagers were among American Bandstand’s 20 million weekly viewers, but many St. Louisans were probably much more excited about a different program. It was almost the exact same set up, but featured their friends and neighbors. ———

The teen dance show “St. Louis Hop” hit local television in January of 1958. The premise was simple – St. Louis teenagers danced around to the latest records, with popular recording stars dropping in for interviews and live performances. ———

Replicating American Bandstand host Dick Clark’s youthful spunk was St. Louis Hop’s show host Russ Carter. He ran almost every aspect of the show’s production, down to writing his own cue cards. Carter hosted countless celebrity guests on St. Louis Hop, including the Smothers Brothers, Tony Bennett, Chubby Checker, Bobby Darin, and even John Denver. ———

Across its 15-year on-air run, more than 47,000 St. Louis teenagers appeared as dancers on St. Louis Hop. Teens wrote in requesting to be picked, sometimes more than a year in advance. Your dancing skills didn’t matter, so long as you adhered to the show’s coat-and-tie dress code. Another thing that didn’t matter was your race – St. Louis Hop was among the very first integrated shows on St. Louis television, and its producers insisted that the dancers reflect the city around them. ———

The constantly-growing show went through four location changes, filming at the Arena Roller Rink, Casa Loma Ballroom, Jefferson Hotel, and finally the KSD television studios. By the late 1960s, fads were changing and teen dance shows were losing their audiences to other entertainment. St. Louis Hop held on until 1973, when Pepsi pulled out as the show’s main advertiser, and the show was forced off the air. ———

Here’s History is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Andrew Wanko, and this is 88.1 KDHX, St. Louis. ———

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There is a strange story behind why there is so much stained glass in the region. It involves many factors, including mass production, art history and, oddly, public health. Just press play to hear the whole story. ------

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Podcast Transcript: I’m Andrew Wanko, Public Historian of the Missouri Historical Society, and here’s history, on 88.1 KDHX. -----

From towering mansions down to the smallest shotgun houses, stained-glass windows are everywhere in St. Louis. They’re points of pride for homeowners and selling points for realtors, but the larger story behind these colorful windows is not so obvious today. It’s a story that combines mass production, art history, and public health. ------

As late-19th century society discovered how germs and bacteria spread, the endless layers of curtains and drapes found in Victorian-era homes suddenly seemed like breeding grounds for sickness. People wanted them gone, but in a dense city like St. Louis, they were vital for privacy. ------

At the same time, the new Arts & Crafts artistic movement began sweeping the country. This new style replaced the Victorian era’s gaudy frilliness with warm textures, clean lines, and imagery inspired by nature. ------

St. Louisans needed an affordable product that let them rip down the dusty curtains, while keeping both their privacy and their hip sense of style. Bathing your home in light filtered through fashionable artwork, stained glass windows were the perfect solution. ------

While they might look folksy and charming to us, St. Louis’s residential stained-glass windows were industrial objects. They were mass produced by the thousands in block-long factories like Wendling Art Glass Company, Kerwin Ornamental Glass Company, and the Huttig Sash and Door Company. Mail order catalogs full of designs let homeowners custom build their own windows. You could pick the patterns, complexity, and all the colors. Some catalogs even advertised that homeowners could send in wallpaper samples for the window makers to color-match. ------

After a few decades of roaring popularity, residential stained glass windows fell behind the times in the 1930s. These windows might be relics of history today, but the next time you’re in a St. Louis house with stained glass windows, try to imagine them through the eyes of the first homeowners to stand in their glow. To them, these hygienic, trendy works of art - custom ordered from a catalog - symbolized EXACTLY what it meant to be “modern.” ------

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Andrew Wanko and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis. ------

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The first African American player to suit up for a St. Louis baseball team was second baseman and outfielder Hank Thompson. Hot on the heals if Jackie Robinson breaking the color line, Hank Thompson would have several firsts himself. Just press play to hear the whole story. ------

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Podcast Transcript: I’m Adam Kloppe, public historian with the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on eighty-eight one, KDHX. ——

Today, Jackie Robinson is a name that is recognized by millions, and for good reason. On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson officially became the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball, a sport that had been segregated for decades. For his actions both on and off the field, Robinson is recognized as a hero by millions. He is the subject of documentaries and films, and Major League Baseball has retired his number 42 league-wide. ———

After Robinson broke baseball’s color line, more Black players began signing with Major League Baseball teams. These players all followed in Robinson’s footsteps, but they also trod on new ground as the first Black players for their respective franchises. ———

The first African American player to suit up for a St. Louis baseball team was second baseman and outfielder Hank Thompson, who began his Major League Baseball career with a start for the St. Louis Browns on July 17, 1947. But that wasn’t the only barrier the 21 year old Thompson would smash through that summer. On July 20, 1947, he started a game for the Browns with future Hall of Famer Willard “Home Run” Brown—marking the first time two Black players had ever played in a Major League baseball game together. Later that same season, when the Browns played Cleveland, Thompson played in the first game to ever feature two teams with a Black player. ———

However, Thompson’s tenure in St. Louis wasn’t easy. Reports claim that many of his white teammates shunned both Thompson and Brown, leaving them to warm up together. Thompson got limited chances with the Browns, leading to inconsistent production on the field. After only 27 games, he was released. ———

Thompson’s pioneering career was not over, though. He later broke another color line when he became the first Black player to suit up for the New York Giants in 1949. With more consistent playing time, Thompson thrived with the Giants, and he played eight seasons with them. Thompson also kept breaking barriers. In 1951, he became a part of baseball’s first all African-American outfield with future Hall of Famers Monte Irvin and Willie Mays. In 1954, he helped power the Giants to a World Series victory over Cleveland. Thompson retired from baseball in 1956, an unsung titan in the history of desegregating America’s pastime. ———

Here’s History is a joint production of KDHX and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Adam Kloppe, and this is eighty-eight one, KDHX, St. Louis. ———

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Thought to be ugly, and mocked by many, The Fagin Building had a relatively short lifespan. But, in hindsight, many now consider it ahead of its time, and that it foreshadowed modernism. Just press play to hear the whole story. ———

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Andrew Wanko, Architecture, Business, Landmark Locations, ———

Podcast Transcript: I’m Andrew Wanko, Public Historian of the Missouri Historical Society, and here’s history, on 88.1 KDHX.
St. Louis has certainly been blessed with architectural beauty, but not every building to rise in our city has been greeted with open arms. When completed in 1888, Olive Street’s ten-story Fagin Building was so shocking one national critic branded it “the most discreditable piece of architecture in the United States.” ———

St. Louis architect Charles P. Clarke was probably caught in a hard place with the Fagin Building’s design. The client was his eccentric millionaire father-in-law, who had some offbeat ideas about style. The Fagin Building featured pencil-thin stacks of granite boulders and columns that jutted outwards. Between them, vast bay windows popped out almost randomly. Topping everything was a bulbous granite tower that looked like a mashup between an ancient temple and a log cabin. ———

From the sidewalk, the building’s vertical expanses of glass and looming, heavy peak created the optical illusion of tipping forward. St. Louisans refused to walk in front of it, and its storefronts and offices sat unrented for years. In the April 1893 issue of Architectural Record, the poor Fagin Building was roasted in front of a national audience. The writer disparages it as an “atrocity” and an “aberration,” “staggeringly drunk,” and in “disregard of decency.” ———

Looking back, some historians think the Fagin Building perhaps wasn’t so ugly, but just a little too far ahead of its time. Just a few decades later, vertical glass walls and inventive shapes would sweep America’s cities in new architectural styles collectively called “Modernism.” If it was around today, the Fagin Building might be celebrated as one of Modernism’s earliest experiments. ———

We’ll never know - after years of financial disaster, in 1895 the Fagin Building’s bizarre front was ripped down and replaced with a conventional brick façade. Life filled its once-empty spaces until 1918. That year, it was torn down for the Arcade Building, a structure that remains one of Downtown’s most undeniably beautiful. ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Andrew Wanko and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis.

