East St. Louis, Illinois

East St. Louis is a city located in St. Clair County, Illinois, USA, directly across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Missouri. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 31,542. One of the highlights of the city's waterfront is the Gateway Geyser, the tallest fountain in the United States, which spews water to a height of 630 feet and is designed to mirror the Gateway Arch across the river in St. Louis.

History

East St. Louis' original name was "Illinoistown."

On November 21, 1915, the Liberty Bell began its day's journey in East St. Louis on its nationwide tour returning to Philadelphia from the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. After that trip, the Liberty Bell returned to Philadelphia and has not been moved since.

Several destructive tornadoes have hit East St. Louis, the deadliest being the St. Louis-East St. Louis Tornado of 1896 which killed at least 255, injured over 1000, and incurred an estimated $2.9 billion in damages (1997 USD).

The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 and The St. Louis Commune

A period of extensive industrial growth following the American Civil War eventually brought about a major economic collapse known as the Panic of 1873 due to railroad and other manufacturing expansion, land speculation and general business optimism caused by large profits from inflation. The economic recession began in the east and steadily moved west, severely crippling the railroads, the main system of transportation. In response to the difficulties railroad companies began dramatically lowering workers' wages, forcing employees to work without pay as well as cutting jobs and the amount of paid work hours. These wage cuts and additional money saving tactics used by the industry prompted strikes and unrest on a massive scale.

While most of the strikes in the eastern cities during 1877 were accompanied by violence and mayhem, the late July St. Louis strike was marked by a bloodless, efficient and quick take-over of commerce and transportation in the area by dissatisfied workers. By July 22, the St. Louis Commune began to take shape as representatives from almost all the railroad lines met in East St. Louis soon electing an executive committee to command the strike and issuing General Order No. 1, halting all railroad traffic other than passenger and mail trains. The mayor of East St. Louis, John Bowman, was appointed arbitrator of the committee and helped the committee to select special police to guard the property of the railroads from damage. The strike and the new socialistic de facto workers' government, while given encouragement by the largely German-American Workingman's Party and the Knights of Labor (two key players in the organization of the Missouri general strike), was run by no organized labor group. The strike reached the business sector with the easy closing of the packing houses surrounding the National Stockyards (though at one plant 125 cattle were allowed to be processed in return for 500 cans of beef for the workers, a deal with which they quickly agreed). The strike continued to gain momentum from there with different regions and workers asking to join in. Though the East St. Louis strike continued in a completely orderly fashion, across the river there were isolated incidents of misconduct prompting Harry Eastman, the East St. Louis workers representative, to address the mass of employees: "Go home to your different wards and organize your different unions, but don't keep coming up here in great bodies and stirring up excitement. Ask the Mayor, as we did, to close up all the saloons... keep sober and orderly, and when you are organized, apply to the United Workingmen for orders. Don't plunder ... don't interfere with the railroads here ... let us attend to that".

On July 28 the strike was peacefully ended with the retaking of the relay depot, the Commune's relative commander center, by United States troops. [3]

The East St. Louis Riots of 1917

East St. Louis in 1917 had a strong economy boosted by World War I. Since so many white men were off fighting in World War I (the U.S. Army rejected many early black volunteers)^[4], many blacks were recruited to work at the Aluminum Ore Company and the American Steel Company. However, resentment on both sides planted a fear of job security in the population, which eventually manifested itself in rumors at a labor meeting on May 28 of black men and white women fraternizing. Immediately, 3000 people from the meeting rushed downtown, beating every black in sight. They destroyed buildings and attacked people, but no one was killed. The National Guard was called in, preventing further rioting, but rumors continued to circulate about an organized attack from the blacks.

On July 1, 1917, a black man attacked a white man, which was retaliated with a drive-by shooting. When police came to investigate, the black attacker fired, thinking them to be the drive-by shooters from before. The next morning, thousands of white spectators saw the bloodstained automobile as a call to march into the black section of town. The rioters burned entire sections of the city and shot the blacks as they escaped the flames. Claiming that "Southern niggers deserve a genuine lynching,"¹ they hung several blacks. Guardsmen were called in, but several accounts reported that they joined in the rioting rather than trying to stop it. Almost everyone participated, including "ten or fifteen white women, [who] chased a negro woman at the Relay Depot in broad daylight. The girls were brandishing clubs and calling upon the men to kill the woman." ² Eyewitness accounts tell of mass graves - ditches and creeks filled with the bodies of blacks killed during the riot and covered over near the old National City Stockyards.

