Johnson County, 1840s: John, the fugitive slave
The following is from a forth-coming history of Missouri slave resistance. 30-year-old John was a runaway slave from Kentucky living in the woods of Johnson County, Missouri. For as many as five or six years John lived free in the wilderness. During that time, he successfully hid and outsmarted his former master, E. L. McLane.
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St. Louis, 1910: Brown Family Moves to Forest Park Heights
In the summer of 1910, the Brown Family moved to Forest Park Heights, an all-white suburban neighborhood southwest of Forest Park. Immediately, residents protested their arrival. Louis Brown had bought the house on the 7500 block of Wise Ave (modern-day Richmond Heights) for himself and his family—including Lela Warwick, a school teacher, four cousins, and
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University City, October 2008: Blood on the Tracks Poster
This poster was made in response to the sensational and racist news coverage of an influx of black youth hanging out in the Loop in the Summer / Fall of 2008. The title specifically references an RFT article about it. Dozens of the 15” x 20” posters were wheatpasted along the Loop, including one in
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Paolo, Kansas, 1883: Mob kills Child Molester
While running an errand in the early evening of February 7, 1883, 9-year-old Maud Bennington was abducted by Henry Smith. Smith beat and assaulted her and left her for dead in the freezing February air. A few hours later, Maud was found and by morning gained consciousness, telling of what Smith had done to her.
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Edwardsville, Illinois, September 30, 1897
The following is a Post-Dispatch article from September 30, 1897. The year saw a wave of strikes in the mines of Illinois. This article recounts one of many instances of strikers and their families confronting scabs and police, as well as miners from other towns coming to join the picket line. This confrontation took place
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