Photo by Cary Horton, courtesy of the Missouri History Museum
Two years ago this month, St. Louis became the epicenter of what’s been called the new civil rights movement. But as Missouri History Museum curator Gwen Moore will tell you, this city has always been the site of historic struggles for racial equality.
Between 1814 and 1860, Moore says, “Black people could actually go to court and sue for their freedom.” Though the process was arduous, she says, “the majority of them won their suits—which is quite extraordinary.”
The documents from those early cases are on display at #1 in Civil Rights: The African American Freedom Struggle in St. Louis, which Moore curated. The 6,000-square-foot exhibit covers centuries of history and, in addition to artifacts, uses film and art to tell the stories of people such as Judge Nathan B. Young, co-founder of the St. Louis American, who gave St. Louis the title “#1 in Civil Rights.” (Four landmark Supreme Court cases have been filed here, including the famous Shelley v. Kraemer case.)
The exhibit also highlights lesser-known events in history, such as Moses Dickson’s founding of the Knights of Liberty secret society, which assembled nearly 50,000 men to fight for abolition. St. Louis didn’t have the first lunch counter protests, but they did take place here as early as the 1940s—and Moore says they they were the first truly sustained protests, lasting months and even years.
The exhibit also has a lyrical touch in its use of art and film. Thomas Sleet’s large-scale projection of archival civil rights–era footage on the walls of the exhibit’s entryway gives the sensation of being at a protest. St. Louis artists William Burton, Dail Chambers, Darnell Chambers, and Robert Ketchens all created portraits of the historical figures documented in the exhibit.
There’s also a section addressing Ferguson. “If you’re a historian, you always feel you need some distance from an event to adequately interpret it in a non-biased way,” Moore says. Right now, “We’re in the heat of the moment, and geographically we’re right here. I always ask people, ‘How does this fit in with the narrative? How do you see Ferguson? Is this part of this narrative arc? Is it part of the civil rights movement in St. Louis? Is it something different? How would you characterize it?’ That’s the question. But it’s obvious it’s still a struggle.”
And Don't Miss
Programming around the #1 in Civil Rights exhibit includes films, concerts, lectures, and more.
August 3–5
Catch the final performances of BAG Then; BAG Now, a short play about St. Louis’ groundbreaking Black Artists’ Group.
August 12
The Dred Scott 160th Anniversary Festival of Free-dom honors Scott’s commitment to justice.
August 19
The St. Louis African American History & Genealogy Society will be on hand to help people research their family trees.
The exhibit, which is free, runs through April 15, 2018, at the Missouri History Museum. For more info, go to mohistory.org.
