West Newsmagazine 2-7-24

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New book explores city’s Black culture, rich history
February 7, 2024
WEST NEWSMAGAZINE
I NEWS I 19
By LAURA BROWN
“Black St. Louis,” a new book by St.
Louisans Calvin Riley and Nini Harris,
shares the history of Black St. Louisans
from the city’s founding as a French furtrading
post during the Spanish colonial
era in 1764 to the new millennium.
The book is filled with pictures and stories
of influential residents.
Learn about people like Charlton Tandy,
a Union Army veteran who fought for
civil rights, and John Berry Meachum,
an ex-slave who led the Black community
with kindness and founded the First
African Baptist Church. Discover how
businesswoman Annie Malone built an
industry that served and enriched Black
residents in the early 20th century and left
a lasting impact on the city.
Many of the pictures are from Riley’s
collection at the George B. Vashon
Museum in St. Louis. Riley founded the
museum in 2015 and remains its director.
He is also a well-known antiques dealer
and collector of Black memorabilia. He
said Harris approached him with the idea
to write a book after visiting the museum
several times. “Black St. Louis” is Harris’s
18th book on St. Louis history and
architecture.
“Nini would come to my museum and
visit quite often and felt we needed to do a
book because no one has done this,” Riley
said. “There’s a lot of research out there
on Black history in St. Louis that has not
been told. Most people that do things in
our city, when they die, they’re forgotten.
We know about Martin Luther King
Jr. and Malcolm X. There’s a lot of other
people who did a lot and we need to talk
about them.”
A former educator, Riley is passionate
about sharing the accomplishments of
Black St. Louisans.
“History needs to be told,” he said.
“There’s enough documentation and artifacts
to tell the truth on what you find. All
cultures are rich (and) have people who
have contributed to our community and
kids need to hear that so they can be proud
of their culture. All cultures have negative
and positive parts of their history.”
Riley shared the story of Jordan Chambers,
who was a prominent businessman
and leader in the 1940s and ‘50s. While
he never held a political office, he was
a powerful figure and referred to as “the
Negro mayor of St. Louis,” Riley said.
“It’s because of him that Black police
officers were allowed to wear uniforms.
He also worked to get Black
people better jobs in the community,”
Riley said.
Harris said the pictures in the book
show what everyday life was like for
Black people in St. Louis.
“When you see all of (the pictures)
together you see the family life, sense
of community, values and day-today
life that we have not had many
images of, or those images have not
been shared with the greater community,”
Harris said. “We were able to
use a couple photos of mature Black
men. Others show young women of
African heritage elegantly attired in
Victorian dress; one woman is holding
a book. That is interesting considering
it was illegal at the time to teach
African Americans to read and write,
yet here was this elegant African
woman holding a book. We get to see 250
years of what has transpired here.”
Harris pointed out that St. Louis developed
like a patchwork with different
neighborhoods of immigrants including
Sicilian, Irish, Polish and Black. She said
it’s important to learn about them all.
“So often we look at communities or
(Source: Reedy Press)
neighborhoods in silos. We need to look at
what is special about each, and then look
at the bigger picture and see how things
relate to one another.”
“I live in Dutchtown and went to Woodward
Elementary school,” Harris said. “St.
Louis history was part of our curriculum. I
still have my textbook, and I love it!”
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