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The Pruitt–Igoe housing complex opened in 1954 with many hoping it would be a model for urban housing projects. But, problems would start soon after it opened. By 1969 living conditions had deteriorated to such an extent that Black activists took action. Just press play to hear the whole story. ------

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Cicely Hunter, Housing, Landmark Locations, Black History, Civil Rights, Architecture, ------

Podcast Transcript: I’m Cicely Hunter, Public Historian from the Missouri Historical Society, and here’s history, on eighty-eight-one, KDHX. ———

A rent strike ensued by low-income communities in St. Louis during 1969 and brought the issue of public housing home. Residents from Pruitt-Igoe and other public housing facilities grappled with its shortcomings in St. Louis and politicized its failures before the nation. ———

Wendell O. Pruitt Homes and William Igoe Apartments, known together as Pruitt–Igoe, were 33 high-rise buildings that were 11 stories high, and were designed as a new cutting-edge redevelopment model of public housing by urban planners and designers. Mayor Joseph Darst believed the project would recreate new and vibrant spaces within St. Louis, which he defined as “tangible evidence of progress in the continuing war against slums and decay. St. Louisians can point to their city as a model of modern development.” With this perception of progress, Pruitt-Igoe would open its doors to residents in 1954. Not long after the doors opened, tenants would see problems arise. Residents experienced rodent infestation, broken heating units, no hot water, overflowing trash incinerators, and overall insufficient living conditions. ———

The 1969 St. Louis Rent Strike demonstrated how Black activists tackled public housing as a civil rights issue. The rent strike encouraged tenants to demand better living conditions. In this community-driven initiative, tenants withheld their rent money and insisted they only pay 25 percent of their income, increase police protection, and improve maintenance. The rent strike went on for nine months and would later inform the federal legislation Brooke Amendment to the Housing Act of 1969. Though residents of Pruitt Igoe seemed to win the battle against poor conditions during that time, it was later demolished between 1972 and 1976. Essentially, what was perceived as a successful legislation, continues to leave many low-income families in intolerable condition today. ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Cicely Hunter and this is eighty-eight-one, KDHX, St. Louis. ———

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Modernism rose to prominence as a style of architecture in the early decades of the 20th century. One of the first buildings built in this style in the St. Louis region was tailor made for an orthodontist after the architect observed his workflow. The result was a building that compelled Frank Lloyd Wright to stop by to see it. Just press play to hear the whole story. ------

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Andrew Wanko, Architecture, Business, Medical, Landmarks, ------

Podcast Transcript: I’m Andrew Wanko, Public Historian of the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History, on 88.1, KDHX. ———

In the early decades of the 20th century, the architectural styles and traditions of the past gave way to a new design philosophy called Modernism. Modernists reimagined buildings as machines to live in. They despised gaudy ornament and small boxy rooms, instead favoring clean lines, raw industrial materials, and volumes of space flooded with daylight. ———

Local Kirkwood architect Harris Armstrong stands tall in the history of modernism in St. Louis – the Clayton office he designed in 1935 for orthodontist Leo Shanley is considered the first true Modernist building anywhere in the region. ———

Dr. Shanley had encountered this radical new architecture at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair, and decided a Modernist structure could be great for his business. He contacted Harris Armstrong, who spent countless hours observing how Dr. Shanley’s practice functioned. He used his notes to guide the building’s flowing floorplan, creating a visually restrained structure that was organized as carefully as a ballet. From the moment you stepped off the sidewalk, the Shanley Building’s whitewashed concrete forms and floor to ceiling windows guided your path. ———

Since no local suppliers offered modernist furniture, Armstrong designed everything down to the door hardware and tabletop lamps. His attention to detail even stretched into the exam rooms. There he added non-movable chairs with a direct line of sight to the patient, so helicopter parents could watch without interfering in the cleaning process. ———

Curious Washington University architecture students flocked to the radical new building, and Frank Lloyd Wright even made a point to stop by in 1937. That same year, the Shanley Building won a silver medal for architectural achievement at the 1937 Paris International Exposition. Not bad for an orthodontist’s office. ———

While development plans have threatened the small Shanley Building in the past, preservationists continue to speak out on its behalf. It is not just a beautiful building, but a great reminder that St. Louis’s architectural heritage comes in all shapes, sizes, and styles. ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Andrew Wanko, and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis. ———

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Harriet Goodhue Hosmer, who is considered the modern world’s first professional female sculptor has work on display in museums and collections around the world. She was a rule breaker with a blunt personality, but very talented and bold. Her Lafayette Park statue, "The Benton Bronze," was the first public monument in the country given to a female artist – it is also the first monument west of the Mississippi with a public figure as its subject. Just press play to hear the whole story. ------

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Amanda Clark, Arts, Entertainment, and Culture, Parks, Women's History, ------

Podcast Transcript: I’m Amanda Clark, manager of the See STL Tours program at the Missouri History Museum, and Here’s History, on eighty-eight one, KDHX. ———

The centerpiece of St. Louis’ historic Lafayette Park isn’t a statue dedicated to the heroic French war general, but it is a gleaming bronze statue of Thomas Hart Benton, a well-known politician from the early 19th century. The statue’s place in history goes beyond its subject or its location, but to the trailblazing artist who created it. Known as the “The Benton Bronze,” it was by designed by Harriet Goodhue Hosmer, who is considered the modern world’s first professional female sculptor. Her work is on display in museums and collections around the world, and her Benton statue commission was the first public monument in the country given to a female artist – it is also the first monument west of the Mississippi with a public figure as its subject. ———

Harriet was raised by her father, a widower, in Massachusett’s high society. From an early age, though, it was clear Harriet was a rulebreaker, she was known for her masculine clothing and blunt personality. She boldly traveled the American West and explored the Mississippi River without a chaperone, even winning a footrace up a high bluff in Iowa against a group of young men. This bluff still bears her name. ———

As part of her self-propelled art education, she came to St. Louis to study anatomy at the St. Louis Medical College, a pioneering school that required students to learn anatomy from cadavers. Harriet then went on to join a colony of American artists, including several women, living in Rome. Here, she established herself as a premier sculptor, and her subjects often depicted mythological figures and themes. She was drawn to female characters whose stories connected to her own strongly held beliefs in the fight for women’s dignity and strength. ———

There are other places to find Harriet’s work in St. Louis. Her sculpture, Zenobia in Chains ( from 1859), can be found at the St. Louis Art Museum. The large marble sculpture depicts a warrior queen captured by enemies and put on display for ridicule in her jewels and finery – but thanks to Hosmer’s hand – Zenobia is full of strength and resolve. The St. Louis Mercantile Library houses one of her most well-known sculptures, depicting the Italian noblewoman, Beatrice Cenci. ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri History Museum and KDHX. I’m Amanda Clark and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis. ———

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Before social media, newspapers provided a key way to communicate and to gain information, especially for the Black community. The St. Louis Palladium, The St. Louis Argus and The St. Louis American were among the early pioneers of the African American press. Just press play to hear the whole story. -----

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Cicely Hunter, Civil Rights, Journalism, Black History, Business, ------

Podcast Transcript: I’m Cicely Hunter, Public Historian from the Missouri Historical Society, and here’s history, on eighty-eight-one, KDHX. ———

Technology has transformed the way we communicate, and social media has become a tool for entertainment and a place to discuss important topics. While today we have Instagram and Facebook, for much of the 20th century and beyond, African Americans relied on Black newspapers as a conventional way to communicate with each other due to the lack of coverage in other newspaper outlets. This allowed Black people to be informed across rivers, railways, within Black churches, clubs, and other fraternal organizations. African Americans were dedicated to producing their own newspapers to emphasize racial pride, promote Black businesses, and recognize important and everyday people of their time. Some of the early St. Louis papers included the St. Louis Palladium, National Tribune, Pythian Voice, and American Eagle which were founded in the late 1800s before St. Louis Argus and The St. Louis American. Black newspapers provided ways to communicate information, entertain, and advise the Black community about key topics. ———

For example, on July 16, 1904, the St. Louis Palladium republished an article called “Abandon Meeting at Fair” detailing that the executive committee of the National Association of Colored Women planned to host their convention at the World’s Fair, but Booker T. Washington’s wife vehemently disagreed by indicating that “the exposition directors had discriminated against Colored women in the matter of securing employment on the grounds and against the race in general.” When a vote was held to determine the location for it, delegates voted to move it to St. Paul AME church. ———

The St. Louis Palladium no longer remains in print, but the St. Louis American which was founded in 1928 continues to serve as a key staple for the African American community and is currently the single largest weekly newspaper in the entire state of Missouri. ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Cicely Hunter and this is eighty-eight-one, KDHX, St. Louis. ———

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We have come to know Forest Park as many things, including home to our cultural treasures such as The St. Louis Zoo, The The St. Louis Art Museum, and The Missouri History Museum. But in its early stages the key word in Forest Park was “Forest,” as it took many decades to become what we know today. Just press play to hear the whole story. ———

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Adam Kloppe, Forest Park, Rural, Parks, Pastimes and Leisure, 1904 World's Fair, ------

Podcast Transcript: I’m Adam Kloppe, public historian with the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on eighty-eight one, KDHX.———

Today, Forest Park is seen as one of the jewels of St. Louis. This 1,300 acre park is home to many of the city’s cultural institutions, like the Art Museum and the Zoo. It’s home to the Muny, where thousands of St. Louisans gather every summer to take in musicals in the open air. It’s home to bike paths and walking trails for exercise. When it snows, many St. Louisans make the journey to Art Hill to go sledding. In other words, Forest Park is a place where St. Louisans have created memories to last a lifetime. It feels like a key part of our city, a place that has always been there, and always will be. ———

