Book Provides History Of St. Louis As We've Never Read It Before

Headline: BOOK PROVIDES HISTORY OF ST. LOUIS AS WE'VE NEVER READ IT BEFORE
Reporter: By Greg Freeman

Publication: ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Last Printed: Tue., Oct. 15, 2002
Section: METRO, Page: D1, Edition: FIVE STAR LIFT

Think you know about St. Louis?
Take this quick quiz (answers at the bottom of the column):

   1. What was the Castle Club?
   2. How did St. Louisans respond on Jan. 11, 1865, the day that Missouri passed a law abolishing slavery?
   3. Did Clayton ever have a significant black population?
   4. Where was Finley Park?

Chances are, you don't know the answers to most of those questions. I didn't either, until I read John A. Wright's book: "Discovering African American St. Louis: A Guide to Historic Sites." The second edition of the book, published by the Missouri Historical Society Press, recently came out, and it's filled with interesting facts and anecdotes. Wright is an assistant superintendent with the Ferguson-Florissant School District and is the author of six books on African-American history.
Since I grew up in St. Louis -- and was required to learn the history of St. Louis as part of my school curriculum -- you would think that I would have known much of the history. But, as Wright points out, the area's African-American history is seldom taught in most classrooms and rarely mentioned in various histories of the area. His book hopes to change that.
"I hope the book will further better understanding between races here, " he said. "The white community here has little knowledge about the African-American community, and the book helps provide that knowledge. And it will hopefully help instill pride in African-Americans as to where we have been and what we can do."

Wright also hopes the book inspires those who write about the city's history to include black contributions. "There's no reason now that if someone is writing a history of downtown, for instance, to neglect blacks as part of that history, " he said. "Ignorance is no longer an excuse."
   Wright suggests that when those who are not black see scant evidence of those contributions, stereotypes begin to develop. Whites and others sometimes see blacks as part of a culture that only seeks but never gives, a portrayal that is inaccurate, he says. A greater knowledge of the contributions of blacks can reduce racial divisions, he believes.
   The book neither glorifies nor sensationalizes black history here.
   I only wish his book had been around when I was in school.

Answers:
   1. The Castle Club was a club for adult men that reached its height of popularity in the second half of the 19th century. Located at 210 South Sixth Street, it featured young "Cajun" women who would entertain the guests. The house also featured performances from singers like Santo Domingo native Letitia Lulu Agatha Fontaine, better known as Mama Lou. She entertainingly insulted the customers and young women and occasionally broke into obscene song. Two of her songs, which were later cleaned up for public consumption, were "Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay" and "There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight."
   2. All business was suspended and church bells rang on the day slavery was abolished in Missouri. African-Americans met in churches, sang hymns an d prayed. Three days later, an official observance was held, and large crowds of whites and blacks paraded through the streets. That evening, the city was said to be "aglow with lights in every window and fireworks in the skies."
   3. Clayton had a large black population until the 1950s, when many blacks were forced out because of urban renewal, or, as Wright puts it, "urban removal." Attucks Elementary, a school for black children, once sat at the corner of Bonhomme Avenue and South Hanley Road. Clayton Missionary Baptist Church, a black church now at 2801 Union Boulevard, began on Brentwood Boulevard in Clayton in 1893 and remained there until 1961, when it moved to the city.
   4. Finley Park, at Grand Boulevard and Laclede Avenue, was the site of baseball games played by the St. Louis Giants, part of the old Negro National League and the first professional black baseball team in St. Louis.

Daniel Schesch - Webweaver

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