Dred and Harriet Scott, Annie Malone's Poro College, The Ville and Chuck Berry.
Dred And Harriet Scott
On April 6, 1846, Dred Scott sued for his freedom in St. Louis, and a separate petition was filed for his wife, Harriet. They had been held as slaves in free territory, and every trial in the case, a hearing of the Missouri Supreme Court included, took place in the Old Courthouse downtown. In March 1857 the US Supreme Court ruled 7 to 2 against them, holding that people of African descent could not be citizens.
Annie Malone
Annie Turnbo Malone developed hair products for Black women and sold them door to door in St. Louis. In 1918 she founded Poro College, a cosmetology school and business center that also hosted the community's religious and social life, and she trained many women to sell her products. She gave the founding gift to the St. Louis Colored Orphans Home and led its board from 1919 to 1943. It is now the Annie Malone Children and Family Service Center, and the city still holds an annual Annie Malone parade for children's charities.
The Ville
From 1911 to 1950 The Ville, in north St. Louis, was the center of Black culture in the city. Sumner High School there was the first high school for Black students west of the Mississippi, and Homer G. Phillips Hospital, opened in 1937, was a teaching hospital and the only one in the city to serve Black patients.
Chuck Berry And Josephine Baker
Chuck Berry was born in St. Louis on October 18, 1926, grew up in The Ville and gave his first public performance in 1941 as a Sumner High student. In 1955 he recorded Maybellene for Chess Records, and for years he played a Wednesday a month at Blueberry Hill in the Delmar Loop.
Josephine Baker was born in St. Louis in 1906, left school by 12 and became the most successful American entertainer in France. In 2021 she became the first Black woman inducted into the Panthéon in Paris.
Black St. Louis Today
North St. Louis carries much of this history, and Black-owned restaurants, salons, shops and brands are part of everyday St. Louis.
Shop Black-owned businesses in St. Louis on CashBlack.
Photo Credits
The Old Courthouse, where Dred and Harriet Scott sued for their freedom. Photo: Daderot., CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons