A searing portrait of the racial dynamics that lie inescapably at the heart of our nation, told through the turbulent history of the city of St. Louis. From Lewis and Clark's 1804 expedition to the 2014 uprising in Ferguson, American history has been made in St. Louis. And as Walter Johnson shows in this searing book, the city exemplifies how imperialism, racism, and capitalism have persistently entwined to corrupt the nation's past. St. Louis was a staging post for Indian removal and imperial expansion, and its wealth grew on the backs of its poor black residents, from slavery through redlining and urban renewal. But it was once also America's most radical city, home to anti-capitalist immigrants, the Civil War's first general emancipation, and the nation's first general strike—a legacy of resistance that endures. A blistering history of a city's rise and decline, The Broken Heart of America will forever change how we think about the United States.
A reputation as the town of shoes, booze and blues persists in St. Louis. But a fascinating history waits just beneath the surface in the heart of the city, like the labyrinth of natural limestone caves where Anheuser-Busch got its start. One of the city's Garment District shoe factories was the workplace of a young Tennessee Williams, referenced in his first Broadway play, The Glass Menagerie. Downtown's vibrant African American community was the source and subject of such folk-blues classics as "Frankie and Johnny" and "Stagger Lee," not to mention W.C. Handy's classic "St. Louis Blues." Navigate this hidden heritage of downtown St. Louis with author Maureen Kavanaugh.
In these pages, geographers, archaeologists, and historians come together to consider the enduring ties between a city's diverse residents and the physical environment on which their well-being depends.
Excerpt from The Story of Old St. Louis This volume is the result of an effort to present the interesting story of the adventurous lives led by the inhabitants of St. Louis in early times, in a form accessible to all, and in a book of size convenient for use. This story has been told before in bulky volumes that may be found upon the shelves of reference rooms in our libraries, but our people know little of the wonderful life of our early pioneers. Few of our children are acquainted with the heroic history of our forefathers in the Mississippi Valley. They can tell of the struggles and accomplishments of the colonists on the Atlantic seaboard, but they have heard little of the greater struggles by which our own section of the United States was wrested from the wilderness. The epic story of this life of our pioneers is about to be presented in dramatic form in the "Pageant and Masque of St. Louis," for the purpose of arousing our people to pride in the glorious past and to unison of effort in the early accomplishment of yet greater things in the future. This prose story of old days in St. Louis is issued in furtherance of that purpose. That the people may appreciate and enjoy the drama, it is necessary they should know the facts of our history, and something of the kind of people who made St. Louis, what manner of life they lived, how they appeared, what forces they encountered and overcame. To give such basis for the enjoyment of the "Pageant and Masque" is the purpose of this volume. No credit for original research is made by him who has prepared it. He has selected freely, from whatever source was found available, the narratives of events deemed suitable to the purpose. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
The history of the Catholic Church in St. Louis is dominated by strong personalities and architectural grandeur. In Catholic St. Louis: A Pictorial History, rich text and photography capture the people and places that have defined Catholicism in a historic, and historically Catholic, city. Renowned historian William Barnaby Faherty, S.J., delivers concise historical sketches of the integral people and the landmark houses of worship; and photographer Mark Scott Abeln captures nearly forty different area churches in majestic fashion. From the eighteenth-century Holy Family Church in Cahokia to the overwhelming Cathedral Basilica to the modern St. Anselm's in Creve Coeur, St. Louis's churches are significant, not to mention spectacular. This coffee-table book truly presents Catholic St. Louis in all its splendor.
