This month in St. Louis History

From Missouri History Museum

Good and bad of St. Louis history

St. Louis' history was highlighted by the good and bad during past Julys.

Missouri was one of the early states to ratify the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. That's the one that gave women the right to vote.

In past Julys, there also were tragic examples of racial riots and violent labor unrest.

But, July 14th offers an opportunity to party. That date is Bastille Day, France's Independence Day. That holiday is celebrated in the historic Soulard Neighborhood south of downtown St. Louis.

These are just a sample of July anniversaries of local historic events. (For more about local history, visit the Missouri History Museum's website at www.mohistory.org.)

* The Women's Suffrage Amendment

Missouri's Legislature ratified the 19th Amendment on July 3, 1919. We were the 11th state to approve the amendment giving women the right to vote.

Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin were credited with being the first to ratify the proposed amendment. All three ratified it on June 10, 1919.

But, it wasn't until August 18, 1920, before 32 states approved the proposed amendment to finally put it into the constitution. It takes favorable votes by two-thirds of the states to approve the amendment. (32 is two thirds of 48; there were only 48 states in the United States at that time. Alaska and Hawaii joined later to make up the current 50 states.)

If you'd like to know more about the history of women in Missouri, there's a neat book that's been published by the Missouri History Museum. It is entitled, "In Her Place: Guide to Women's History in St. Louis."

The author is Katherine Corbett.

Also, if you'd like to know more about women's issues, you can log on to www.pbs.org. Then check on web links. There are a whole host of internet links to everything from famous women to women's organizations.

* The Levee Strike of 1877

The early struggle for better wages in the U.S. became known as the General Strike of 1877. In St. Louis, the strike involved workers who unloaded boats on the local riverfront.

About 200 St. Louis roustabouts walked off their jobs. The issues were low wages and poor working conditions. Most of the levee workers were African-American. But, they were joined by hundreds of other workers in St. Louis.

This struggle involved lots of different workers in other U.S. cities.

In St. Louis, the levee strike shut down commerce for several days. Eventually, the protest failed and workers went back to their jobs.

This levee workers strike is on the African-American walking exhibit in the museum. For more, see www.mohistory.org/content/exhibitions/AAhistory.

* East Saint Louis Race Riot of 1917

Another local outbreak of violence with a July anniversary was the race riot of 1917 across the Mississippi River in Illinois.

The riot killed 40 blacks and 8 whites. Over 6,000 were driven from their homes.

The East Saint Louis riot attracted nationwide attention. The National Association for Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) staged a silent protest parade down Fifth Avenue in New York City.

For more on this, see www.pbs.org/wnet/aaworld/reference/articles/ east_saint_louis.

* Bastille Day July 14

The French were some of the earliest settlers in what is now St. Louis. The city started as a fur trading center. The French influence lives in present-day St. Louis, with lots of French names and the historic Soulard Market in south St. Louis.

The name Soulard honors Antoine Soulard, who arrived in St. Louis as a refugee from the French Revolution. He was named the second surveyor-general of Upper Louisiana by the then Spanish commandant.

The Soulard Market is patterned after European open-air markets. It is the oldest public market still in existence in the U.S.

For a profile of the historic Soulard Neighborhood, see www.slfp.com/soulard.htm.

 

Lots of unique local history trivia in July

History notes for July in St. Louis read like a trivia contest.

Mark Twain was arrested after a corpse showed on his front lawn. A St. Louis Cardinal pitcher won both ends of a doubleheader with two complete games.

And then there was the teacher protest to the FCC about Dizzy Dean's imperfect speech during his baseball broadcasts.

Also, two St. Louis fliers set a world endurance record for non-stop flying.

(These are just a few of the interesting historical notes mentioned for July in local historian Joe Sonderman's book, "St. Louis 365." The book can be purchased at local book stories or on the internet at www.booksonline.com.)

Here are just a few of the 156 historic events included in the July chapter of the book:

July 1, 1920: The Cardinals moved back to Sportsman's Park from deteriorating Cardinals Park at Natural Bridge and Vandeventer. They had played there since 1892. At the time, the Browns were the better team and owned Sportsman's Park. The Redbirds paid rent. Sportsman's Park became Busch Stadium in 1953, after the brewery bought the Cardinals and the Browns moved to Baltimore.

July 2, 1917: Much of East St. Louis was in flames. Rioting touched off by the killing of two white detectives was sweeping the city. Mobs of whites pulled blacks off the streetcars, clubbing and stoning them to death, while police and government officials stood idly by. The exact death toll will never be known, but at least 39 blacks and eight whites were killed.

July 5, 1879: Dwight F. Davis was born in St. Louis. An excellent tennis player, he served as the city parks commissioner and installed tennis courts in Forest Park. They were the first public courts in the nation. In 1900, he donated the "Davis Cup" for the international lawn tennis competitions.

July 10, 1923: Cardinal rookie pitcher Johnny Stuart went the distance and won BOTH games of a doubleheader. Stuart tossed a three-hitter to win the first game, 11-1. He won the second game by a score of 6-3.

July 14, 1936: July 14 is traditionally the hottest day of the year in St. Louis. In 1936, the high was 108 degrees. It was the sixth day in a row with a high of over 100 degrees, and the 10th day of eleven. The heat had already taken 139 lives. The death total from 37 days that summer with highs over 100 degrees would reach 471.

July 16, 1875: The news reached St. Louis that Mark Twain had been arrested. The Missouri-born humorist saw a boy steal his umbrella and jokingly offered a reward of $205, $5 for the umbrella and $200 for the lad's "remains." He was arrested when a corpse turned up at his home, along with a note claiming the reward. It turned out that some pranksters at a medical school had sent the corpse.

July 19, 1946: The English Teachers Association of Missouri had ignited a firestorm after complaining to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) about Dizzy Dean's assault on the language during the baseball broadcasts on (radio station) WIL. The teachers said he was a bad influence on students. Hundreds of telegrams poured into WIL in support of Ol' Diz. (One of his grammatically-challenged quotes: "He slud into third base.")

July 30, 1929: Dale Jackson and Forest O'Brine landed their "St. Louis Robin" at Lambert Field, after establishing a new aerial endurance record. They stayed aloft for 420 hours, 21 minutes. Their exploits were front page news across the nation. In July, 1930, two Chicago aviators beat the record. So, the "Robin" took off again, regaining the record in August, 1930.