St. Louis in Black and White
Transcript
Missouri Historical Society
All content © 1999 - 2007 Missouri Historical Society. St. Louis, Mo.
Welcome to the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park operated by the
Missouri Historical Society. The Missouri Historical Society has been
active in the region since 1866. Founders established the organization for
the purpose of saving from oblivion the early history of the city and state.
Today, our mission is to deepen the understanding of past choices, present
circumstances and future possibilities; strengthen the bonds of community;
and facilitate solutions to common problems.
This tour, St. Louis in Black and White, will explore the history of race
relations in St. Louis. Through this exploration, you will gain a better
understanding of how various racial and ethnic groups got along and
helped to shape the current social dynamics of St. Louis.
Pause your MP3 player until you are at the entrance to "Seeking St. Louis:
Currents" gallery. You may take the stairs or the elevator to the second
floor. At the top of the stairs—or when you exit the elevator—turn right.
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You will be facing the “Spirit of St. Louis” airplane suspended above
MacDermott Grand Hall. Turn right again.
You are now at the entrance to "Seeking St. Louis: Currents," an exciting,
interactive gallery which tells the history of the region from earliest times to
the early 20th century.
As you enter the gallery, move forward and to your right until you come to
the home of Jeanette Forchet.
Here at your first stop, you are standing in front of a re-created home from
the early 1770s. It is built 1/4th the actual size. This home belonged to a
woman by the name of Jeanette Forchet whose home was located where
the southwest leg of the Gateway Memorial Arch is today.
Please take a minute to walk through the house and look around. As you
explore the Forchet home, take notice to the items you see in the home.
 What items seems ordinary?
 What items seem out of place?
If you are like most people, you more than likely notice the large wooden
armoire. We were able to learn a great deal about Forchet from several
inventories that were created for the purposes of marriage and wills.
Jeanette, a Black woman, was born about 1736, probably in the Illinois
Country, and was a free woman in 1766 when she and her first husband
received one of the original St. Louis town lots and a farm lot in the
common fields. Jeanette’s first husband Gregory, a free blacksmith, died in
1770. She was left with her wooden “house of post” on Rue de L’eglise
(later Second Street), her farm plot, two sons, and two daughters.
In the 1770s, the village of St. Louis was home for 339 Whites, 33 free
Blacks, and 274 Native American and Black slaves.
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She and the children supported the family by growing cows, pigs, and
chickens. She may also have taken in laundry and practiced folk medicine;
she owned many kettles and three pairs of smoothing irons, as well as a
mortar with an iron pestle.
In 1773, Forchet married a free black gunsmith, Pierre Ignace, known in the
community as Valentin. By the time Forchet married Valentin she had a
considerable amount of personal possessions and property.
Like most free people in colonial St. Louis, they prepared a marriage
contract (a neighbor assisted) and signed their names with a mark because
like most people of this time, they were not able to read or write.
In 1787, Jeanette lived in her house with Valentin, her two daughters, and
two free Black laborers, who were probably boarders. The family grew
wheat, tobacco, and corn on their farm. Valentin sought a more lucrative
form of income.
The following year, Valentin got permission from the Spanish authorities to
leave the village to hunt in the territory of the Grand Osage Indians,
southwest of St. Louis. He never returned.
In 1790 Jeanette learned that Valentin had been dead for a year.
When Jeanette Forchet died in 1804 she had fewer possessions than she
had in 1790, and most were very old. But she still owned one walnut
armoire and one copper candlestick, and she still had land in the common
fields and her house in the center of town. Over the years her descendants
subdivided the town lot among them and eventually sold it to developers.
Her daughter, Susanna, married J.B. Irbour and had a daughter, Julie, who
later married Antoine Labbadie, considered one of St. Louis’s wealthiest
Black men in 1850.
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One of a small number of free blacks living in colonial St. Louis, Jeanette
Forchet retained her personal freedom and many rights denied to slaves.
Like all free women she was entitled to own property, have a recognized
marriage, and enter into legal contracts. The economy provided
opportunities for her to earn a living to supplement her husbands’ incomes
and retain her independence after their deaths.
Like all St. Louisans of African descent, however, Jeanette Forchet was
bound by social and legal restrictions designed to maintain the status quo.
She needed permission to leave town. Manumitted slaves were often reenslaved for infractions of the law. And unlike other Creole widows, she
never enjoyed the right to be called Veuve Forchet, the honorific title for
widows in colonial St. Louis.
After viewing the Forchet home, let’s go and examine another family that
lived in St. Louis during that same time period. When you walk out the
other side of the Forchet home, turn left and head for the four portraits that
set behind two mannequins dressed in 18th century attire.
The paintings in front of you are of Marie (Madame) Chouteau (upper left),
Pierre Laclede (upper right), Therese Cerre Chouteau (lower left), Auguste
Chouteau (lower right).
