This Month in St. Louis History

Arch designer, key rights activist born in August

The man who changed St. Louis' skyline forever and a man who helped change the nation's civil rights climate were both born in August.

Eero Saarinen's design of the Gateway Arch gave St. Louis a landmark that is known around the world. Roy Wilkins was a key figure in the era when the civil rights of African-Americans were established.

Other items of significant historic interest that occurred in August were:

Each month, the Missouri History Museum cooperates with Young Saint Louis.com to give kids a look as some of the people and events that shaped the area's past. If you'd like to learn more about history, visit the Museum's website at www.mohistory.org.

Architect Eero Saarinen

Eero Saarinen was born on Aug. 20, 1910, in Kirkkonummi, Finland. But, his family moved to the United States in 1923 and Eero became a naturalized citizen.

His father, Eliel, was a noted architect. His mother, Loja, was a noted sculptor, weaver, photographer and architectural model maker.

Therefore, it wasn't unusual to have Eero get an early start in design. At age 12, he took first place in a matchstick design competition.

After studying at the Yale School of Architecture, he joined his father's firm in Cranbrook, Mich.

He burst on the international scene in 1947. That's when he won the competition to design the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis.

Some other major successes include the GM Technical Center near Detroit, the TWA Terminal in New York City and Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C.

Concerning the Gateway Arch design, he commented: "Neither an obelisk nor a rectangular box nor a dome seemed right on this site or for this purpose. But, here, at the edge of the Mississippi River, a great arch did seem right."

Ironically, Saarinen never lived to see the completed Arch. He died of a brain tumor in 1961 at age 51. Construction on the Arch started in 1963. It was finished in 1965 and opened to the public July 24, 1967.

For more on Saarinen, visit www.nps.gov/jeff/ar-eero.htm

Rights activist Roy Wilkins

Roy Wilkins was born on Aug. 30, 1901, in St. Louis. He majored in sociology and journalism at the University of Minnesota. In 1923, he joined the staff of the Kansas City Call, the leading black weekly in the city.

He joined the NAACP staff in 1931. He was arrested for the first time when he joined a picket march in Washington, D.C. He was protesting the failure by the U.S. Attorney General to include the subject of lynching on a national crime conference agenda.

In 1934, he succeeded the famed activist W.E.B. DuBois as editor of the NAACP's Crisis magazine.

He also worked inside the government. He was an advisor to the U.S. War Department. He also was a consultant to the American delegation to the United Nations Conference in San Francisco.

Wilkins served one year as acting executive secretary of the NAACP in 1949. He became permanent executive secretary in 1955. He led the organization through the height of the civil rights movement.

In those days, the NAACP was considered to be too militant by conservatives and not radical enough by the more extreme civil rightists.

Wilkins died August 27, 1963.

For more on Wilkins, visit www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAwilkins.htm.

For more on Crisis magazine, visit www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAcrisis.htm

Ladies' Union Aid Society

The Ladies Union Aid Society played an important part in providing medical help to Union soldiers during the nation's civil war. It was founded in St. Louis Aug. 2, 1861.

The organization started in the wake of the Camp Jackson incident in the city. That's when Gen. Nathaniel Lyon took over the camp to prevent thousands of military rifles from falling into the hands of Confederate sympathizers.

Late, Union General John C. Fremont approved a plan for an independent LUAS that could provide battlefield assistance and create hospital ships. One ship, "City of Louisiana," transported wounded from the Shiloh battlefield to St. Louis hospitals at Jefferson Barracks and Benton Barracks.

Nowadays, the LUAS is an active Civil War reenacting group with members from Missouri and Kansas.

First Catholic mass in English

When Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council in 1962, big changes were on the way for the Roman Catholic Church. Cardinal Joseph Elmer Ritter of St. Louis played an important before, during and after the council.

He served on the council's Central Preparatory Commission, getting ready for the full council sessions. He became one of the primary American spokespersons about council activities.

Pope John XXIII convened the council but didn't live to see its conclusion. He died June 3, 1963, at age 81.

Cardinal Ritter served as the first St. Louis representative ever to help select a new pope. Pope Paul VI immediately announced plans to continue the Vatican II's work on church reform.

One of those most public changes was the authorizing of the Holy Mass to be said in English. Up to that time, mass was pronounced in Latin.

On Aug. 24, 1964, Cardinal Ritter led the world's first authorized Mass in English. The ceremony wasn't in a church but rather in the old Kiel Auditorium to accommodate the huge crowd.

Ritter was part of a massive educational process within the church to incorporate the Vatican II changes into everyday Catholic life.