Lost to the demolition of Mill Creek Valley neighborhood in the 1960s, this is the approximate location of Josephine Baker's childhood home on Gratiot Street in Midtown St. Louis. Josephine Baker was born in St. Louis in 1906 as Freda Josephine McDonald to her parents, Carrie McDonald and Eddie Carson. Josephine Baker created the foundations for her career in show business as a premier dancer, singer, as well as starring in multiple movies. Her love of the spotlight was sparked in St. Louis through her performances in clubs and in front of local theaters, before she relocated permanently in the 1920s to skyrocket her fame. After her move from St. Louis, Josephine Baker grew to be one of the most successful female performers in the world known for her famous banana dance in which she donned an outfit made of artificial bananas, as well as her performances in the films "Siren of the Tropics," "Zouzou," and "Princess Tam Tam."
Harris-Stowe State University traces its origins back to two of the earliest teachers’ colleges west of the Mississippi River, Harris Teachers College for White students and Stowe Teachers College for African American students. Guided by the Board of Education, the two institutions were combined in 1954 as the first of several steps to integrate St. Louis' public schools. The merged institution relocated to the original Vashon High School building at its current Midtown location in 1963. In 1979, Harris-Stowe College became the newest member of the state’s public higher education system and it was renamed Harris-Stowe State College. Finally, on August 25, 2005, Harris-Stowe State College obtained its current university status. Today, with an undergraduate enrollment of nearly 1,500 students, Harris-Stowe State University in Midtown is expanding, and offers a diverse range of educational services for the St. Louis community and beyond.
The Pine Street YMCA served as the social hub of African American St. Louis. It offered its members a swimming pool and gymnasium, as well as meeting rooms, dorms, and a cafeteria - facilities that often turned away Black people in white neighborhoods. More than that, the Pine Street YMCA was a safe space for the Black community. It was where groups could meet to organize and fight for civil rights, give back to those less fortunate, or just have fun. The demolition of the Mill Creek Valley neighborhood resulted in the end of the YMCA's forty year history of serving its community in 1960.
Established in 1903, the People's Hospital was the only privatized institution in St. Louis that treated African American patients during segregation. This clinic is one of the many buildings that once made up the, now, forgotten Mill Creek Valley neighborhood of St. Louis. Currently, the People's Hospital building remains at 2219 Locust St. but has since been abandoned.
Formed in 1923, the People's Finance Corporation served Black St. Louisans who were shut out of White-led financial institutions. In 1926, the Corporation opened the five story People's Finance Building at the corner of Jefferson and Market Avenues. This building anchored the Mill Creek Valley neighborhood, just west of downtown St. Louis, as a hub of Black community and commerce. Throughout the years, a large number of Black professionals conducted business in the space, as well as serving as the headquarters for an array of Black unions and civil rights organizations. The building was torn down by the city as part of its urban renewal plan in 1954.
The Booker T. Washington Theatre was one of the first theaters in the United States operated by African-Americans for African-Americans. In its operating years between 1912 and 1930, audiences came to see vaudeville performances, motion pictures, and musical acts. Charles Udell Turpin, the theater's owner and manager, was the first African-American St. Louisan elected to a political office in 1910. The theater was host to many prominent African-American artists throughout its history. Ethel Waters and Bill Robinson were among the stars featured at Booker T. Washington Theatre. As a child, entertainer Josephine Baker performed outside the theater with other neighborhood children hoping to get noticed.
Opening in 1866, Colored School No. 1, as all contemporary sources refer to it, relates the story of how even after emancipation, St. Louis' African American population had to continue its fight for equality. Activists focused this struggle on the battlefield of education, as the city's elite and white society subjected them to systemic oppression in the wake of the Civil War. Originally located two blocks south from Busch Stadium at Fifth (modern day Broadway) and Gratiot Street in the city, the students and faculty of the segregated "Colored" schools endured lack of funding, insufficient resources, and uncertainty. In the face of it all however, the students and faculty of Colored School No. 1 continuously excelled in academics, and expressed their pride as citizens of St. Louis and the United States.
Madam C.J. Walker is best known as one of the pioneers of commercial products for African American hair care. Though she set up her factory in Indianapolis, and eventually called New York home, the idea for her groundbreaking product came to her in a dream here in St. Louis. She lived in the city for 18 years, and part of that was spent here at 1615 Linden Street, which now houses lofts, an advertising firm, and, fittingly, a beauty salon. Walker's life story is now the basis of the plot of a Netflix original television series, "Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker." Walker is played by Academy Award winning actress Octavia Spencer.
The Booker T. Washington Vocational School, also known as The Franklin School, was located at 814 N. 19th Street near the former Mill Creek Valley neighborhood. The Booker T. Washington Vocational School was the first vocational school for the Black population of St. Louis from its inception as a part of the St. Louis Public Schools policy of segregation. Black students went to Booker T. Washington for vocational studies and white students attended Hadley Technical High School less than two miles away. The building is an example of the 19th century and early 20th century Greek Revival style housed about 391 students within its walls
The Scott Joplin House is one of the few remaining structures related to the life and career of Scott Joplin (1868-1917), one of America's most significant composers. The writer of such popular and enduring songs as "The Maple Leaf Rag" and "The Entertainer" (the latter prominently featured in the popular 1973 film, The Sting), Joplin lived in the house on Delmar Boulevard, then known as Morgan Street, with his wife Belle between 1900 and 1903. Designated both a National Historic Landmark and part of the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, America's bicentennial year, the house was saved from demolition largely through the efforts of the late local housing advocate Macler Shepard, on behalf of the African-American community of St. Louis.
The First Baptist Church of St. Louis was the first African-American church west of the Mississippi River. The First Baptist Church and one of its founders, John Berry Meachum, made a large impact helping the enslaved population of St. Louis and helped to form the city that we see today. Founded in 1817 by two missionaries, the church has been able to survive through pre- and post-Civil War era Missouri and thrive into the twenty-first century with a strong congregation. Still functioning today, the First Baptist Church of St. Louis has a vibrant congregation which serves the local community. Although the church does not operate in the same building it originated in on Almond Street, the current building on Bell Avenue has been the church's home since 1952.
Vashon High School was established in 1927 at 3026 Laclede Avenue to serve St. Louis’ African American Mill Creek Valley neighborhood, relieving overcrowding at Sumner High School in The Ville. After most of the Mill Creek neighborhood was demolished in the late 1950s as part of an urban renewal program, Vashon was relocated to the Hadley Vocational-Technical High School building at 3405 Bell Avenue in 1963. In 2002, Vashon moved to its present location at 3035 Cass Avenue. Today, the original building continues to serve the St. Louis community as part of the Harris-Stowe State University campus. Vashon is best known around the U.S. for its top-ranking boys’ basketball program.
Originally named the Chapman Branch, the YWCA opened this location in 1911 to serve African American women and girls in the St. Louis area. This was the fifth YWCA branch opened for this purpose in the United States. The branch was renamed for Phyllis Wheatley, the first published African American poet, in April 1913. It served as a gathering place for fellowship, education, recreation, and temporary housing. For most of its existence, the Phyllis Wheatley YWCA had a home in Mill Creek Valley, a majority African American neighborhood in St. Louis city. It is now located on the campus of St. Louis University.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
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This driving tour of St. Louis was created by students at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and connects people to a variety of sites throughout the city. The tour centers on the history of the Mill Creek Valley neighborhood such as the institutions that served the black community and the historic homes of influential African Americans.
