Ain't but a Place: An Anthology of African American Writings about St. Louis

by Gerald Early

Overview

Gerald Early writes in the introduction to "Ain't But a Place": An Anthology of African American Writings about St. Louis, "An impressive amount of artistic energy is generated in St. Louis, and the source of a good deal of that energy is its African American citizenry". Although the majority of writers and entertainers left St. Louis "to engage their muse and quarrel with American culture from another location", the experience gained from the St. Louis region has remained prominent in the expressions. "Ain't But a Place" captures voices that comprise the African American experience in St. Louis over the past two hundred years. This rich collection spans a variety of genres to include the words of such notables as freed slaves and abolitionists William Wells Brown and Lucy Delaney; sports greats Bob Gibson, Henry Armstrong, and Jackie Joyner Kersee; entertainers Dick Gregory, Miles Davis, Chuck Berry, and Tina Turner; and writers Eddy Harris, Ntozake Shange, Quincy Troupe, and Eugene Redmond.

"Ain't But a Place" makes ideal reading for the student of African American culture, as well as anyone interested in the formative experiences of some of this region's most influential individuals.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781883982287
Publisher:	Missouri History Museum Press
Publication date:	01/28/1999
Pages:	544
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

About the Editor

Gerald Early is currently the Merle King Professor of Modern Letters at Washington University in St. Louis. He is the author of numerous books, including The Culture of Bruising, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award; most recently, he is the editor of Miles Davis and American Culture.

Table of Contents

	Foreword	xi
	Introduction	xiii
I.	Autobiographies and Memoirs
5
	from Narrative of William Wells Brown, A Fugitive Slave
27
	from Behind the Scenes; or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House
34
	from From the Darkness Cometh the Light; or, Struggles for Freedom
47
	from From Tennessee Slave to St. Louis Entrepreneur: The Autobiography of James Thomas
55
57
59
	from Ex-Slave Narratives
64
	from Standing Fast: The Autobiography of Roy Wilkins
70
	from Gloves, Glory, and God: An Autobiography
81
	from Any Boy Can: The Archie Moore Story
93
	from Sonny Liston: The Champ Nobody Wanted
102
	from 20 Years Too Soon: Prelude to Major-League Integrated Baseball
121
	from The Way It Is
134
	from Stranger to the Game
144
	from A Kind of Grace: The Autobiography of the World's Greatest Female Athlete
152
	from Josephine
166
	from Chuck Berry: The Autobiography
184
	from Nigger: An Autobiography
205
	from Miles: The Autobiography
222
	from I, Tina: My Life Story
228
	from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
235
	from South of Haunted Dreams: A Ride Through Slavery's Old Back Yard
244
	from Daughters: On Family and Fatherhood
256
	from A Long Way from St. Louie: Travel Memoirs
II.	Historical and Cultural Documents, Essays, and Articles
267
	from The Colored Aristocracy of St. Louis
280
	"What I Have Lived to See"
	"Moses Dickson: The Great Negro Organizer and Fraternal Society Leader"
285
	from Manual of the International Order of Twelve, of Knights and Daughters of Tabor
294
	from The Massacre of East St. Louis
300
	"The Conspiracy of the East St. Louis Riots"
307
	"The Debt St. Louis Owes Douglass University"
	"On Entering Washington University"
	Introduction from American Literature by Negro Authors
319
	"The Negro's Armageddon"
324
	from "The History of Homer G. Phillips Hospital"
328
	from The History and Development of Homer G. Phillips Hospital
337
	from Your St. Louis and Mine
347
	"In Racial Matters in St. Louis `De Sun Do Move'"
350
	"Katherine Dunham: A Talk with the Matriarch of Black Dance in America"
355
	interview from "A Strong Seed Planted"
364
	interview from "A Strong Seed Planted"
381
	interview from "'That's the Way It Was': Human Responses to Racism in Everyday Life, 1900-1960"
387
	from "The Best in Lifestyle"
	from Kingsbury Place: The First Two Hundred Years
402
	from "From Showboat to Symphony: A Study of Black Classical Musicians in St. Louis, 1920-1980"
413
	"White Proud of Stint as NL Boss"
	"Salukis' Gilmore Is Still Shooting after Being Hit in Drive-by Shooting"
	"Star Takes Her Game to the Next Level--Below Studies"
419
	"Mayor Vs. Chief; Feud Hurts City"
	"In Teen's Slayings, Facts of Case not Cut and Dried"
	"Living in City Has Advantages"
III.	Fiction and Poetry
429
	from God Sends Sunday
441
	from The Tie That Binds: A Novel of a Youth Who Seeks To Understand Life
452
	from Man Walking on Eggshells
458
	from Be-Bop, Re-Bop
464
	from Betsey Brown: A Novel
473
	from Annotations
478
	"Son of Msippi"
481
	"Carry Over"
	Prologue to "Milestone: The Birth of an Ancestor"
	"Tale of Two Toms"
486
	"Skulls Along the River"
494
	"Neighborhoods"
	"Monologue for Saint Louis"
496
	"Mississippi River Poem"
500
	"Black Bridge Blues"
	"Dunham's Dance"
503
	"Walking Home"
	"Wet Streets Sleep"
506
	"The Quiet Zone"
	Acknowledgments	509
	Suggested Readings	515

Editorial Reviews

A collection of fiction, poetry, memoirs, autobiography, history, and journalism, illuminating the African American experience in St. Louis in the 19th and 20th centuries. Writers include jazz great Miles Davis, novelist Maya Angelou, comedian and activist Dick Gregory, and Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson. Selections encompass everything from slave narratives to work generated by the East St. Louis Writer's Workshop. Includes biographical notes on each contributor. Distributed by University of Missouri Press. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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