But Forest Park was not always this way. When Forest Park first opened in 1876, it was mostly what its name implies—a forest. Trees covered a good portion of the land, and the River Des Peres wound its way through the park, occasionally flooding the western portions of the grounds. As the years rolled on, the city added 19 miles of roads to the park as well as other amenities. ———

Though the park wasn’t yet home to the city’s cultural institutions, it was a very popular place for city dwellers who wanted to escape the hustle and bustle of downtown. In 1885, city streetcar lines were extended to Forest Park. By the late 1890s, over 2.5 million people a year were taking streetcars from the densely populated downtown out to forest park to enjoy hiking the trails, picnicking in the forest, and boating and fishing in Post-Dispatch Lake. ———

The biggest change to Forest Park occurred in the early twentieth century, when it was selected as the site of the 1904 World’s Fair, beating out other proposed sites, including ones around Carondalet Park and Creve Coeur Lake. As part of the planning for the Fair, broad swaths of the forest were cut down and parts of the River Des Peres were channeled and moved underground to make way for the palaces of the Fair, though those buildings were mostly planned to be temporary structures. One palace was supposed to be permanent—the Palace of Art. Today, that building is home to the St. Louis Art Museum. In the years after the fair, other cultural institutions also moved to the improved grounds of Forest Park, making the park into the place we know it as today. ———

Here’s History is a joint production of KDHX and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Adam Kloppe, and this is eighty-eight one, KDHX, St. Louis. ———

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During the 1944 season, St. Louis had two professional baseball teams, the powerhouse St. Louis Cardinals and the usually hapless St. Louis Browns. Both teams were destined to meet in the World Series that year. Just press play to hear the whole story. ------

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Adam Kloppe, Competition, Baseball, Business, Sports, Pastimes and Leisure, Military, ------

Podcast Transcript: I’m Adam Kloppe, public historian with the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on eighty-eight one, KDHX. ———

“First in shoes, first in booze, and last in the American League.” For the first half of the twentieth century, this phrase was used to describe St. Louis. First in shoes because the city was a hub of footwear manufacturing; first in booze because several popular beers were brewed in St. Louis. And last in the American League because the city was home to two professional baseball teams—the powerhouse St. Louis Cardinals, of the National League, and the hapless St. Louis Browns, who perennially finished near the bottom of the American League standings. ———

But things almost changed in 1944. That year, with many All-Star players having been drafted into military service, the Browns put together a team of wily veteran players, many of whom had bounced around baseball for years. The ragtag Browns fought hard all season, surprising many experts. As the season was winding to a close, the Browns were in the hunt for the American League pennant. They just need to win the last four games of the season. The only problem was that their opponent in those games was the mighty New York Yankees. ———

Those four games were full of heroics for the Browns, and they won the first three games in dramatic fashion. But the most rapturous moment came in the season’s final game when part-time outfielder Chet Laabs smoked TWO home runs. The 37,000 plus fans in Sportman’s Park went nuts. The Browns had won the pennant and were going to the World Series. ———

They wouldn’t have to travel far for the World Series, either. The celebrated St. Louis Cardinals led by Stan Musial were the Browns opponent, meaning the whole series would be played at Sportsman’s Park. Most experts picked the vaunted Cardinals to win handily. In the beginning of the Series, the Browns made those experts look silly—the Browns won two of the first three games, and mostly kept the Cardinals offense in check. But the Cardinals came alive in Game 4 and went on to win the Series in six games. ———

Even though the Browns lost, some fans had hopes that this World Series appearance would turn the Browns fortunes around. But the Browns never repeated their success. They never won another pennant, and most of the city’s baseball fans remained loyal to the Cardinals. The Browns moved to Baltimore after the 1953 season. ———

Here’s History is a joint production of KDHX and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Adam Kloppe, and this is eighty-eight one, KDHX, St. Louis. ———

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There have many heroes in the struggle for equity and civil rights. Few had the longevity of Nathan B. Young. In his 98 years, he was a judge, as well as being a co-founder of the St. Louis American Newspaper, and a painter, among many other accomplishments. Just press play to hear the whole story. ------

Click on search links to explore episodes with related content: Cicely Hunter, Black History, Journalism, Legal Matters, Civil Rights, People of Note, ------

Podcast Transcript: I’m Cicely Hunter, Public Historian from the Missouri Historical Society, and here’s history, on eighty-eight-one, KDHX. ------

Nathan B. Young, a prominent African American judge in St. Louis, lived to be 98, passing away in 1993. It’s amazing to think about what he experienced over those years, things like the Harlem Renaissance, the Great Depression, the civil rights movement, and the desegregation busing era. His life was interesting from the very beginning. Born in Tuskegee, Alabama in 1894, he lived next door to Booker T. Washington. ———

Judge Young graduated with his bachelor’s degree from Florida A&M and a law degree from Yale University Law School in 1918. As a young attorney in Birmingham, Judge Young was targeted and threatened by the Ku Klux Klan due to his involvement with the local National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Judge Young decided to migrate north with his wife, Mamie, and practiced law in St. Louis. He described the city as an “oasis compared to Birmingham, Alabama, at the time in 1924.” ———

A few years later he co-founded the St. Louis American, an African American weekly newspaper, which was soon being circulated to over 2,000 readers. Young contributed an editorial in every single issue for over forty years. One of his first articles focused on the work of A. Philip Randolph, a labor unionist and civil rights advocate, who Young described as an “unsung hero.” Randolph experienced many challenges fighting “to get recognition as a regular labor organization from the Pullman Company which had set up its own porters’ union.” ———

Young enjoyed researching local Black history and developed an expertise, even writing a history of African Americans in St. Louis in 1937. When the civil rights movement was discussed, Judge Young concluded that St. Louis was important to the civil rights movement as a city with a strong Black activism presence and there were several cases that received national attention like Dred and Harriet Scott’s freedom suit, Shelley v Kraemer and Gaines v Canada. ———

Judge Young was named the first African American municipal judge for City Court #2 in St. Louis by Mayor Alfonso Cervantes in December of 1965. He would retire as judge in 1972 but continued to influence the community. In honor of Black history month, let’s recognize local African Americans like Judge Nathan B. Young Jr. who shared Black history with his community and now contributes to the legacy of our city. ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Cicely Hunter and this is eighty-eight-one, KDHX, St. Louis.

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There was a time when women of color were excluded from the services offered by the Y.W.C.A. in St. Louis. A group of Black Women, led by Arsania Williams, was key in changing that, and furthering the cause of equity. Just press play to hear the whole story. ------

Click on search links to explore episodes with related content: Cicely Hunter, Black History, Women's History, Housing, Landmarks, People of Note, Civil Rights, ------

Podcast Transcript: I’m Cicely Hunter, Public Historian at the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on eighty-eight-one, K-D-H-X. ------

Though the Y.W.C.A. has a rich national history, African American women in St. Louis operated as a segregated branch for thirty-five years before merging their efforts with the local Y.W.C.A. in 1946. The Y.W.C.A. was initially introduced to St. Louis during the 1904 World’s Fair and a year later was incorporated to serve rural women. But women of color were excluded from their services. In 1911 a group of Black women, led by Arsania M. Williams, gathered at Berea Presbyterian Church to discuss establishing a home for Black women. Arsania was an educator, member of the Committee on Administration who led the Colored Women’s Christian Association (CWCA), the president of the National Association of Colored Women (NACW), and the vice president Colored Women’s Federation. ------

Soon after setting up their own organization, the women petitioned the local and national Y.W.C.A. and requested an official branch open to serve their community. The white leadership of the Y.W.C.A. agreed to the request but demanded that they oversee the branch as an advisory group and controlled the group’s finances and management. The organization opened its doors as the Chapman Branch, named after Louise Chapman, a previous YWCA board member, but in 1912, it was renamed the Phyllis Wheatley Y.W.C.A. in honor of a formerly enslaved woman who was the first Black woman poet to publish in the United States. The St. Louis location served as the fifth branch to open in the nation for Black women and girls. ------

It wasn’t until 1946 that at 17th National Convention in St. Louis that the YWCA St. Louis and Phyllis Wheatley Branch would adopt its interracial charter and merge both groups together. A few years later in 1949, the National Convention of the YWCA adopted a renewed commitment to serve and incorporate minority communities into their mission. ------

Today, the YWCA Metro St. Louis mission is eliminating racism and empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all. ------

Here’s History is a joint production of KDHX and the Missouri Historical Society, I’m Cicely Hunter, and this is eighty-eight-one, KDHX, St. Louis.

