That would be, let’s see, Little Rock? Memphis? Selma, Alabama? Atlanta, Georgia, home of Martin Luther King, Jr’s Ebenezer Baptist Church. Nope. That’d be St. Louis, Missouri – your hometown. At least so read the banner headline of the St. Louis American, September 22, 1964. And so claimed Judge Nathan B. Young, co-founder of the St. Louis American and prominent black attorney and judge in St. Louis.
Let’s examine some facts that you yourself can discover at the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park. The Museum, under the guidance of Dr. Gwendolyn Moore, has introduced an absorbing, immersive and eye-opening walk-through exhibit describing in rich detail the civil rights legacy of Missouri and, mostly, St. Louis. It is extensive. This exhibit is a college degree in and of itself.
Remember the recent Academy Award nominated film Hidden Figures, about three super genius black female mathematicians who worked for NASA? Remember how, after seeing that movie, one of the first comments you uttered was “why am I just learning about these women now?”
Well, here is an exhibit that will have you dumbfounded by that very same question, over and over again. Curator Moore has laid out an historical path of Civil Rights landmarks, successes and setbacks, that took place right here in Missouri, right here in St. Louis. Okay, so everyone has heard of the Dred Scott decision. Two other “slaves” sued in St. Louis before Dred Scott did and won their freedom. Scott did not win his. In fact, the Scott decision took a completely different tact from the Missouri Supreme Court rulings on the previous two cases. The U.S. Supreme Court, asserted that, by the terms of the United States constitution, Negroes were property, not people.
Do you know where the first overtly civil rights protest in the country took place? And why? Do you know how many civil rights cases that came from St. Louis were decided in the United States Supreme Court? What the national significance of each is? Oh, here’s one: Which came first? The 13th amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolishing slavery or full emancipation of Negroes in Missouri? Oh, and here’s one: What is the significance of the house at 4600 Labadie in St. Louis? And, here is an ironic one, who is Gustavus Tuckerman and why is he important to St. Louis Civil Rights and the NAACP? What do Charles Anderson, Lloyd Gaines, and Minnie Liddell have in common? 
I could go on with these discoveries, because there are dozens more. It just comes to mind that as a liberal, progressive white person, I don’t know nothin’. And really, who of you does? This isn’t stuff we were taught in school. This isn’t commonly shared knowledge in our community, at least among white people. In fact, as Curator Moore points out, the sentiment in St. Louis and Missouri is that “we really didn’t have a civil rights movement.” This exhibit at the Missouri History Museum will slap you in the face with an “oh yeah, take a look at this!”
Okay, I can’t resist. Here’s one last quiz question: For what event did the U.S. Justice Department get involved in its FIRST civil rights action, nationally? Where did this event take place? Oh, and I just can’t resist: What is the significance of the March on Washington that originated in St. Louis? Did it actually take place?
It is understandable to be uninformed. It is even forgivable, once. But, it is perilously irresponsible to stay that way. The exhibit at the Missouri History Museum is scheduled to be open until April 15, 2018. You will find answers to all these questions and so much more, there. Do not wait.
Submitted by Mark Kumming, WCD Member