Historical February 1987 report or notice. Original dates, prices and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Despite the hardships presented by the Great Depression and continuing racial discrimination, Blacks living in St. Louis in the 1920s and 1930s made gains in education, housing, politics, and in the entertainment world.
In celebration of Black History Month, the Missouri Historical Society will present a variety of public programs and an exhibition, “No Crystal Stair: Black St. Louis, 1920-1940.” The exhibition opens in the New Acquisitions Gallery in the Jefferson Memorial Building in Forest Park on Sunday, February 1.
The title of the exhibition comes from the poem by Langston Hughes, “Mother to Son:” … “
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor –
Bare.
But all the time
l’se been a-climbin’on Photographs, newspaper accounts, artifacts, and maps from the 1920s and 1930s will illustrate the vitality of life in the Black community, as leaders developed strategies and tactics for “working for the Race” within the larger society.
The Missouri Historical Society will also present free programs every Sunday afternoon during the month of February to observe Black History Month.
The series of song, dance, theatre, and storytelling has been underwritten by The Reliable Life Insurance Companies for the second year in a row. “We were delighted with the audiences reached by the 1986 programs, and we hope, with the greater variety this year, to reach an even larger segment of people,” said Douglas B. Choumeau, president of the Home Services Division of The Reliable Life Insurance Companies.
The golden voice of New York soprano Luvenia Garner will ring through the Lionberger Gallery as she inaugurates Black History Month on Sunday, February 1 at 2 p.m.
Her performance will include spirituals and songs from “Porgy and Bess,” with her noted rendition of “Summertime.” Garner has toured the United States and Europe with the acclaimed Music Hall production of “Porgy and Bess.” She has performed with the Santa Fe and Virginia Operas.
Following the program, co-sponsored by Opera Theatre of St. Louis, the audience is invited to celebrate the opening of Black History Month with an informal reception. Refreshments will be served. “John Berry Meachum’s School for Freedom” is the topic of the program for children ages six to thirteen on Saturday, February 7 at 10:30 a.m. Blacks, mostly slaves, were educated on the legendary steamboat school in the middle of the Mississippi River, out of the jurisdiction of the repressive Missouri law that forbade them to learn to read or write.
On Sunday, February 8 at 2 p.m., the Oliver Sain Revue will play rhythm and blues in their distinctive St. Louis style, with Sain leading the group on his tenor saxophone.
He was lured to St. Louis in the 1950s by the success of his friend Ike Turner.
The hit “Don’t Mess Up A Good Thing” brought national prominence to Sain in 1965.
He continued to front a popular local band and owns and operates a recording studio in St. Louis.
The double bill on February 15 features the Roosevelt Vocal Ensemble and the Us Players with song and dance from the 1920s and 1930s.
The student jazz ensemble from Roosevelt High School, under the direction of Dello Thedford, will open the program at 2 p.m. with vocal music from the Broadway musicals, “Ain’t Misbehavin’ and its songs by Fats Waller, and “Eubie,” with music of Eubie Blake.
The Us Players, a student group from St. Louis University, will perform an excerpt from “Renaissance Cabaret: 20s and 30s in Harlem” with tap, black-bottom, and jazz dancing.
In 1978, Barbara Woods founded the Us Players, devoted to portraying Black American culture. Woods and Lisa Gage wrote “Renaissance” after researching dances and music of the 1920s and 1930s. Also on the afternoon’s bill will be several members of “Melody of Praise,” St. Louis University’s new Gospel choir, who will sing selected works. Children and their families are invited to meet Patricia McKissack on Sunday, February 22 at 2 p.m.
Her book Flossie and the Fox has been nominated for the prestigious Caldecott Award. McKissack will involve her audience as she recounts the story of Flossie and shows color slides of Rachel Isadora’s illustrations for the book. McKissack will also tell stories from her book, Black American Folk Tales.
The St. Louis Black Repertory Theatre, celebrating its 10th anniversary, will present “An Evening with Fugard” at 6 p.m. on February 22.
The cast, headed by Ron Hines and Linda Alton-Randall, will perform excerpts from several plays by noted South African playwright Athol Fugard. Featured will be “Boesman and Lena” from the Black Rep’s -‘1986 season; “The Blood Knot,” playing this January; “Sizwe Bansi Is Dead:” and readings from other works.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, February 1987.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1987_02.pdf, printed page(s) 6; PDF page(s) 6.