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The 1904 World's Fair brought many wonders from around the globe and highlighted the latest technologies. One of those technologies, powered flight, was in its infancy and was showcased via a competition. Some of the best pioneers of early air flight were drawn to the fair to make a name for themselves and gain a fortune. Excitement and intrigue ensued. Just press play to hear the whole story. ------

Click on search links to explore episodes with related content: Adam Kloppe, 1904 Worlds Fair, Forest Park, Aviation, Transportation, Competition, Sports, Engineering, ------

Podcast Transcript: I’m Adam Kloppe, public historian with the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on eighty-eight one, KDHX. ------

For many visitors, going to the 1904 World’s Fair was about seeing the newest technology from around the globe. From the wireless telegraph to electric lights, Fairgoers were inundated with the kinds of technology that would change the world in the twentieth century. ------

It makes sense, then, that Fair planners also wanted to showcase air travel at the World’s Fair. The Wright Brothers had just made their first flight a few months before the Fair opened, and pilots from around the world were testing many different kinds of motor-powered airships and dirigibles. To show off these the promise of these machines, the Fair planners developed an aeronautic competition, and invited pilots and inventors from around the world to participate. To further entice the pilots, a grand prize of one-hundred-thousand-dollars was to be given to the pilot that could navigate the L-shaped course through the fairgrounds and land back in the same spot they took off from. It would be the first public example of powered flight in America, and Fair planners promoted the competition heavily. ------

Several pilots, including the Wright Brothers, thought the parameters of the competition made a successful run impossible, and declined to attend. But some of the world’s foremost pilots did decide to take on the challenge. This included the Brazilian inventor Alberto Santos-Dumont, who was perhaps the most celebrated pilot in the world after he successfully piloted his inflated airship through Paris and circled the Eiffel Tower in 1901. For the Fair, Santos-Dumont promised to bring in his newest and most impressive airship. Many experts picked him to win the competition easily. ------

Unfortunately, though, Fairgoers never got to see the famed pilot in action. On June 28, part of Santos-Dumont’s airship was tampered with and destroyed as it sat in a special hangar that had been built on the Fairgrounds. To this day, no one is sure what happened. Some folks believed that one of the other competitors sabotaged his ship. The Fair’s own security force suspected that Santos-Dumont may have sabotaged it himself once he believed that he would not be able to complete the course. He vigorously denied those charges. ------

With Santos-Dumont out of the running, the field now seemed wide open. However, the course did indeed prove too difficult, and no one was ever able to claim the one-hundred-thousand-dollar prize. For getting further through the course than anyone else, American Thomas Baldwin and his pilot, Roy Knabenshue, were awarded $500. ------

Here’s History is a joint production of KDHX and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Adam Kloppe, and this is eight-eight-one, KDHX, St. Louis.

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Earthquakes are frightening events even in the present day, but imagine what they were like before modern communications. When the first earthquake of the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811 and 1812 hit, panic and confusion reigned. It was one of the most powerful earthquakes in North American recorded history, but it took months back then for regional towns to know the scope of the devastation. Just press play to hear the whole story. ------

Click on search links to explore episodes with related content: Adam Kloppe, Natural Disaster, Disaster, Rural, Mississippi River, ------

Podcast Transcript: I’m Adam Kloppe, public historian with the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on eighty-eight one, KDHX.Today, if one part of the world experiences a natural disaster, the rest of the world hears about it within seconds. Thanks to modern technology, we all know about it when disaster strikes, and we all have plans for what to do to seek shelter or offer to help. ------

But what if you lived through a disaster, but you weren’t really sure what disaster you lived through, or how affected anyone else nearby may have been? This is exactly what happened to the city of St. Louis on December 16, 1811. ------

At a little after 2 in the morning, the ground in St. Louis began shaking—violently. Church bells rang throughout the village. Chimneys cracked. Animals howled and bellowed. Some people were even shaken out of their beds! Within minutes, many of the 2000 residents of St. Louis had fled their homes and run into the streets. Local newspaper editor Joseph Charless reported that the folks who went outside were greeted by a thick, hazy fog. ------

The residents of St. Louis had just experienced the first major earthquake of what is known today as the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811 and 1812. Over the next two months or so, St. Louis, and the entire region around it, would be struck by a series of earthquakes and aftershocks. And it wasn’t just St. Louis that experienced these earthquakes—shaking ground was felt as far away as Cincinnati, and there were some reports that the tremors caused church bells to ring on the east coast. ------

While St. Louisans knew they had lived through an earthquake, it took months for word to reach the city about the damage that had been done elsewhere. As travelers and letters trickled into the city over the next several weeks, residents heard reports of homes being flattened in Cape Girardeau and of the Mississippi river running backwards in some places. They heard stories about the ground moving as if it was made of liquid and of entire riverbanks collapsing. ------

They also received word that the entire town of New Madrid, Missouri, about 160 miles south of St. Louis, had been destroyed by the earthquakes. New Madrid sat right at the epicenter of the earthquake. ------

Today, evidence suggests the 1811 earthquake was one of the largest in North American history—larger than even the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. The New Madrid fault is still active, and experts have no idea if or when it may cause the earth around St. Louis to start shaking again. ------

Here’s History is a joint production of KDHX and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Adam Kloppe, and this is eighty-eight one, KDHX, St. Louis.

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During World War 2, opportunities for female reporters were scare, to say the least, as was respect for them. One intrepid reporter named Virginia Irwin, however, would not let that stop her. She decided to go after her ultimate story, which took her behind Russian lines, and put her in danger. She broke a few rules along the way, but ultimately prevailed, and she even earned the respect of the legendary publisher, Joseph Pulitzer. Just press play to hear the whole story. -----

Click on search links to explore episodes with related content: Katie Moon, Women's History, Military, Journalism, People of Note, ------

Podcast Transcript: I’m Katie Moon, Exhibits Manager at the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on eighty-eight-one, K-D-H-X. ———

Post-Dispatch staff writer Virginia Irwin dreamed of a bigger life, witnessing significant events, and reporting world news as it happened. By 1943, she was desperate to get a first-hand view of the war in Europe, but the newspaper refused her requests to make her an official correspondent, because she was a woman. Instead, she took a leave of absence to volunteer for the Red Cross in England, where she continued to send articles to the paper, and eventually they began printing them. Her human-interest stories struck a chord with readers and became quite popular. ———

By July of 1944, Virginia had maneuvered her way to France, literally to the front lines of battle, and most definitely to a place where she wasn’t supposed to be. But despite her disregard for rules and regulations, the Post continued to publish her stories, with her editor, Joseph Pulitzer encouraging her to continue. ———

By April of 1945, Virginia had her sights set on the ultimate story—reporting from inside Berlin as the Russians attempted to seize control over the city that had become the center of operations for the Nazis. ———

She was supposed to get official permission from the Army to travel, but instead, she convinced an Army sergeant to drive her and another correspondent to Berlin in the middle of the night. Although they started out with a map, once they made it behind Russian lines, the map was useless,and they guessed at their route. They finally got to the city on April 27th, the first Americans to arrive and witness the battle between the Russians and Germans for control of the city. ———

After 2 days, they returned to base camp, and were promptly suspended for their actions. Because of her suspension, Virginia’s stories weren’t submitted to the Post Dispatch until several days later, and finally published by the Post-Dispatch on May 8, and her risky trip made the front page. ———

Stripped of her credentials, she was sent home, seemingly in disgrace, only to discover upon her return that her reporting was hailed by the both the public and her boss, Joseph Pulitzer. In fact, he was so impressed that he paid her an extra year’s salary. ———

Here’s History is a joint production of K-D-H-X and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Katie Moon, and this is eighty-eight-one, K-D-H-X, St. Louis.

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The River Queen had a storied history even before she arrived in St. Louis in 1964, including having been featured in several movies, most famously in Gone With The Wind. She was built in 1923 and named The Cape Girardeau, and after several name changes over the years, she was brought to St. Louis as a tourist attraction. It was a glowing success, but one that would not last, as under mysterious circumstances, the River Queen would soon find itself on the bottom of the Mississippi. Press play to hear the whole story. ------

Click on search links to explore episodes with related content: Adam Kloppe, Mississippi River, Business, Disaster, Riverboats, Transportation, ------

Podcast Transcript: I’m Adam Kloppe, public historian with the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on eighty-eight one, KDHX. ------

When the steamboat River Queen arrived in St. Louis in June of 1964, her owners, John Groffel and Arthur Krato, had big dreams. Ever since they had first purchased the stern wheel steamer at auction in 1961, they had hoped that the boat would bring them big dollars as a nostalgic tourist attraction. But in just three short years, those dreams would end up at the bottom of the river. ------

But before we get to the sinking, a little history. The River Queen was built in 1923, but when she was constructed she had a different name—the Cape Girardeau, and she operated mostly carrying passengers and freight on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Then, in 1935, she was sold, and got a different name—the Gordon C. Greene and she became a tourist boat—and movie star, appearing in three films, most notably, 1939’s Gone With the Wind. ------

