Five separate articles on St. Louis history:

Black history exhibit for kids opens March 16

A unique Missouri Historical Society study exhibit of four St. Louis area African-American neighborhoods opens this month. The exhibit is titled: "Through the Eyes of a Child: Growing Up Black in St. Louis, 1940-1990."

The "Eyes" exhibit is based on four years of study of four area black neighborhoods. Two of them, the Ville and Carr Square, are in the city of St. Louis. One is Kinloch in St. Louis County. The other is the southern portion of East St. Louis, Ill.

The public grand opening will be Sunday, March 16, at the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park. The first-day hours are 2-4 p.m. and admission is free.

On the first day, two special events will add to the fun. At 2 p.m., poets Hari "Sky" Campbell and Eugene Redmond will be featured. Then, at 3 p.m., the Community Performance Ensemble will perform African music and dance.

The study's goal was to show how changes over the 50-year period affected children living there. The four neighborhoods are both socially and economically diverse.

 

A transfer of power from Spain, to France to U.S.

On March 9-10, 1804, an unusual transfer of power was completed in St. Louis. It involved the deeding of the Upper Louisiana Territory to the United States.

On March 9, the Spanish flag was lowered and the French flag was put in place. That represented Napoleon Bonaparte's victory in a war with the Spanish.

Then, just 24 hours later on March 10, the U.S. flag replaced the French standard. This represented Napoleon's sale of the Louisiana Purchase territory to the United States. St. Louis was the territorial capitol of this upper region.

From the United States' viewpoint, this marked to opening of the American West to expansion.

For more information, you can log on: www.actualstlouis.com/stlgeninfo/history.htm or www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jeffwest.html.

 

A fun performance about Lewis and Clark

The Piwacket Theatre group will present a kid-friendly performance about Lewis and Clark. The performances will be at the Missouri History Museum's Lee Auditorium on March 18, 19, 27 and 28.

The "Lewis & Clark Go West!" performances will be at 10:30 a.m. each day.

The play will be narrated by Pierre the Raccoon. He will tell a tale about explorers Lewis and Clark, French fur trappers and American Indians. This history lesson deals with westward expansion and responsibility.

Admission is $8 for adults; $6 for children (except those under 2 are free). Group rates are available. For ticket reservations, call (314) 963-8800.

 

A famous St. Louis birthday on March 28

August Anheuser Busch, the grandson of the brewery's founder, was born in St. Louis on March 28, 1899.

A.A. Busch would go on to serve as the chairman of the brewery for 30 years. The company is now the largest brewer of beer in the world. It's headquarters are still in St. Louis.

For more about the family, check: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/mar28.html.

 

Current events mirrored in St. Louis' past history

Deaths in the space program and women athletes competing with men. Those events are in the current news these days. But, they also occurred in St. Louis' past.

Local historian Joe Sonderman lists incidents of history repeating itself in his book, "St. Louis 365." He includes 155 interesting historical items from the month of March alone.

This year, the nation mourned the deaths of seven astronauts who died when the shuttle Columbia burned up in space. But, St. Louis had its own incident with space-age deaths in 1966 when two Gemini Project flyers were killed in St. Louis on a training flight.

A woman golfer has qualified to play in a PGA men's pro tour event this summer. And, in May, the leading golfer on the women's tour, Annika Sorenstam, has been awarded a sponsor's exemption to play in the Colonial tournament, another stop on the men's pro golf tour.

But, in 1934, legendary women's athlete Babe Didrickson, also a golfer, pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals in a baseball exhibition game. Didrickson also was played in a men's pro golf meet in 1945.

Here are a sample of March anniversaries from Sonderman's book:

March 1, 1912: Aviation history was made in St. Louis. Lt. Albert Berry made the very first parachute jump from an airplane. He jumped from a Benoist bi-plane piloted by Anthony Jannus 1,500 feet above the snow covered ground of Jefferson Barracks.

March 1, 1932: The infant son of Col. and Mrs. Charles Lindbergh was kidnapped from the upstairs nursery of the Lindbergh home in Hopewell, N.J. The boy was found dead after a ransom had been delivered. Police eventually traced some of the ransom money to Bruno Richard Hauptman. He was found guilty and executed after what was then called "the trial of the century." (St. Louisan Lindbergh became an international hero for making the first trans-oceanic solo plane flight from the U.S. to France.)

March 2, 1966: Two planes left St. Louis. One carried the Gemini Nine Space Capsule, built at McDonnell-Douglas. The other carried the bodies of astronauts Charles Bassett and Elliott See. They were killed on February 28th, when their jet trainer crashed into a building at McDonnell. They crashed into the very building they were to visit to inspect the space capsule. They were to have been aboard Gemini Nine in May.

March 7, 1872: After months of debate, the Missouri Legislature approved a bill creating Forest Park. The bill was the result of a campaign by Hiram Leffingwell, a developer who just so happened to own huge tracts of land near the site. Taxpayers and land owners successfully challenged this bill, claiming the park was too far away to be of any use. But, in 1874, a new bill made changes required by the court, and Hiram got his park. (Of course, Forest Park went on to be the site of the 1904 World's Fair.)

March 20, 1878: Businessmen Alonso and Charles Slayback proposed a yearly pageant to promote the Agricultural and Mechanical Fair. They created the Mystic Order of the Veiled Prophet, modeled after the New Orleans Carnival Society. The annual parade and ball became a show for the rich and powerful, but faded as times changed in the 60s and 70s. In July, 1981, its leaders put on the first "V.P. Fair." The name was changed to "Fair St. Louis" in 1994.

March 22, 1934: Legendary athlete Babe Didrickson became the only woman ever to pitch for the Cardinals. She started an exhibition game and gave up four hits and three runs before being relieved by "Wild Bill" Hallahan. Didrickson is one of only two females to pitch in the majors. The other was Lizzie Murphy, who played for the American League All-Star team in 1922.

March 26, 1973: UCLA's Bill Walton hit 21 or 22 shots and scored 44 points as the Bruins beat Memphis State in the NCAA championship game at the Arena. Walton's performance is still considered one of the greatest individual performances ever in an NCAA championship game. (Walton is now a TV sports commentator.)

If you'd like to have a copy of Sonderman's book, it's on sale at all major St. Louis book stores. You also can purchase it on-line at www.booksonline.com.