This Month
in Missouri History
Josephine Baker sings at local racial discrimination
concert
World-famous African-American singer/dancer Josephine Baker
performed in February, 1952, at a St. Louis benefit concert
to protest racial discrimination and school segregation.
Two other February anniversaries from Missouri history involved
the Lindbergh baby kidnapping.
One was the death in February, 2001, of Charles Lindbergh's
widow, Anne Morrow Lindbergh. She was 94 at the time.
In February, 1935, document expert John Trendly of St. Louis
testified he didn't think that alleged kidnapper Bruno Hauptmann
wrote the ransom note involved in the crime. Hauptmann was
convicted of that crime.
(Each month, the Missouri History Museum collects items
of historic interest from the current month. Young Saint
Louis.com then presents them to give you a look at some
episodes from the state's colorful history.
(To learn more, you can do your own searching at www.mohistory.org.)
Josephine Baker sings at local benefit concert
Josephine
Baker (Mercantile Library Collections)
|
Entertainer Josephine Baker returned to St. Louis to perform
at a Feb. 3, 1952, benefit concert protesting racial discrimination
and segregation of schools.
Earlier, she had fled St. Louis and the United States when
her race proved to be a hindrance to her efforts to make a
successful career in singing and dancing. Europe was much
more tolerant and Ms. Baker became an international star.
At the time of her local appearance, Ms. Baker was quoted
as saying:
"My being here in St. Louis brings me back after 35 years.
I never dreamed that I would return to St. Louis as an entertainer.
"A year ago, when I decided to come to North America, I
had it put in my contract that I would not appear in any city
where my people could not come to see me. And, at each time
that there has been an approach to my coming to St. Louis,
I have always refused."
At the time of her visit, her sponsors couldn't get hotel
accommodations for Ms. Baker at any of the better hotels in
the city.
But, she stayed at the home of a leading black civil rights
attorney, David M. Grant, and never did know of the accommodation
problems.
For an article about the visit by Gail Melissa Grant, David's
daughter, visit www.mhsvoices.org/2007SpringFeature2.php
For a story about the concert, visit www.umsl.edu/virtualstl/phase2/1950/events/
1950benefitconcert.html
Anne Morrow Lindbergh dies
Anne
Morrow in Churchill, Manitoba Canada in 1931
|
Anne Morrow Lindbergh, the widow of St. Louisan Charles Lindbergh
and a noted aviator in her own right, died on Feb. 8, 2001,
at the age of 94.
Born on June 22, 1906, Ms. Lindbergh was the daughter of
U.S. Senator Dwight Morrow of New Jersey. She was a poet and
women's education advocate.
She served as co-pilot, navigator and radio operator for
Charles Lindbergh when they made a 5½-month, 30,000 mile survey
of northern and southern air routes of the Atlantic Ocean.
Charles called that survey in 1931 a more difficult and
hazardous trip than his famous solo flight from New York to
Paris in 1927. Anne chronicled the 1931 flight in her book,
"Listen. The Wind."
For more about Anne Lindbergh, visit www.charleslindbergh.com/anne/index.asp
Testimony
in Lindbergh baby's kidnapping
On Feb. 1, 1935, John Trendly, a St. Louis expert in documents,
testified that he didn't believe the ransom note in the Lindbergh
baby kidnapping was written by the alleged kidnapper.
However, Bruno Hauptmann was found guilty in a trial that
was dubbed "the trial of the century."
There are a number of good internet sources on the trial,
including:
TWA
flew the Boeing 747 jumbo jet for the first time on Feb. 9,
1969. At that time TWA had one of its three hubs in St. Louis
and Boeing is now one of St. Louis' largest employers.