But by 1951, the Gordon C. Greene was sold again, and over the next decade she’d undergo several name changes. In 1961, now going by the name the River Queen, the steamer was sold to John Groffel and Arthur Krato, who had plans to fix her up and turn her into a nostalgia-themed restaurant, museum, and gift shop. At first, they moored the River Queen in Hannibal, hoping to draw tourist crowds. ------

They found early success, but they also knew an even bigger tourist market was just 100 miles downriver. So, in June of 1964, they had the River Queen towed to St. Louis. They moored her near the Eads Bridge, and advertisements called out to tourists by promising that the River Queen would give them a nostalgic taste of nineteenth century steamboat life. Tourists could get lunch or dinner in her 185-seat dining room, and her kitchen offered everything from shrimp to catfish to steak. -------

For the next few years, everything seemed to be going well. The River Queen was bringing in money and the restaurant was well-regarded. But disaster struck in the early morning hours of December 2, 1967. That morning, the restaurant manager noticed the boat listing in the water. Groffel and Krato arrived shortly thereafter and could only watch as the waters rose over the second deck. The River Queen was sunk. To this day, no one knows why. The ship was scrapped, but parts of her steel hull can still be seen on the riverfront when the water is low. Instead of nostalgia for the past, her rusted hull offers us a reminder of how dangerous and powerful the river remains. ------

Here’s History is a joint production of KDHX and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Adam Kloppe, and this is eighty-eight one, KDHX St. Louis. ------

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If there is one song that is most closely identified with St. Louis, it would be "St. Louis Blues," by WC Handy. It's been recorded over 1600 times and is, after all, the namesake of a certain hockey team. Just press play to hear the whole story. ------

Click on search links to explore episodes with related content: Amanda Clark, Music, Black History, Arts, Entertainment, and Culture, People of Note, ------

Podcast Transcript: I’m Amanda Clark, manager of the See STL Tours program at the Missouri History Museum, and Here’s History, on eighty-eight one, KDHX. ——

In the fall of 1892, a young Black musician from Alabama found himself struggling to survive in St. Louis. He spent cold nights beneath the Eads Bridge, sleeping on the cobblestoned levee and spent his days looking for whatever work or food he could find. WC Handy was only in St. Louis for a few months, but the sights and sounds he experienced here would later inspire one of the most famous blues songs of all time, the St. Louis Blues. Describing his time in St. Louis Handy said, ““the nearest thing to ‘a break’ in those days happened when I stood on Eads Bridge, threw my lice-infested shirt in the river, and then received the price of a meal and bed from an observer who thought the shirt-doffing scene was a prelude to jumping.” ———

While living and working along the St. Louis riverfront, Handy, already a professional musician, would bear witness to the musical expressions of African Americans that worked on the steamboats coming and going each day. He described hearing “shabby guitarists picking out a tune called “East St. Louis” - with lots of one-line verses and they would sing it all night.” ———

21 years later, Handy would draw upon these memories to write what would become one of his masterpieces. The ambitious song combined ragtime syncopation with a melody more closely related to spiritual traditions. He also added in sections with a tango beat – which was pretty taboo for the time. It describes a woman Handy actually met in St. Louis, lamenting her lost love, a man who treated her badly and then left her for a wealthier woman. ———

This song has been recorded over 1600 times and played by musicians and in venues around the world. It was one of the first blues songs to succeed as a pop song and remains a standard for jazz and blues musicians today. ———

Of course, there are many in St. Louis today that say the song’s biggest influence is found in the name of our beloved hockey team, the St. Louis Blues. ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri History Museum and KDHX. I’m Amanda Clark and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis.

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The Louisiana Purchase created havoc for some property owners, certainly for women and person’s of color. People were suddenly forced to prove rightful ownership of property, when before that, property ownership was parsed out in informal verbal agreements, etc. One free woman of color, found a way to live out her life in her house, well supplied by a white man who thought he was getting the better of her. Just press play to hear the whole story. ———

Click on search links to explore episodes with related content: Katie Moon, Women's History, Black History, Housing, ------

Podcast Transcript: I’m Katie Moon, Exhibits Manager at the Missouri Historical Society, and here’s history on 88.1 KDHX. ———

What was life really like for women in early St. Louis? So often, the history that we learn skips over the daily patterns of life and jumps from big moment to big moment. For me, the most fascinating aspect of history is discovering how those big moments played out in the lives of everyday people, particularly women. ———

When Thomas Jefferson purchased the Louisiana territory from the French in 1803, the transition created nothing less than chaos for some St. Louis property owners—especially women. In the early days of the city, much of the land was parceled out through informal verbal agreements, but all of a sudden, landowners needed to prove that they rightfully owned their property. ———

Unfortunately Marie LaBastille, a free woman of color, lost an entire block of land at the center of St. Louis because she didn’t have written documentation of ownership. However, she did maintain a hold on her house, which sat on nearly half an acre of land in a prime spot at Third and Walnut. As the city grew, her property became more valuable, and her neighbor, John Beaufils pestered her for years about selling it to him. In 1812, she finally relented. ———

But that’s where Marie’s story gets even more interesting. Instead of simply selling the property to Beaufils, Marie deeded him the house and land but required that he provide her with certain supplies every year and allow to her to live there rent-free until her death. According to that deed, which is in the Missouri Historical Society Archives, Beaufils agreed to give her, every single year: 20 pounds of coffee, 25 pounds of sugar, 300 pounds of flour, 80 pounds of pork, 20 pounds of beef, and 25 loads of firewood. ———

He clearly thought that he was getting the better end of the deal, expecting that the aging Marie would pass away within a year or two. He was horribly wrong. Marie lived for 14 years, living rent free and having her needs met by her greedy neighbor. ———

Of course the Louisiana Purchase was a significant moment in St. Louis history, but for me, the related story of Marie LaBastille is the one that puts a smile on my face and answers some of my questions about what life was like for women in early St. Louis. ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Katie Moon and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis

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Back in the 1880s, one super-fan of baseball named Henry Lucas decided there should be more sporting options in St. Louis, and so he started his own team. In fact, he started his own baseball league to compete with the National League and the American Association. Thus was born the Union Association League and The St. Louis Maroons, prompting the St. Louis Browns owner to declare "war." Just press play to hear the whole story. ------

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Darby Ratliff, Baseball, Sports, Competition, Business, Pastimes and Leisure, -------

Podcast Transcript: I’m Darby Ratliff, a researcher with the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on eighty eight one, KDHX. ------

St. Louis is a city of baseball super-fans, and the 1880s were no different. At that time, fans ran to Sportsman’s Park to watch the St. Louis Browns. ------

But for a few years in the 1880s, St. Louis had more than one baseball team, all because one St. Louis super fan started his own team. ------

Henry Lucas came from the wealthy Lucas family. In 1884, he started the Union Association, an alternative to the two existing major leagues, the American Association and the National League. He then funded the St. Louis Maroons to play in it. ------

The Maroons finished first with a twenty-one game lead in the 1884 Union Association season and technically giving St. Louis its first championship in baseball. Chris Von der Ahe, owner of the St. Louis Browns furiously launched what is known as the “Union Baseball War” to compete with the new team’s popularity. ------

But the Union Association folded after just one season, and the Maroons were given special permission to enter the National League. An agreement existed between the National League and the American Association—in which the Browns played— stating that no city could have two teams. Because of this, it’s more than likely that Henry Lucas had to pay a pretty penny to Chris Von der Ahe to get around this regulation and have his team admitted to the National League. ------

The Maroons did not live up to their Union Association hype, finishing last in both the 1885 and 1886 National League seasons and going from an 83% win rate in 1884 to under 40% in both of their seasons. As a result, Henry Lucas was devastated financially, lost much of his property, and ended up working for the city’s Street Department. ------

The Browns would continue to gain fans, winning the American Association championship in 1885. While the World Series didn’t exist until 1903, an earlier version of it saw the American Association champions go head to head with the National League champions. In the 1886 matchup, the St. Louis Browns brought home the win against the Chicago White Stockings. ------

By the start of the 1900s, those championship Browns would officially be known as the St. Louis Cardinals. ------

Here’s History is a joint production of KDHX and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Darby Ratliff, and this is eighty-eight one, KDHX St. Louis.

