St. Louisians love their history. And indeed a lot happened here. Lewis and Clark bounced from these parts, headed west. The Dred Scott case began in a downtown courthouse not far from the banks of the Mississippi. The first wails of the blues outside the South were heard here. Currently, the city is celebrating the centennial of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, better known as the 1904 World's Fair, arguably the most significant event in St. Louis history.
But many African American residents of the Show Me State's second-largest city have often felt left out of its history. So when the Voices bus rolled into the parking lot of the Missouri Botanical Garden, aka "Shaw's Garden" to locals, there was some sense of anticipation in the air on this brilliant Indian summer morning.
One of the first to arrive was Mattie Berry, who was eager to tell about Meacham Park, a tiny all-black unincorporated area southwest of St. Louis. She talked about growing up in poverty there in the '30s and '40s but not really knowing that she was poor because she was surrounded by a loving family and a close-knit community.
"I remember how happy we were to move to a house that didn't have dirt floors," said Mrs. Berry, a retired St. Louis City school counselor.
Meacham Park was still dotted with outhouses and some unpaved roads until the 1960s, she said, due to neglect by government officials.
A segregated public school there served not only black youngsters from Meacham Park, but also blacks from communities where no public school was provided. Except for one or two exceptions, St. Louis County provided no public high schools for African American students until the early 1960s. So those intent on getting an education mostly took public transportation to St. Louis City schools, sometimes traveling 40 or 50 miles roundtrip daily at their own expense. Many youngsters simply ended their education at eighth grade and took menial jobs.
Long-time civil rights activist Percy Green, on hand for today's event, said St. Louis had all of the problems of Detroit, Watts, and other areas scarred by riots, but such urban unrest never happened here. "The right conditions were here, it just didn't happen. St. Louis was just lucky."
Barbara Williams, who worked for years as a lab technician, recalled the peaceful march of thousands of people to Forest Park after Martin Luther King's assassination. "There was a lot of anger then and I think it's still here. I think it needs to be vented in a healthy way."
Some even found the venue for this event, the former site of entrepreneur Henry Shaw's estate, suspect, including Saundra McNeal, 58: "You know Shaw owned slaves. That's why some people won't come here."