Modern

East St. Louis was named an All-America City in 1959, having retained a modicum of prosperity through the decade as its population reached a peak of 82,295 residents.

But as a number of local factories began to close, financial conditions deteriorated. Mayor Alvin Fields, who had been elected in 1951, resorted to judgment funding procedures to try to buy the city out of its financial morass. The scheme increased the city's bonded indebtedness and the property tax rate. More businesses closed as whites left the area and crime increased as a result of young African Americans joining gangs. Street gangs such as the War Lords, Black Egyptians, 29th Street Stompers and Hustlers appeared in some neighborhoods. In September of 1967, rioting occurred in the city's South End. Also, in the summer of 1968, a still-unsolved series of snipings took place. These actions further destroyed the downtown retail base and the city's income. Urban sprawl, and the construction of freeways, contributed to East St. Louis' decline as well.

Desperation led to East St. Louis being something of a "guinea pig" for every new federal program that came along — the Model Cities program, the Concentrated Employment Program and Operation Breakthrough. The programs did little to prevent the inevitable. The noted architect Buckminster Fuller suggested putting the entire city under a geodesic dome. In 1971, James Williams was elected as the city's first black mayor, but his election only advanced the city's skid. By the election of Carl Officer as mayor (the youngest in the country at that time at age 25) in 1979, many said the city had nowhere to go but up, yet things grew even worse. As white flight continued, sewers failed and garbage pickup ceased because the city could not pay the haulers. Police cars often didn't work, and neither did their radios. The East St. Louis Fire Department went on strike in the 1970s.

In 1990, the deed to East St. Louis City Hall was awarded to Walter DeBow, a resident who suffered brain damage at the hands of a fellow inmate in the city jail and won a $3.4 million lawsuit award against the city in 1985. When the city couldn't pay, St. Clair County Judge Roger Scrivner awarded DeBow the deed to City Hall. The city got it back years later.

This state of affairs continued until the state imposed a financial advisory board over the city in exchange for a bailout. The election of Gordon Bush as mayor in 1991 and the coming of the Casino Queen riverboat casino to the riverfront provided the first new income for the city in nearly 30 years. The past decade can be characterized as one of redevelopment and renewal for the city. A variety of new retail developments, housing initiatives, and St. Louis Metrolink light rail have sparked this renewal. However, the city is today still one of the leading examples of drastic urban blight in the country. Vast sections of "urban prairie" can be found, leaving whole blocks, once parts of stable, healthy neighborhoods, completely devoid of any buildings and overgrown.

Famous residents

File:Gateway Fountain-Arch.jpg

The Gateway Geyser, the largest fountain in the USA

• Josephine Baker, after surviving the 1917 race riots in East St. Louis, ran away at age 13 to dance in vaudeville, on Broadway and, eventually, with the Folies Bergère in Paris, where she became one of the best-known entertainers in Europe. During World War II she gathered intelligence for the French Resistance.

• New York Yankees player Hank Bauer was born in East St. Louis in 1922. He played for the Yankees from 1949-59 and won seven World Series championships. He holds the record of hitting safely in 17 consecutive World Series games.

• Homer Bush (b. November 12, 1972, in East St. Louis, Illinois) was a Major League Baseball second baseman with a career .285 batting average, who played for the New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays and Florida Marlins.

• Tennis legend Jimmy Connors was born in East St. Louis, and grew up near Frank Holten State Park. Connors' father was a toll-taker on the Veterans Bridge, now the Martin Luther King Bridge. Connors' grandfather was a one-time mayor of East St. Louis, as well.

• Bryan Cox, former NFL player, is a native of East St. Louis. Cox has been a huge philantrophist for East St. Louis High School and his alma mater Western Illinois University.

• Jazz legend Miles Davis was born in Alton but grew up in East St. Louis.

• Katherine Dunham -- dancer, choreographer, anthropologist and author -- introduced U.S. and European audiences to Caribbean- and African-based dance movements. East St. Louis is home to the Katherine Dunham Museum, which houses collections of African and Caribbean folk and contemporary art and items documenting the life and works of Katherine Dunham. It is operated by the Katherine Dunham Centers for Arts and Humanities, a non-profit multi-disciplinary arts organization founded by Dunham. The organization promotes and preserves Dunham's legacy of anthropological writings, films and works of visual arts. The Centers also operate a year-round arts training program for children age 6-17 and an annual two-week seminar in the Dunham Technique through its Institute for Inter-cultural Communication, which attracts dancers, choreographers and scholars from around the world. All of the programs emphasize Dunham's unique concept of "humanization and socialization of individuals and communities through the arts."

