Martyrs
His murder in 2014 became a major catalyst for the Black Lives Matter Movement
Michael Brown
Nelly
This event held in Forest Park in 1904 legally permitted black people to buy admission tickets and enter the fairgrounds but did not gaurantee service. There were exhibits that dehumanized blacks like the Pigmy with shaved teeth and the "Old Plantation" exhibit.
World's Fair
The daughter of former slaves, I secured my place in the history books through my hair and cosmetic entrepreneurship and my commitment to the St. Louis Black community. I was an inventor and have an annual parade named in my honor.
Annie Malone
This housing project in STL became a symbol of modernist architecture's failed, society-changing aspirations. Though legally integrated, it soon became exclusively black, plagued by poor maintenance, crime, and juvenile delinquency. It was demolished starting in 1972
Pruitt - Igoe
A 21-year-old Black man was dragged from a jail cell in Manchester, Missouri. A masked mob hanged him from a bridge over the Meramec River. Local authorities made no arrests, and a historical marker was dedicated in Lower Buder Park in 2025 after local pushback
John Buckner (1894)
The legendary Queen of Rock and Roll, who attended Sumner High School in the city.
Tina Turner
Shelley v. Kraemer: This pivotal 1948 U.S. Supreme Court case originated from a St. Louis duplex and successfully struck down this
Racially restrictive housing/Redlining
American memoirist, essayist, poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning more than 50 years.
Maya Angelou
This is a historic, half-square-mile neighborhood in STL that served as a powerhouse of African-American culture, education, and business in the 20th century. Home to the former Homer G Phillips hospital and Sumner High School.
The Ville
On June 18, 1931, at the age of 51, this lawyer was shot and killed at a St. Louis streetcar stop. While two men were tried for his murder, they were ultimately acquitted, leaving his assassination shrouded in mystery
Homer G Phillips
The pioneering architect of rock and roll who launched his career in St. Louis.
Chuck Berry
The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) organized historic demonstrations and lobby sit-ins at this bank to demand fair hiring practices for Black workers.
Jefferson Bank Protests (1963)
The first black female mayor of St. Louis
Tishaura Jones
This historic, vibrant African-American neighborhood in STL was entirely demolished in the late 1950s under the name of urban renewal and clearing so-called blight
Mill Creek (Valley)
Just two months after Michael Brown's death, this 18-year-old was shot and killed by an off-duty St. Louis city police officer in the Shaw neighborhood, prompting further community outrage and accusations of racial profiling
Vonderrit Myers (Jr)
A legendary international dancer, singer, actress, World War II spy, and civil rights activist who rose from abject poverty in St. Louis's Mill Creek Valley neighborhood to become a global icon in Paris called “the most sensational woman anybody ever saw. Or ever will.”
Josephine Baker
This fight involving "the Greatest" and one of STL own sons produced one of the greatest upsets in boxing history in a 15-round split decision
Ali vs Spinks 1
She dedicated nearly 50 years to St. Louis public schools, developing foundational African-American history curricula and establishing the ______ African-American Collection at the St. Louis Public Library
Julia Davis
The ________ (street name) Divide serves as that acts as a sharp racial and socioeconomic dividing line between the north and south sides of the street
Delmar
Three nights of civil unrest in the predominantly Black north St. Louis County community of Kinloch, triggered by the fatal police shooting of this young Black man
Donnell "Donnie" Dortch
Award-winning actor known for This Is Us and Black Panther. He was born and raised in St. Louis.
Sterling K Brown
In a landmark case, they took their future into their own hands in 1846 and came to the Old Courthouse to seek freedom from enslavement.
Dred and Harriet Scott
He is Black activist in St. Louis, Missouri who scaled the Gateway Arch to protest the exclusion of blacks from federal contracts and jobs related to the construction of the Arch.
Percy Green
Actress Jennifer Lewis and Congresswoman Maxine Waters were born in this city, the oldest African-American community to be incorporated in Missouri, which was home to a vibrant and flourishing Black community for much of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Kinloch