September 19 – “The Great Pyramids of St. Louis: An Ancient Metropolis” by Mark Leach at Friendship Village South in Sunset Hills. Mark Leach details the history of the mounds and the culture of the Native American population. Approximately 1000 years ago, the St. Louis area was the very epicenter of an extraordinary explosion of…
July 18 – “St. Louis State Hospital: A 150-Year Journey toward Hope” by Amanda Hunyar at Friendship Village South in Sunset Hills. While the St. Louis State Hospital dome has loomed over the St. Louis skyline for 150 years, the goings-on behind the closed doors of this mysterious complex of South City buildings has been the…
June 20 – “Celebration: : The Magic of the Cardinals in the 1980s” by Dan O’Neill at Friendship Village South in Sunset Hills. On the history of the baseball Cardinals in the 1980’s. Cardinals baseball has become more than a pastime in St. Louis. The association with baseball and all things red is a regional…
“St Louis Sound” by Amanda Doyle From the French fiddlers of the fur trading days to the rock and hip hop icons of the present millennium, St. Louis has been a town rich in musical history. Though it has rarely been cited as a center of any scene, any area that has been home to…
The Making of an Icon The Making of an Icon: The Dreamers, the Schemers, and the Hard Hats Who Built the Gateway Arch by Jim Merkel The Gateway Arch is one of America’s most distinctive and beloved national monuments. Much has been written about the Arch, but no book has captured the legend, lore, and…
“The Battle of Fort San Carlos” by Margaret Carr We usually think of the American War for Independence as being fought on the east coast in the 13 colonies, but one of the important battles was fought here in St Louis. The defenders of St Louis fought off the British-led attack and ended Britain’s effort…
“Air Travel, from Biplanes to Passenger Airliners” by Ken Velten The Wright Brothers first showed the possibility of powered flight in aircraft carrying people in 1903 but the airline industry developed slowly until the 1930’s. There are great stories about the industry transitioned from fabric covered biplanes to metal 4 engine airliners capable…
“Young Lincoln” by Jan Jacobi Young Lincoln is a novel about the childhood and young adult years of Abraham Lincoln. Abe himself tells the story of his years in Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois. Abe encounters the same problems that young adults have faced for generations: tension with a demanding parent; the need for friendship and…
“The Missouri Almanac 2018-19” by Amanda Doyle March 15, 2018, Thursday at 2:30 pm, At Friendship Village South in Sunset Hills. “The Missouri Almanac 2018-19” by Amanda Doyle, weird, wild, and filled with fun, this historical guidebook delivers the ultimate tour of a one-of-a-kind state. All things Missouri abound in these pages including famous Missourians…
“St Louis and World War One” by Mike Venso World War One shaped the world in ways we hardly realize today. St Louis too was in the think of it. Mike Venso takes us on a tour of St Louis, the changes WWI brought to our city and what remains to be seen today. This…
February 15, 2018, Thursday at 2:30 pm, SCHS at Friendship Village Sunset Hills, “Forest Park; Its History and Its Beauty” by Don Corrigan At 1,293 acres, Forest Park exceeds the size of New York’s Central Park by nearly 500 acres, and within are lakes, hills, wetlands, woodlands, and bountiful recreational opportunities. Within a few decades…
Above; Harriet Tubman leading slaves to Freedom. Photo from PhotoBucket.com Steve Edison, of the Abolition News Network, spoke on Thursday, January 21, 2016 at Friendship Village Sunset Hills. The Abolition News Network, ANN, is modeled on CNN, the cable news network. ANN does news interviews of historic figures related to the abolition movement in the…
Elizabeth Terry and her two co-authors, John A. Wright and Patrick McCarthy, will speak on their new book, Ethnic St. Louis, on Thursday, April 21, 2016 at 2:30 pm at Friendship Village Sunset Hills. As St. Louis celebrates the 250th year since its founding, Ethnic St. Louis highlights the many communities that make St. Louis a vibrant, multi-ethnic city.…