• Richard Durbin -- Senior U.S. Senator of Illinois, born in East St. Louis

• LaPhonso Ellis, former NBA player, is a native of East St. Louis.

• Lillian Gish, silent film star, was born in East St. Louis.

• Kerry Raymond Glenn, former NFL player was born and raised in East St. Louis, Ill. He attended East St. Louis Senior and was All American and All City. He played in the NFL for the New York Jets 1985-1990 and Miami Dolphins 1990-1993. He was a Special Teams Pro Bowl Alternate in 1990.

• Russel Gunn- Musician [born in Chicago in 1971] was raised in East St. Louis and attended Lincoln Senior High School. An acclaimed trumpeteer with infuences in jazz, blues, soul, and hip hop, has produced several albums and has had influence in modern contempory jazz.

• Dana Howard- former NFL player who was born and raised in East St. Louis, Ill. Attended East St. Louis Senior and was All American and All City.

• Reginald Hudlin, who wrote and directed the 1990s films House Party, was born in East St. Louis.
• Track legend Jackie Joyner-Kersee was born and raised in East St. Louis.

• Track gold medalist and brother of Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Al Joyner, was born and raised in East St. Louis. He is also the former husband of Florence Griffith-Joyner

• Blues legends Albert King and B.B. King have ties to the city.

• Country musician Herbert Lester "Cousin Herb" Henson was a native of East St. Louis.

• Darius Miles, current NBA player, is a native of East St. Louis.

• Ike Turner met Tina Turner in 1956 at the Club Manhattan in East St. Louis. She then joined his band and they married.

• Kellen Boswell Winslow (born 1957 in St. Louis and raised in East St. Louis) is a former professional American football tight end with the University of Missouri and the San Diego Chargers.

• The poet Robert Wrigley was born in East St. Louis in 1951.

• E. Navi Da Norvell Robinson born in East St. Louis in 1960

• Gunna A female rapper born and raised in East St. Louis and currently resides in Jamaica, Queens. Last year in 2006, she auditioned for 106 and Parks popular segment Freestyle Friday. On November, rapper Loon, producer Hen Roc and Dominican Disc Jocky DJ Pro Style were the Freestyle Friday judges, instead of chocking and not giving a serious battle to the reigning Champion C. Fashion, she was outnumbered by the cards that the judges flashed for C. Fashion. Instead of the Freestyling business, she does music with her sister Tee. Her recent song she recorded is called "Sit Yo Azz Down". She's currently working on a mixtape to feature the song she recently did. Tee was on the song repeating the chrous with Gunna. [5]

Registered historic places

• Majestic Theatre (East St. Louis)
• Pennsylvania Avenue Historic District
• Spivey Building

East St. Louis in popular culture

• In an episode of Leave It to Beaver, Hugh Beaumont (Ward Cleaver) mentioned that Barbara Billingsley (June Cleaver) was the "Former Belle of East St. Louis."
• In the Simpsons episode AABF18, when the local chapter of Mensa takes over the government of Springfield, their influence is such that the city moves to 299th place on America's list of 300 most livable cities. The 300th place being occupied by East St. Louis. According to the DVD commentary for this episode, this joke caused a lot of controversy.
• In the Simpsons episode BABF14, when Homer and Barney mistake an AAA for an Alchoholics Anonymous meeting, Homer says he is planning for a trip to St. Louis. The employee asks Homer "East St Louis?" to which Homer responds "Is there any OTHER St. Louis?"
• Aaron McGruder and Reginald Hudlin penned a 2004 graphic novel Birth of a Nation, in which they theorize what would happen if the 2000 Florida election debacle had instead happened in East St. Louis, resulting in ESL seceding from the nation and creating its own called "Republic of Blackland."
• Comic book author Dennis O'Neil of St. Louis based The Question's fictional Hub City on East St. Louis.

Film

• In the film National Lampoon's Vacation, the Griswold family, enroute from Chicago to Los Angeles, gets lost in East St. Louis (despite having crossed the Mississippi River into Missouri beforehand in the original film version) and has to ask for directions to get back, but not before the car gets vandalized.