The Chouteau/Leclede family is considered to be the founding family of St.
Louis. Marie Chouteau was a Creole woman from New Orleans. The term
Creole in the 18th century was used to describe individuals that were of
French heritage but born in the Americas. The term today often refers to
individuals that have mixed heritage that includes French, African, and
Native American.
The Chouteaus amassed a fortune from fur trading and land acquisitions.
Through a number of marriages and business mergers, several family lines
can be traced to the Chouteau family. One family in particular, Labbadie
also has a connection to the Forchet family lines. The speculation is that
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members of the Labbadie family may have had children by enslaved
African women. It was common for the French to grant their children
freedom and provide for them an inheritance.
In addition to a number of children born of French and African American
parentage, there were also a number of children born from unions of
French men and Native American women. To secure viable trade
relationships with Native American tribes, French traders often married
Native American women from high-ranking families in those tribes.
The early race relations in St. Louis were dictated by not just skin color and
nationality, but economics and politics as well. As politics and economics
changed, so did race relations in St. Louis.
After leaving the Home Section please turn right heading towards the
Picture Booth. When you reach the booth, turn right into the section
entitled: Image. Along the wall to your right, you will find the subsection
with the question “Who are your people?” In bold.
Take a close look at the image to the right of the Phylacteries Box. The
image is a photograph of African American and Italian clay mine workers in
1907.
 How are the workers portrayed in this image?
 Does there appear to be any tension between the workers?
 What might this image tell use about their relationship?
Between the years of 1860-90 the immigrant population in St. Louis grew.
Many immigrants came from Eastern and Southern Europe. With the influx
of so many new groups, tensions between pre-existing and new groups
began to rise. First generation immigrants often received similar treatment
as African Americans and other groups considered second-class citizens.
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Despite the tensions, different racial and ethnic groups often worked in the
same industries. However, they tended to live in separate neighborhoods.
Jobs and housing became focal points of racial tensions in St. Louis and
many other parts of the country. As more and more immigrants moved to
St. Louis, the strain on civic resources increased. With a growing
population and limited resources, racial tensions grew.
By the early 1920s there was a national effort to limit the number of
immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe. The effort ultimately
resulted in the Immigration Act of 1924.
Pause your MP3 player and move forward and to the right until you come
to William Clark’s Council Room. Enter and go to your right. Stop at the
portrait of Dred Scott, whose ten-year legal battle precipitated the Civil War,
remains a national symbol of the struggle for freedom.
Born into slavery in Virginia, Dred Scott traveled with his owner to St. Louis
where slavery was also legal. Scott's ownership changed hands, and he
traveled with his new owner into free territories. Upon his return to St.
Louis, he attempted to buy his freedom, but his owner refused. In 1846,
Dred Scott petitioned for his freedom at the St. Louis Circuit Court, located
in what St. Louisans now call the Old Courthouse. Scott argued that
because he had traveled into free territory, he was legally free. Although
the judge granted Scott his freedom, the Missouri Supreme Court reversed
the decision. In 1857, the United State Supreme Court ruled that African
Americans were not citizens and that Scott was still a slave in Missouri,
even though he had lived in free territories. One year later, St. Louisan
Taylor Blow purchased Dred Scott and granted him his freedom. Scott
died in 1858.
In 1881, the Missouri Historical Society commissioned artist Louis Schultze
to paint Dred Scott's portrait based upon a daguerreotype.
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 What impact would the Dred Scott Case have on race
relations in St. Louis?
The Dred Scott Case added fuel to a fire that was burning not just in St.
Louis, but the country. It gave pro-slavery people a decisive statement and
it gave abolitionists a rallying point.
For more information, pause your MP3 player and watch the video below
the portrait of Dred Scott.
To the left of the portrait of Dred Scott, you will see the painting "Last Sale
of Slaves."
 What going on in this painting?
 Where is it taking place?
 What message might the artist be making by placing the
event at that location?
This painting depicts an episode that occurred on the east steps of the Old
Courthouse on New Year's Day 1861. The sheriff attempted to auction
slaves whose owners were deceased, but a large group of St. Louisans
gathered to halt what they considered a disgrace. The crowd refused to bid
above eight dollars. After several hours, the auctioneer abandoned the
auction. According to one eyewitness, no public auction of slaves was ever
again attempted in St. Louis.
Painter Thomas Satterwhite Noble was likely present at the legendary
event. Noble grew up on a Kentucky plantation; his father also operated a
rope and bagging factory in St. Louis. Although Noble enlisted in the
Confederate army, he returned from the Civil War a changed man, and
earned critical acclaim for works depicting anti-slavery subjects. His "Last
Sale of the Slaves" of 1865 brought him national recognition and was
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exhibited in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol Building. When the original
"Last Sale of Slaves" was destroyed in a fire, Noble painted the version that
you see here.