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There was a time when, if a steamboat sank or exploded, as they often did on the Mississippi, nothing could be done to recover the wreckage. But in 1842, an industrious man named James Eads found a way to change all of that and to build his fortune in the process by inventing a diving bell. Just press play to hear the whole story. ------

Click on search links to explore episodes with related content: Andrew Wanko, Mississippi River, Riverboats, Engineering, People Of Note, Transportation, Fire, Disaster, Business, Transportation, ------

Podcast Transcript: I’m Andrew Wanko, Public Historian of the Missouri History Museum, and Here’s History on 88-one, KDHX. ------

While we usually envision Mississippi River steamboats as graceful things floating lazily down the river, they actually often had pretty tough and short lives. They regularly exploded, caught fire, or smashed into submerged trees. When they sank, they took fortunes of valuable cargo with them. In 1842, twenty-two-year-old James Eads would invent a way to cash in on the Mississippi’s buried treasure.------

Eads designed a special boat equipped with hoists and a diving bell that would let him scour the river bottom looking for steamboat wrecks. It seemed unlikely that he would find an investor for his radical invention, but to his surprise, St. Louis shipbuilders Calvin Case and William Nelson were impressed enough to take the risk. But the hard part – finding wrecked steamboats on the river bottom - had just begun. ------

The boat’s diving bell was made from a tar-coated whiskey barrel with one end removed, and if small, dark spaces make you uncomfortable, you wouldn’t have enjoyed being in it. Eads sat inside as dangling lead weights pulled the bell down to the riverbed, and with only a thin air-supply hose to keep him alive, he shuffled across the river bottom’s unstable sand. When he found a piece of steamboat wreckage, he tied a chain around it so it could be cranked up to the surface and explored. ------

Eads personally made more than 500 diving bell trips into the Mississippi’s muddy darkness, since few others were willing to attempt the dangerous but rewarding work. He hunted known wreck sites with an intense passion, searching at sometimes unbelievable lengths. For instance, he spent nearly 300 hours inside the diving bell while searching for wreck of the steamer Neptune. ------

The 1849 St. Louis fire, which sank twenty-three steamboats just off the levee, provided Eads with a grand finale of salvage work. By 1853 he retired from river diving a wealthy man. Even though his salvaging days were over, Eads was not done with the Mississippi River. Twenty years later, he would oversee construction of the first bridge across it at St. Louis. ------

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri History Museum and KDHX. I’m Andrew Wanko and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis.

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This episode of Here's History explores an idea that never quite caught on, namely prefabricated houses made entirely out of steel. The idea seemed enticing, creating maintenance free homes that cost much less than a standard home, which could be built quickly. But, The Lustron Corporation of Columbus, Ohio went broke just a few years after putting up the first one in 1947. Just press play to hear the whole story. ------

Click on search links to explore episodes with related content: Andrew Wanko, Housing, Business, Engineering, ------

Podcast Transcript: I’m Andrew Wanko, Public Historian of the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on 88-one, KDHX.------

A maintenance free home. For anyone who has ever found themselves hours deep in an unexpected home repair project, the thought is tantalizing. Back in 1947, the Lustron Corporation of Columbus, Ohio believed they had achieved a maintenance-free home with a bold new product - a house made entirely out of steel, from the walls, to the roof shingles, to the kitchen cabinets. And between 1947 and 1950, dozens of people in the St. Louis area had one of these exciting new Lustron homes built. ------

The Lustron was the brainchild of inventor Carl Strandlund, who came up with the idea for all-metal homes after manufacturing steel wall panels for gas stations. His Lustron houses consisted of more than 3,000 prefabricated metal parts, which all could fit onto a single delivery truck. ------

A team of eight people could build an entire Lustron in less than a week, and the price tag of $9,000 was 25 percent less than a comparable wood frame home. There were certainly drawbacks, like having to use powerful magnets to hang things on the walls, but those problems seemed minuscule against the promise of never dealing with termites, painting, or new roofing again. ------

Nearly 2,500 Lustron homes were built around the United States, but the experiment never found the footing needed to take off. The company lost money with every house that went up, and 20 months after its founding, the Lustron Corporation folded. Today, hunting down still-standing examples of these quirky metal homes has become a pastime among architecture lovers. ------

It’s not exactly certain how many Lustrons still stand in the St. Louis region today, but more than fifty have been identified. There are at least six in St. Louis City, Webster Groves and Brentwood each have about ten, and others stand in Florissant, St. Charles, and Belleville. The easiest way to spot them is by their telltale square wall panels. Coated in an enamel glaze of either surf blue, dove gray, maize yellow, or desert tan, they often shine just as brightly as they did in 1947. ------

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri History Museum and KDHX. I’m Andrew Wanko and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis.

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In the later part of the nineteenth century, shipping was very much a nightmare. Samuel Cupples and his business partner Robert Brookings were tired of moving their goods to far away rail yards before they could even be put on trains. In 1894, they came up with the revolutionary idea of building warehouses right above rail yards at a downtown location. The result was a massive complex of warehouses which set the industry standard. Many of these buildings are still in use today, just not for their original purposes. Just press play to hear the whole story. -----

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Andrew Wanko, Trains and Railroads, Landmarks, Architecture, Business, People of Note, Engineering, Transportation, -----

Podcast Transcript: I’m Andrew Wanko, Public Historian of the Missouri History Museum, and Here’s History on 88-one, KDHX. -----

If you’re at home, take a look around your house and think about all the items you have stashed away in little corners – maybe string, jars, or wrapping paper in your closet, rolling pins and spoons in your kitchen drawers, a broom tucked along the basement stairs… these are the kinds of everyday items that made St. Louis merchant Samuel Cupples a millionaire. He first opened a small household goods shop in 1851, and a half century of constant expansion later, he had built a massive complex called Cupples Station on the south side of Downtown. -----

Before Cupples Station was built, Samuel Cupples and his business partner Robert Brookings had spent decades battling a huge problem – they were selling goods across the country, but spent way too much valuable time just trying to get products onto trains in an organized way. Then they came up with a goldmine idea - what if instead of hauling goods to faraway trainyards, they built warehouses right on top of the trainyards? Trains could pull in, load up, and be on their way – it was sort of like a giant industrial version of today’s fast food drive thru window. -----

From 1894 to 1917, they constructed eighteen gigantic warehouses across ten city blocks, with a web of hidden tracks coursing beneath. Cupples Station was the talk of the nation’s industrialists, urban planners, and architects alike. Journals like the Scientific American proclaimed it the future of shipping, and Inland Architect said the design was so perfect that little improvement was possible. -----

Today, eight of the original eighteen Cupples Station warehouses still stand today left, and thankfully they all have been put to new uses. -----

In a 1997 essay about the complex St. Louis author William Gass admired Cupples Station’s subtle beauty and the play of light on its century-old bricks. He wrote “in architecture, time does not disappear like a truck down a road, it accrues like money in a bank account.” It’s a beautiful image and a great reminder - as with so many other historic buildings around St. Louis, Cupples Station is one of those incredible places that makes our city rich indeed. -----

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri History Museum and KDHX. I’m Andrew Wanko and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis.

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The 1904 World's Fair had many wonders, and it brought over sixty countries from around the world to showcase their technologies and their cultures in Forest Park. One of the most popular exhibits was the Chinese Pavilion, a huge structure modeled after a summer palace in China. Prince Pulun, the heir apparent of China, actually lived in the pavilion for several months during the fair and, himself, became an attraction. Just press play to hear the whole story. ------

Click on search links to explore episodes with related content: Adam Kloppe, 1904 Worlds Fair, Forest Park, People of Note, Asian American - Pacific Islander American History, ------

Podcast Transcript: I’m Adam Kloppe, public historian at the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on eighty eight one, KDHX. ------

In 1904, St. Louisans were excited about the World’s Fair for many reasons. Some were excited about going on heart-stopping rides while others wanted to see the latest scientific breakth

roughs. And others still were excited to use the Fair as an opportunity to see the world. At the Fair, over sixty different countries were represented. For St. Louisans, it must have felt like the world got dropped in their backyard. ------

But perhaps no nation’s display at the 1904 World’s Fair was as popular as China’s. China had never put on an official display at a World’s Fair before, and the Qing dynasty went all out in putting together an impressive presentation. China had a presence in many of the different palaces around the Fairgrounds, including the Palace of Fine Art, where they displayed a 17 foot tall portrait of the empress dowager. The heart of the Chinese display at the 1904 World’s Fair was the Chinese Pavilion, a huge structure modeled after a summer palace in China. ------

The pavilion contained about 6000 pieces of hard-carved woodwork and its grounds also contained a rose garden and goldfish pool. The pavilion was a huge hit with fairgoers. ------

Most fairgoers also hoped to spot Prince Pulun, who at the time was considered next in line to become the emperor of China. Pulun spent some four months at the Fair, living at the Chinese pavilion and entertaining guests and dignitaries. Pulun was photographed seemingly everywhere he went on the Fairgrounds and he became something of a media darling in St. Louis in 1904. Reporters tracked where the carriage he had been gifted by Adolphus Busch was spotted around the city, and also took every opportunity to express delight whenever Pulun complimented St. Louis, the Fair, or any aspect of American culture. ------

Pulun had his own reasons to be complimentary of the Fair—after all, he was trying to improve the diplomatic relationship between the US and China. But his efforts found limited success, especially back in China. Newspapers in China reported heavily on the fact that Chinese laborers and merchants had been denied access to work on the Fairgrounds. They also claimed the displays did not accurately represent China. After the fair was over, most of the Chinese pieces displayed at the fair were not sent back to China, but instead were sold off and used as decoration in homes around St. Louis. ------

Here’s History is a joint production of KDHX and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Adam Kloppe and this is eighty eight one, KDHX, St. Louis.

