Legacy of Lions: A History of University City [Missouri]

History

NiNi Harris

Americas

Historical Society of University City

In Downtown St. Louis, author NiNi Harris follows the evolution of Downtown St. Louis from colonial days when French traders and craftsmen planted maize on the prairies that stretched from 4th Street west to Jefferson Avenue to millennials and empty nesters living in castle-like warehouses converted into 21st century lofts. Downtown St. Louis recalls when Native Americans arrived by canoe to attend a grand council and the sounds of Italian street vendors in the 1870s. It describes the street celebration that erupted at 8th and Olive Streets at the news the Japanese had surrendered ending World War II. All the while, generations of St. Louisans were building and rebuilding a spectacular Downtown - with ornate Victorian architecture reflected in the sheer glass walls of International style skyscrapers, with the nation's first skyscraper, with lavish Art Deco civic buildings, and with a train station modeled after a walled, medieval city. Downtown St. Louis recalls tells of the building of the Gateway Arch, the 630 foot shimmering sculpture that embodies the history of St. Louis while framing Downtown s skyline.

Downtown St. Louis

Foreword by Charlie Brennan

Photo Editing by Don Korte

Reedy Press, LLC

St. Louis's history is layered. Each layer, whether the French pioneers establishing St. Louis as a river trading post, or Swiss immigrants starting dairy farms and dairies, or immigrants from Europe putting on the uniforms of the American doughboy, has left an imprint on the city. This Used to Be St. Louis is a fun trip through those layers of history following the story of: the glamorous, urban lofts that had been the factory for ball turrets for World War Two Air Force bombers; the dock of the pasta plant where the Civil War ironclads were built; the elegant townhouse that once served as a Albanian Orthodox Church.

This Used to Be St. Louis

Downtown St. Louis is a national treasure boasting an instantly recognizable skyline, framed by one of the world s great monuments the Gateway Arch. The landscape of this remarkable downtown is punctuated by Louis Sullivan designed skyscrapers, a train station that was modeled after a walled Medieval city, a street lined with warehouses decorated like wedding cakes, cobblestone streets, the delightful sculptures of Aloe Plaza, and the marble checkerboard paving of Kiener Plaza. This architectural setting has been the stage for great movements in American history the migration west, paddle-wheelers plying the Mississippi, the Union Army s victories in the Western Theatre of the Civil War, and the waves of immigrants who worked their way toward citizenship in downtown St. Louis. In this second edition of Downtown St. Louis, author and native St. Louisan NiNi Harris uses the voices of famous visitors and everyday St. Louisans to follow the story of downtown from the days when French settlers grazed their cattle and horses on land that now grows skyscrapers to the celebration in the streets when word spread that the Japanese had surrendered, ending World War II.

Downtown St. Louis, Second Edition

Arts & Photography

Photography & Video

Reedy Press

St. Louis has thrived for over two hundred and fifty years-from its beginnings as a French settlement in 1764 to its rapid growth in the mid-1800s to the modern metropolis we know today. While many great structures have been lost or demolished, much of this history still lives on. Within the pages of Oldest St. Louis, get to know the history of the Mound City's most iconic buildings and the stories that bring their walls to life. Included are some of the businesses and buildings from the city's inception through the turn of the twentieth century that are examples of St. Louis's living history like Eugene Field House (1854), Bissell Mansion (1820s), and homes in the historic Carondelet neighborhood that may date back to the late 1700s.

Oldest St. Louis

Black St. Louis explores the rich and inspiring history of African Americans in St. Louis from the city's founding as a French fur trading post during the Spanish colonial era to the new millennium. Author NiNi Harris highlights great figures who showed leadership, incredible innovation, and courage despite the injustices they faced.Learn about the people like feisty Charlton Tandy, a Union Army veteran who fought for Civil Rights, or John Berry Meachum, an ex-slave who led the Black community with kindness and founded the First African Baptist Church. In the early 20th century, businesswoman Annie Malone built an industry that served and enriched African Americans and left a lasting impact on the city. Jordan Chambers, a night club owner, held so much political sway that he was known as the "Negro mayor of St. Louis."Black St. Louis covers more than 250 years of history to tell the stories of extraordinary people who helped pave the way for the St. Louis we know today.

Black St. Louis

Calvin Riley

Holly Hills is a brief history of the Hollywood-inspired neighborhood that borders St. Louis's treasured Carondelet Park. Author and longtime St. Louis historian NiNi Harris follows the history of the area, from the faint traces of early French settlers, through its purchase by railroad magnate Jay Gould, and finally to the dynamic developers who envisioned a California-styled neighborhood. Harris highlights the lasting institutions, civic leaders, and colorful characters that have shaped the neighborood. Also featured are Holly Hills' extraordinary architecture and lush landscape setting. Engaging text and rich images depict the development of the adjacent Bellerive area, which boasts a rich collection of early twentieth-century Arts and Crafts architecture, luxuriant Carondelet Park, spectacular Bellerive Park, and the boulevards that tie the parks and residential areas together.

Holly Hills (The Reedy Community Series)

During the Civil War, St. Louis was under martial law. The city was divided to the core. A Most Unsettled State conveys this precarious dynamic through the pens of those who experienced it. Author NiNi Harris collects memoirs, letters, sermons, and accounts that reveal a critical time in a volatile place. Learn firsthand about the women who nursed wounded soldiers, the ministers who were appalled by slavery, and Southern sympathizers whose resentment grew as the Union gained control of St. Louis. The book contains eyewitness accounts of significant events that occurred in the streets, not to mention the writers insights and observations. Learn firsthand how Julia Dent Grant responded to the news about the Siege of Vicksburg and how her neighbors were all Southern in sentiment and could not believe that [she] was not. Experience Camp Jackson through the eyes of then-civilian William Tecumseh Sherman, who, with his seven-year-old son Willie at his side, heard the balls cutting the leaves above our heads, and saw several men and women running in all directions, some of whom were wounded.

A Most Unsettled State: First-person Accounts of St. Louis During the Civil War

Reedy Pr

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Books by NiNi Harris