Many of the abolitionists in the St. Louis area were German immigrants.
The abolitionist movement in St. Louis is an excellent example of
individuals working across racial divides for a common good.
 What reasons would German immigrants have for
protesting slavery?
 What reasons did they have for immigrating to the U.S.?
 How did slavery complicate their chances of finding
success in America?
Many of the German immigrants in St. Louis had come to this area in
hopes of escaping religious and political persecution in the homeland.
While not directly impacted by slavery in the United States, they saw the
situation of African Americans as similar to what they just left in Germany.
As a result, they became some of the strongest supporters of the
Abolitionist Movement.
You may wish to pause your MP3 player while you take a moment to view
Noble's painting. After viewing the painting and learning more about race
relation during pre-civil war St. Louis, let’s take a look at St. Louis after the
Civil War. Please exit the Boundaries section and turn left toward the
Labor section.
A roustabout is a term used to describe a worker who is temporary or
unskilled. They unloaded boats along the docks of the Mississippi River in
the mid to late 1800s. Most were African American. They worked long
hours from dawn to dusk. The pay in the late 1800s was around $20 a
month.
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In July of 1877, 200 roustabouts walked off their jobs on the docks of St.
Louis. They joined hundreds of other workers in St. Louis and thousands
of workers nationwide in the General Strike of 1877. They protested for
better pay and shorter working days. In St Louis the workers were
exceptionally strong and united. The Workingmen’s Party led the rebellion.
The four organized sections, German, French, English, and Bohemian
took ferries to the eastern shores of the Mississippi to meet with railroad
workers. When the railroad workers declared themselves on strike they
even had the support of the mayor, who had been an active revolutionary
in his younger years.
Mass meetings were held with thousands of attendees, calling for the
nationalization of all industries within the cities. At another Workingmen’s
meeting, writes Marike Van Ophem, "A black man was the voice for those
who worked at the steamboats and levees." The man asked, "will you
stand with us regardless of color?" The crowd replied by yelling, "We will!"
St Louis’ entire industry was at a standstill, including breweries, trains,
flour mills, banks, shops, etc.
Fifteen thousand men in total were engaged in the strike. Police
suppressed the protest. Although more than 100 citizens were killed, in the
end, workers attained more power to negotiate for better conditions and
wages.
While workers were united during the strike, racial tensions soon grew
stronger after the strike. Even with the heightened racial tensions in the St.
Louis area, no one was ready for what happened in East St. Louis in 1917.
You will now move to the "Seeking St. Louis: Reflections Gallery" directly
across from where you entered this gallery. While you make your way
there, listen to Jacqueline K. Dace, Missouri History Museum curator of
African American Collections, share her thoughts on the museum’s African
American Collecting Initiative.
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“What if you walked into the galleries of your local museum in twenty-five
years and there was no indication that African Americans ever existed?
What if you told stories to your children about the many contributions that
people that looked like them made and there was no physical evidence?
What if history continued to devalue your presence? Would you respond?
The Missouri Historical Society is not seeking your response in the future,
but we are asking you to respond today. The African American Collecting
Initiative was created to increase our holdings that represent the
commitments that Blacks have made to this region. The long-term vision
for this initiative is to encourage individuals to consider the Missouri
Historical Society as the primary institution for the housing and
conservation of artifacts that represent the St. Louis African American
community.
The fight for Civil and equal Rights, political equity and representation
began in St. Louis with the arrival of its first black citizens and continues as
a defining issue for the St. Louis community today. Specifically we are
interested in collecting everything from religious, social, political and
educational experiences; to daily life, military service and business and
cultural events. For a more detailed description of the Missouri Historical
Society’s African American Collecting Initiative and information on how to
donate please pick up a copy of the brochure at the visitor services center
on the main floor of the museum.”
Please pause your MP3 player until you are at the entrance of "Seeking St.
Louis: Reflections Gallery."
Welcome to "Seeking St. Louis: Reflections Gallery." Continue your way
into the back of the gallery until you come to section entitled: Citizens.
Turn to your right to find a small screen and shows images from the 1917
East St. Louis Riots.
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After WW I, East St. Louis prospered. Both the Aluminum Ore Company
and the American Steel recruited employees, many of whom were African
Americans. In 1917, when white workers at the Aluminum Ore Company
united to challenge their employer over wage issues, their bosses brought
in African American workers to replace the striking white workers. Over the
course of several weeks tensions mounted until July 1 when a white mob
rioted, killing any African American they encountered. Official reports
claimed 39 people were killed, but historians believe the number of
fatalities was much higher.
Pause your MP3 player as you explore artifacts regarding East St. Louis
and the race riot of 1917.
Behind you is a lunch counter similar to lunch counters that were once the
staple of downtown department stores like Stix, Baer & Fuller and Famous
Barr. Have a seat if you wish as you learn about the Congress of Racial
Equality—or C.O.R.E.
