Latest from Stefene Russell
A historic look back at a St. Louis community garden in 1967
As many city gardeners know, a plant freshly placed in the ground is the ultimate totem of optimism.
A historic look back at Plum Street in St. Louis
The neighborhood provided the backdrop to no shortage of memorable stories.
In 1888, the Mississippi River formed ice gorges, captured here in a photograph
An ice gorge is “a mass of ice blocks heaped upon one another and rivaling a church steeple in height.”
This scene from a cigar factory in 1909 St. Louis reveals something more about labor in the city
A 5-cent cigar’s never really a 5-cent cigar.
A look back at “pioneer balloonist” Morris Heimann
The daring adventurer made headlines for narrowly escaping a storm
A look back at Eckert’s apple picking in 1970
Generations of St. Louisans have flocked to the orchard, chasing a faint old memory like the wee pip of an apple.
A look back at a Dexter fall festival parade in 1955
Today, the town still hosts the Stoddard County Fair in September.
A look back at a creative St. Louis classroom in the early ’90s
In a country where thousands of schools don’t even teach art anymore, a study published this past February laid out what we’ve lost: superior writing skills, focus and good behavior, more empathy.
Remembering The Comet roller coaster
In 1963, it all burned down. But before that, it was 85 feet of fun.
A look back at St. Louis’ 1969 Fourth of July celebration
In 1969, the patriotic event drew hundreds of thousands, and Famous-Barr orchestrated a whole show in the air and on the water.