Every city has its quirks and familiar traits that shape how residents and outsiders alike perceive a place. For St. Louis, civic pride can sometimes dissipate behind headlines that focus on crime, corruption or decline.
The Missouri Historical Society wants to set the record straight on St. Louis — and instill pride in what it means to live in the region. Its campaign, “I am St. Louis,” invites residents and businesses to share their own stories. So far, more than 300 organizations have joined in on social media.
President and CEO Jody Sowell told St. Louis on the Air that the organization’s interest in civic pride reflects the community and promotes the importance of “place attachment.”
”Place attachment is the emotional bond people feel toward a place, and communities with the highest place attachment also have higher local GDP. They have fewer people leave. They survive natural disasters at higher rates,” he said. “While it's important to the historical society, it's even more important to St. Louis. I think the reason that these initiatives come out of the historical society is because since 1866 we have been protecting, preserving and sharing the St. Louis story. That is our mission.”
The “I am St. Louis” campaign doesn’t shy away from St. Louis’ complex history. Sowell said that the “dark chapters of St. Louis” offer lessons to today’s leaders. .
One example comes from Charlton Tandy, a Black lawyer and newspaper publisher in the 1870s. When streetcar drivers would refuse to pick up Black passengers even after courts ordered integration, Tandy took matters into his own hands.
“Tandy would wait with those Black St. Louisans, and if he saw that trolley was about to pass, he would jump into the middle of the street, grab the horse by the reins and stop it in its tracks so that the Black St. Louisans could get on,” Sowell explained. “Oftentimes, the white driver would get off and say, ‘I’m not going to finish the route.’ Luckily, Charlton Tandy grew up with horses, so he got on the horse and led the trolley the rest of the way, taking Black St. Louisans where they needed to go.”
It’s little known stories like these that Sowell hopes inspires generations of St. Louisans.
“Your issue doesn’t have to be civil rights. You might be concerned about the environment or education, but you have to be inspired by someone who would jump into the middle of the street and stop moving horses. Those people exist in every chapter of St. Louis history,” he said. “Once you introduce these people, these giants whose shoulders we still stand on, you get that inspiration to tackle the issues that we’re facing today.”
For more about Missouri Historical Society’s “I am St. Louis” campaign and insights from St. Louisans new to town and born and raised, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or click the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Darrious Varner is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