Disputes over employment and public access have often pitted racial
groups against each other. However, there have been times when groups
have united together in order to work toward social justice. Here at the
lunch counter, many St. Louis citizens, both black and white, staged some
of the first sit-ins in the country. Through their persistence and
determination, these protests helped eliminate discriminatory laws and
practices in St. Louis as well as the United States.
Lunch counters similar to this one were the scene of important civil rights
demonstrations in St. Louis. In 1944, the Citizens Civil Rights Committee
[C.C.R.C.] - an interracial group of women - began holding sit-ins at
downtown department store lunch counters. Three years later, the
interracial group C.O.R.E. [Congress of Racial Equality] launched a nonviolent campaign of negotiation and peaceful sit-ins to integrate
restaurants, hotels, and movie theaters that were previously off limits to
African American patrons. The efforts of these grass-roots organizations
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led to the city’s 1961 ban on discrimination in public accommodations.
Important as it was, the new law alone could not end St. Louis’ long legacy
of discrimination. In the years since, C.O.R.E. and other citizens’ groups
have continued their fight for racial justice and equality.
At the far end of the lunch counter, there is a Civil Rights Scrapbook. Flip
through the book to find reports of other protest that took place in St. Louis.
Please proceed forward from the Civil Rights scrapbook towards the large
image of a man lying in front of a car. The image will be on your right hand
side as you face the entrance to the gallery.
While many St. Louisans protested discrimination with lunch counter sit-ins,
others participated in very physical forms of protest. Your next stop looks
at an individual who fought discrimination with a very aggressive approach.
Born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, the long-time civil rights organizer and civil
disobedience leader Ivory Perry came to St. Louis in 1954 after earning two
Purple Hearts as a soldier in the Korean War. In St. Louis, Perry joined
C.O.R.E. and fought to open the Fox Theatre to African American patrons,
to win fair employment for African Americans at Jefferson Bank and
Laclede Gas, and to end the use of lead paint in Public Housing. Most
notably, he supported public housing tenants in their nine-month rent strike
in 1969, garnering community support and strategically organized pickets,
gained significant federal and local reforms.
Discrimination is often not just race-based, but based on social class as
well. Events that took place in St. Louis neighborhoods in the 1950’s still
affect us today.
Please proceed to the Landscape section at the beginning of the gallery. If
you are facing the entrance, this section will be at your right. Look for the
brick wall with a window to a yellow room. This section features the Ross
Family.
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During the late 1950’s, St. Louis City Planners began to clear out
neighborhoods they deemed as slums, and thousands of families were
displaced. One such neighborhood was Mill Creek. Mill Creek was a
predominantly African American neighborhood located west of downtown
St. Louis.
This setting depicts the home of the Ross family. Randle and Frances
Ross raised their nine children in their three-room home. The Ross family
lived in Mill Creek until 1959, when their home--along with the rest of their
neighborhood--was bulldozed to make way for the expansion of U.S,
Highway 40/Interstate 64. Although the Rosses moved to a larger, more
comfortable home, they deeply felt the loss of their close-knit community.
Beginning in the 1950’s and continuing in the 60’s and 70s, many St. Louis
citizens began to move farther away from the city as highways expanded.
Most of the citizens that moved away were white. This resulted in further
segregation of St. Louis neighborhoods. Today, this separation is apparent
in the city/county divide.
 What are some of the social and racial perceptions that are
associated with living in the city versus living in the county.
When polling St. Louis school aged children from the city and county, we
found that many students associate race, wealth, and education level with
an the area in which an individual lives. These perceptios add to further
misunderstanding and lack of communication between racial and ethnic
groups in St. Louis.
You will now leave the "Seeking St. Louis: Reflections Gallery." Please
make your way downstairs to the Visitor Information Desk at the South
Entrance. You may take the stairs or the elevator. Pause until you come
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to the memorial for the Homer G. Phillips Memorial Hospital. The glass
memorial is located across from the elevator.
Dedicated to caring of African Americans, the Homer G. Phillips Memorial
Hospital was also the training hospital for African American doctors. As
one of the few fully equipped facilities to train African American medical
professionals, Homer G. Phillips Memorial Hospital was nationally known.
The hospital opened in 1937 and closed in 1979. In 1982, the building was
added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The hospital was named in honor of a local attorney who championed a
bond issue of 1922. He helped secure at least $1 million for the sole purpose of
constructing a new hospital for blacks on the city's North Side.
Philips was murdered during a robbery on June 18, 1931.
This concludes our St. Louis in Black and White audio tour
The Missouri Historical Society hopes you have enjoyed exploring some
highlights of our museum collections and came away with a better
understanding of race relations in St. Louis.
Please visit museum again or visit us on the Web at www.mohistory.org.
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