This Month in St. Louis History

Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital opens

The first child was admitted to Cardinal Glennon Hospital on July 5, 1956. That's a fairly recent date for a branch of hospital medicine that is such a big part of current health care in St. Louis.

Other anniversary dates in July include children's author Laura Ingalls Wilder, the Switzer Candy Co., noted African-American botanist George Washington Carver and the Civil War battle at Vicksburg.

Every month, the Missouri History Museum compiles for Young Saint Louis.com anniversary highlights about people, places and things that have contributed to the state's rich historical past. These items involved July anniversaries.

If you'd like to know more about the state's history, visit www.mohistory.org.

Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital

The medical concept of a separate hospital exclusively for treatment of children wasn't considered in the early days of the country. It wasn't until the late 1800s that any children's hospital was built in the U.S.

In the 1940s, Dr. Peter G. Danis told then Cardinal Glennon that he was going to build a children's hospital in St. Louis. But, it wasn't until July 5, 1956, that the first child was admitted to the hospital.

The first patient was Mary Francis Wallace, a 4-year-old.

Dr. Danis was the first medical director and chief of staff for the new hospital. Then St. Louis Archbishop Joseph Ritter named the hospital after Cardinal Glennon.

During the four-year campaign to build the hospital on Grand Avenue, some 100,000 St. Louisans contributed $7 million to the effort.

In the 50th anniversary story, medical center president Doug Reis said the hospital now has well over 50,000 visits per year. Glennon Care provides a network of pediatric services in a 150-mile radius of St. Louis.

For a story of U.S. children's health care, visit www.medscape.com/viewarticle/507405.

For more on Cardinal Glennon, visit www.stlouisreview.com/article.php?id=10731.

Laura Ingalls Wilder

 

In July 1894, Laura and Almanzo (Ingalls) Wilder left South Dakota for the southern prairies of Missouri. The couple arrived in Mansfield, Mo., later that year.

Their search for better farming possibilities led them to "The Land of the Big Red Apple" in southern Missouri. The couple put a $100 down payment on a 40-acre plot that Laura named "Rocky Ridge Farm."

Ms. Wilder wrote about that journey in the book, "On the Way Home: Diary of a Trip from South Dakota to Mansfield, Missouri, in 1894."

In later years, Ms. Wilder wrote her Little House books at Rocky Ridge Farm.

For a short biography, visit www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0801303.html.

The Missouri Farm Bureau and Missouri State University have developed a fun lesson based on the "Big Red Apple." To view, visit www.mofb.org/webquest/wq20a.htm.

Switzer Candy Landmark

A vicious storm that hit St. Louis on July 21, 2006, destroyed a long-time downtown landmark building, the Switzer Candy Co.

From the late 1800s until the 1970s, the sweet smell of licorice was a feature of the LaClede Landing area of downtown St. Louis. The big building was empty for years but the large Switzer Candy Co. sign was prominent to the end.

The building was adjacent to the Eads Bridge. And when the walls came down in the storm, bricks were found on the bridge. The building had been scheduled for renovation as lofts when the storm hit.

The good news is that the Switzer Candy Co. survives. In a note on its website, the company said the licorice and "cherry red" candies are made at different plants.

For a short history, visit www.lacledeslanding.org/Tour/walking_pics.html.

George Washington Carver

George Washington Carver is often considered the world's foremost agriculturist. The African-American's work with peanuts and soybeans was particularly useful in the South.

That's because it gave southern farmers new cash crops to break their over-dependence on cotton as the primary cash crop. That was particularly true because cotton depleted the soil while peanuts and soybeans actually helped built up fertility.

Carver was born in extreme southwest Missouri in the town of Diamond Grove on July 12, 1864. (The town, now known as Diamond, is southeast of Joplin, Mo.) A national monument was established in Diamond in 1943.

Born during the Civil War, Carver and his mother were kidnapped by raiders. He was later released after relatives gave the raiders a racehorse as ransom.

His education started at age 12 and his accomplishments were impressive, especially in light of the segregation in schools at that time. He enrolled at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, as that school's first black student.

He graduated from what is now Iowa State University in Ames and was immediately offered a faculty position. Later, he was named director of Tuskegee University's Department of Agricultural Research.

For more about Carver's accomplishments, there are two different websites. One is http://gorp/away.com/resources/us_nm/mo_georg.htm and www.ideafinder.com/history/inventors/carver.htm.

Battle of Vicksburg

The North's victory in the Battle of Vicksburg was one of the two pivotal events that changed the direction of the Civil War. The other was the Battle of Gettysburg.

The Vicksburg battle also showed the divided nature of the war for Missourians.

In the siege at Vicksburg, there were nearly as many Missouri regiments fighting for the South as for the North. There were 17 Confederate and 22 Union regiments.

In all, there were 199,111 volunteers from Missouri who fought in the Civil War. That meant that Missouri had the highest percentage of soldiers in terms of total state population of any state, north or south.

The surrender at Vicksburg was July 4, 1863.

For more about the Civil War, see www.missouribeautiful.com/missouri-facts. Also, about the Vicksburg battle, see www.nps.gov/archive/vick/vcmpgn/srndr.htm.