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Before the passage of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act, food safety in commerce was a roll of the dice, and change was slow to come even after that. By 1912, though, a St. Louis woman named Miriam Coste Senseney had had enough of having to deal with stores that carried inferior products, and she took matters into her own hands. Just press play to hear the whole story. ———

Click on search links to explore episodes with related content: Katie Moon, Food, Health and Wellness, Business, Politics and Government, Legal Matters, Women's History, ———

Podcast Transcript: I’m Katie Moon, Exhibits Manager at the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on 88.1 KDHX. ———

Do you have a 5-second rule in your house? That when you drop food on the floor, you can pick it up and eat it if it’s within 5 seconds? What about expiration dates? Will you drink milk after it’s marked expiration date? Now imagine walking into a restaurant, having no idea what standards the owners have for preparing or storing the food you’re buying. No expiration dates, no rules for safe-handling, no requirements for labeling or storage. ———

Before the passage of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act, this was what every customer had to deal with. But the federal law wasn’t a magical solution, and change was slow, with inconsistent and haphazard enforcement. ———

By 1912, one St. Louis woman had had enough of having to deal with stores who carried inferior products, and took matters into her own hands. As an active member of the National Consumer’s League, Miriam Coste Senseney took it upon herself to begin visiting food establishments throughout the city—grocery stores, restaurants, butcher shops, even candy stores. ———

But Miriam didn’t just visit—she judged. And her approval mattered. ——-

She aligned herself with the state’s official Food Inspector, who, like most state workers, had too many responsibilities and not enough staff. ———

As an unpaid volunteer, Miriam was able to fill that gap, and took her work incredibly seriously. Not only did she begin conducting her own inspections of St. Louis establishments, she also made sure that she was accompanied by a newspaper reporter. She rated each facility from 0 to 100 percent compliant, and only those with high numbers received membership in the League’s “White List” of approved businesses and had the honor of posting a sign in their window. ———

Miriam’s approval carried such influence that many business owners began cleaning and updating their shops as soon as they heard that she would be stopping by, knowing that a bad inspection could ruin their business but a good one could almost guarantee future success. ———

By 1915, Miriam had gathered a group of 48 dedicated women, all volunteers, who had been sworn in by city officials to serve as temporary city health inspectors. And just think, none of them would be able to vote for another 5 years. ———

Here’s History is a joint production of KDHX and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Katie Moon and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis.

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Forest Park is a treasure for all to enjoy, and is recognized nationwide as one of America's great parks. It, however, had its birthing pains, and would probably not have been what it is today without a few of our nation's darkest episodes, which created opportunities for its growth. Just press play to hear the whole story. ------

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Jody Sowell, Forest Park, Parks, Landmarks,------

Podcast Transcript: I'm Jody Sowell, Managing Director of Public History at the Missouri Historical Society, and Here's History, on eighty eight one, KDHX. ------

Forest Park has been called “one of America’s great public spaces” and consistently ranks among the country’s best parks. But without some of the bleakest moments in American history, the park might not be what it is today. ------

When the park was established in 1876, the main concern was how to get St. Louisans all the way out to the 1,300 acre piece of land. A train ride from downtown would take 20 minutes and streetcar lines had yet to stretch so far. ------

But that problem would pale in comparison to what would soon face the country. ------

In 1893, the United States was in the beginning of a depression, and unemployment skyrocketed. National unemployment reached 20 percent and in some states it topped 40 percent. In St. Louis, we turned to Forest Park. ------

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch started a campaign to fund a new lake in the park. The lake would offer boating to the public, but, more important at the time, its creation would require the employment of thousands of men. -------

When the country faced an even more serious depression following the stock market crash in 1929, it again turned to Forest Park. The Works Progress Administration was established in 1935 to create jobs through public works projects across the country. Some of those projects helped to transform Forest Park. WPA workers cleared paths, built picnic areas, and improved the park’s lakes. Two of their biggest projects were the creation of an art deco greenhouse called the Jewel Box and a new waterfall west of the Grand Basin. ------

The Jewel Box and that waterfall can, of course, still be seen today, and the next time you go to Forest Park you will likely see people boating on or walking around Post-Dispatch Lake. ------

For many St. Louisans the park serves as a playground or a place to expand their knowledge at one of its museums, or simply a place for a moment of peace. ------

But Forest Park also serves as a reminder that sometimes our best and most enduring ideas are borne out of our toughest challenges. ------

Here's History is a joint production of KDHX and the Missouri Historical Society. I'm Jody Sowell, and this is eighty eight one, KDHX, Saint Louis.

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Sometimes traditions seem like they have been around forever, but each tradition has its start. The Great Forest Park Balloon Race gathers people by the thousands each Fall, and is world famous, but it had a dubious start in 1973. Fortunately, it was championed by two pioneers who planted the seeds that grew into the race we know today. Just press play to hear the whole story. -----

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Adam Kloppe, Forest Park, Competition, Parks, Aviation, Pastimes and Leisure, -----

Podcast Transcript: I’m Adam Kloppe, public historian at the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on eighty eight one, KDHX. ------

Every September, tens of thousands of St. Louisans make their way to Forest Park for the Great Forest Park Balloon Race. This event has been celebrated by the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, and it is recognized as one of the oldest and largest balloon races in the country. ------

But the Great Forest Park Balloon Race almost never got off the ground. The event traces its roots back to the renowned balloonist and St. Louisan Nikki Caplan. Caplan was a true pioneer in ballooning: she got her start in 1968, when she purchased her first balloon. By 1973, Caplan was an internationally recognized balloonist, and she even received special permission to fly her balloon through the legs of the Gateway Arch! She would later go on to log more than 15 hundred hours of balloon flying, and she would receive the highest award a balloonist can aspire to—the (MONT GO FLEE AIR) Montgolfier Diploma—in 1982. She was also posthumously named to the National Balloon Museum Hall of Fame in 2014. ------

In 1973, Caplan and another renowned balloonist named John O’Toole decided they wanted to design a balloon race that would launch out of St. Louis. They wanted to do this partly to honor the city of St. Louis’s deep ties to ballooning—the first balloon race ever held in the city was the 1907 Gordon Bennett Cup. Many other prestigious balloon races and balloonists had come through the city in the years that followed, but no race called St. Louis home. ------

Caplan and O’Toole organized their race for November of 1973, and they decided to use Forest Park as the launch site. However, the event was very small, as it featured only six balloons and about a dozen spectators. Over the next few years, the event remained very small, until four St. Louis balloonists—Ted Staley, John Schaumberg, Dan Schettler, and John Marlow—took over the race. These organizers quickly learned that the event was being held at the wrong time of year, and they moved the event to September. Soon, the even grew in popularity with balloonists, and the field swelled until it was capped at 70. In 1991, these four organizers added the Balloon Glow to the list of activities associated with the Race—an event that continues to draw thousands of people to Forest Park. Today, the Race and Balloon Glow are still going strong, and routinely draw around 150 thousand spectators. ------

Here’s History is a joint production of KDHX and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Adam Kloppe, and this is eighty eight one, KDHX, St. Louis.

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The late sixties were a strange time for many reasons. Not the least of which was the regularity that planes were hijacked. Between 1968 and 1972, more than 130 flights in the United States were hijacked, and in June 1972, it happened on a flight out of St. Louis. Just press play to hear the whole story. ------

Click on search links to explore episodes with related content: Adam Kloppe, Crime, Transportation, Aviation, Altercations,------

Podcast Transcript: I'm Adam Kloppe, Public Historian at the Missouri History Museum and Here's History on 88.1 KDHX. ------

On June 23, 1972, a 30-year-old St. Louis businessman named David Hanley was at a bar listening to the news and getting upset. The top story on the local news that evening was the story of yet another airplane hijacking. This time, the hijacking was based out of St. Louis. Frustrated, Hanley told his friend to be prepared for something that would rock the world and then he left the bar.------

The hijacking on June 23rd started in a way fairly typical for that period in American history. As unsettling as this may seem to us today, aircraft hijacking was a fairly common crime at the time. In fact, between 1968 and 1972, more than 130 flights in the United States had been hijacked. The June 23rd hijacking started when a 28-year-old man named Martin McNally boarded a flight in St. Louis. As the plane was beginning its descent into Tulsa, McNally pulled out a gun and approached a flight attendant. He handed her a note demanding $500,000, a shovel, and five parachutes. If he received these things, he said, no one would be hurt.------

The pilots turned the plane back towards St. Louis, where authorities began gathering McNally’s ransom money and planning for a way to catch McNally once all the hostages were free. When the plane landed back in St. Louis so that authorities could hand off the cash to McNally, a crowd gathered outside Lambert Airport to take in the scene firsthand.------

As the onlookers watched, the plane began to taxi to a runway after the money was exchanged. They saw something incredible. Suddenly, a Cadillac Eldorado barreled through the safety fence and begin careening toward the hijacked plane at 80 miles an hour. The car was driven by David Hanley, the man who had promised to rock the world. As Hanley pulled even with the nose of the plane, he smashed into the front wheels and ended up jammed under the left wing, stopping the plane in its tracks.-------

Hanley’s car was badly damaged, though Hanley would suffer only minor injuries, and would later claim that he had no recollection of any of the evening's events. However, for all the excitement of the crash, Hanley hadn't actually put an end to the hijack. No one on board the plane had been hurt, and McNally quickly demanded another plane or else he threatened people would be killed. Authorities found him another 727 which took off from St. Louis in the early morning hours of June 24th. McNally jumped from that plane over Indiana, but lost his bag of money during the descent. Authorities recovered the bag a few days later. McNally himself was arrested five days later in Detroit with only $13 to his name. He was released from federal prison in 2010.------

Here's History is a joint production of KDHX and the Missouri History Museum. I’m Adam Kloppe and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis.

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Podcast Transcript: I'm Adam Kloppe, Researcher at the Missouri History Museum and Here’s History on 88.1 KDHX. ------

For music lovers who came through St. Louis in the early 20th century, there was only one place in town to go, Tom Turpin’s Rosebud Cafe. This sprawling bar and nightclub was located on Market Street in the heart of the Chestnut Valley, a historic African American entertainment and gambling district. When the Rosebud opened in 1900, it quickly became one of the most popular establishments in the entire valley. It took up an entire city block and featured several bars, a gambling den, and hotel rooms. ------

But music lovers knew they had to push past these distractions and get to the wine room where they could usually find owner Tom Turpin. Turpin was a hard man to miss. He stood at over six feet tall, and weighed over 350 pounds. And in the wine room, he towered over a piano that he had specially installed on blocks so he could stand when he played. From that special piano and the Rosebud’s wine room, Turpin helped to popularize a musical style that would change the world. Turpin was one of the early masters of Ragtime, a syncopated musical style that many described as the first uniquely American kind of music. ------

Before he opened the Rosebud, Turpin was already recognized as an early pioneer of the musical form. He had perfected Ragtime in various brothels, bars, and saloons in St. Louis in the late 19th century, and became the first African American to publish a rag in 1897. When Turpin opened the Rosebud in 1900 it quickly became the epicenter of Ragtime. Legends of Ragtime, including Scott Joplin, Louis Chauvin and Joe Jordan, came to the Rosebud to play their music and learn from Turpin who took them in as a mentor and a friend. -------

Turpin also organized frequent Ragtime competitions at the Rosebud and invited the best Ragtime musicians from all over the country to participate. People from around the city and the region flocked to the Rosebud to hear these competitions, and take in the sounds and rhythms of Ragtime. Within a few years, Ragtime had become one of the most popular musical styles in the country. ------

However, the success of the Rosebud was also its downfall. As Ragtime became more popular, the musicians who played it moved on from St. Louis to brighter lights in cities like Chicago and New York. The Rosebud was closed by 1906. Turpin, however, stayed in St. Louis, and he remained a massive figure in the city. He opened several more successful nightclubs in Chestnut Valley in the early 1910s and even became involved in local politics before his death in 1922. ------

Here's History is a joint production of KDHX and the Missouri History Museum. I’m Adam Kloppe and this is 88.1 KDHX.

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As many as 400 Chinese Americans lived in a neighborhood called Hop Alley at its height in the early 20th century. Located at the corner of Market and Chestnut, the thriving community not only served as a refuge from overt racism but also as a small reflection of a culture left behind. Just press play to hear the whole story. -------

Click on search links to explore episodes with related content: Maggie Sullivan, Asian American - Pacific Islander American History, Landmark Locations, Immigration, Business, ------

Podcast Transcript: I'm Maggie Sullivan, Researcher at the Missouri History Museum and Here's History on 88.1 KDHX. -------

St. Louis is known for diverse neighborhoods shaped by strong immigrant communities, the Hill, Carondelet, Bevo Mill, Dutchtown. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, downtown was home to St. Louis' very first Chinatown. As many as 400 Chinese Americans lived in a neighborhood called Hop Alley at its height in the early 20th century. The first Chinese immigrant to St. Louis was a young man named Alla Lee, who arrived in 1857. He settled in the Irish quarter near Biddle Street and married an Irish woman, Sarah Graham, sealing his acceptance into the Irish community. Lee ran a tea shop, his social standing and connection to the Irish keeping him and his children from the grueling work of a laundry business. -------

Most Chinese immigrant families in America ran laundries, a job that left little time for recreation and relaxation. They serviced mostly European Americans rather than their own communities. When launders finished their work or took a day off, they hurried to Hop Alley to spend time with their fellow countrymen and enjoy an atmosphere like their hometowns. -------

A small city block bordered by Market and Chestnut, St. Louis’ Chinatown served as a refuge for Chinese culture. It was also a community center for people frequently harassed and persecuted by racial discrimination. With most of the laundry shops located outside Hop Alley, there were groceries, restaurants, tea shops and everything else Chinese Americans needed inside Hop Alley. As time passed, tea shops and restaurants attracted European Americans who previously disapproved of their Chinese neighbors. -------

The Chinese residents and business owners of Hop Alley introduced their culture to curious St. Louisans. Many Chinese St. Louisans learned English and American traditions at Sunday School. Even well to do Chinese families or those who converted to Christianity or spoke English fluently would return to Hop Alley for celebrations such as Chinese New Year, or weekly gatherings to share traditional home cuisine. ------

Hop Alley was demolished in the 1960s to make way for the second Busch Stadium. By then most Chinese American families had moved further west into the city or the suburbs. Photos remain attesting to the vibrancy of St. Louis' first Chinatown. ------

Here's History is a joint production of the Missouri History Museum and KDHX. I'm Maggie Sullivan and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis.

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St. Louis is the home of many baseball legends, players like Stan Musial, Dizzy Dean and Bob Gibson. But there's one legendary pitcher who had a long and storied history with the city of St. Louis, even though he never played for the Cardinals. That Hall of Famer was Satchel Paige, who spent most of his career playing in the Negro Leagues. ------

Click on search links to explore episodes with related content: Adam Kloppe, Sports, Baseball, Black History, People of Note, Pastimes and Leisure, Competition, Civil Rights, ------

Podcast Transcript: I'm Adam Kloppe, Public Historian at the Missouri History Museum, and Here’s History on 88.1 KDHX. ------

St. Louis is the home of many baseball legends, players like Stan Musial, Dizzy Dean, and Bob Gibson. But there's one legendary pitcher who had a long and storied history with the city of St. Louis, even though he never played for the Cardinals. In fact, he didn't even play in Sportsman's Park until he had already been a pro for almost 15 years. He's a Hall of Famer and considered one of the 20 greatest baseball players of all time. He is Leroy “Satchel” Paige. ------

The first time St. Louisans got a look at Paige they could have been forgiven for thinking that he wasn't that special. The year was 1927 and Paige was pitching in one of his first games for the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro National League, who were in St. Louis visiting the fabled St. Louis Stars. In the game Paige started, he didn't even make it out of the first inning. In fact, he hit the first three batters he faced. The third batter, Stars catcher Mitchell Murray was so sure that Paige was targeting him that he chased Paige around the field with his bat, starting a massive brawl between the clubs. ------

Though Paige's career got off to a rocky start in St. Louis, he soon became one of the most recognizable names in Negro League baseball. By 1941, Paige was such a star that two promoters organized a July 4th game at Sportsman's Park to be played between Paige’s Kansas City Monarchs and the Chicago American Giants, another Negro League team. But Paige was the star. He featured in nearly every advertisement for the game that ran in the city's newspapers. The game was a massive success. Over 19,000 Black and white baseball fans in St. Louis came out that day to watch Paige, and in subsequent years, several more Negro League games featuring Paige were scheduled at Sportsman's Park. ------

But Paige’s ties to St. Louis don't stop there. In 1951, only four years after Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball's color line, the 45-year-old Satchel Paige signed with the St. Louis Browns. Over the next three seasons, Paige would pitch over 300 innings for the Browns, and he was so good that he became the first Black pitcher selected to the American League All Star Team in 1952. He left the Browns after the 1953 season, but returned to the major leagues for one game with the Kansas City Athletics in 1963. In that game, he pitched three innings and even struck out a batter. Not bad for a 59-year-old. ------

Here's History is a joint production of KDHX and the Missouri History Museum. I'm Adam Kloppe and this is 88.1 KDHX St. Louis.

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