• The 1992 film Trespass, starring Ice Cube and Ice-T and shot in East St. Louis, is about local gangs interrupting two corrupt Arkansas firefighters in their quest for riches stored in condemned buildings in an abandoned part of East St. Louis.

• In the films Going My Way (1944) and The Bells of St. Mary's (1945), the character of Father Charles O'Malley (played by Bing Crosby) was from East St. Louis, and sang the "East St. Louis High" alma mater ("Hail alma mater, thy time-honored halls shall echo with our praise till we die, and round our hearts are the ivy-covered walls of East St. Louis High.") in Going My Way.

Geography

File:East StLouis Township StClair.PNG

East St. Louis township.

East St. Louis is located at 38°36'56" North, 90°7'40" West (38.615550, -90.127825).Template:GR

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 37.4 km² (14.4 mi²). 36.4 km² (14.1 mi²) of it is land and 1.0 km² (0.4 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 2.56% water.

East St. Louis usually experiences cold winters and warm summers. On July 14, 1954 the temperature at East Saint Louis unexpectedly rose to 117°F (48°C), the highest temperature ever recorded in Illinois.

Crime

East St. Louis is one of the most crime-ridden cities in the nation. According to FBI's data of 2005, its murder rate hit 63.4 per population of 100,000, surpassing that of murder-infamous cities such as Gary, Indiana (56.4 per pop. 100,000), New Orleans, Louisiana (54.5, 2004 data due to unavailability of 2005 data), Richmond, Virginia (42.5), Baltimore, Maryland (41.3), Camden, New Jersey (41.3), Detroit, Michigan (37.2), and Washington, D.C. (34.1), as well as that of its neighbor St. Louis (37.6). Their data also showed East St. Louis' very high rape rate, which exceeded 300 per pop. 100,000.

The following table shows East St. Louis' crime rate in 6 crimes that Morgan Quitno uses for their calculation for "America's most dangerous cities" ranking, in comparison of those of St. Louis, Missouri and New York City.

Year: 2005 number of crimes per 100,000.

Crime	East St. Louis	St. Louis	New York
murder	63.4	37.6	6.7
rape	342.4	79.3	17.6
robbery	954.3	851.5	308.7
assault	6,489.8	1,421.9	349.0
burglary	2,520.4	2,071.6	289.8
auto theft	2,000.5	2,339.5	229.5

Transportation

East St. Louis is home to 4 St. Louis Metrolink Stations; East Riverfront, 5th and Missouri, Emerson Park, and JJK Center.

Demographics

City of East St. Louis Population by year [6]</ref>
1900	29,734
1910	58,540
1920	66,785
1930	74,397
1940	75,603
1950	82,366
1960	81,728
1970	70,029
1980	55,239
1990	40,921
2000	31,542

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 31,542 people, 11,178 households, and 7,668 families residing in the city. The population density is 866.2/km² (2,242.9/mi²). There are 12,899 housing units at an average density of 354.2/km² (917.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 97.74% African American, 1.23% White, 0.19% Native American, 0.08% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.19% from other races, and 0.55% from two or more races. 0.73% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 11,178 households out of which 33.2% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 21.9% are married couples living together, 40.6% have a female householder with no husband present, and 31.4% are non-families. 27.8% of all households are made up of individuals and 10.4% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.80 and the average family size is 3.42.

In the city the population is spread out with 32.8% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 24.6% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 12.5% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 31 years. For every 100 females there are 81.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 72.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $21,324, and the median income for a family is $24,567. Males have a median income of $27,864 versus $21,850 for females. The per capita income for the city is $11,169. 35.1% of the population and 31.8% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 48.6% of those under the age of 18 and 25.2% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Education

The city is served by the East St. Louis School District 189 [7].

All residents are zoned to East St. Louis High School.

References

• Heaps, Willard Allison. "Target of Prejudice: The Negro." Riots, U.S.A., 1765–1970. New York: The Seabury Press, 1970. 108–117.
• Kozol, Jonathan. "Life on the Mississippi." Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools. Crown, 1991. 7–39. ISBN 0-517-58221-X
• "Race Rioters Fire East St. Louis and Shoot or Hang Many Negroes; Dead Estimated at from 20 to 76." New York Times 3 July 1917.

External links

• City of East St. Louis official web site
• The IBEX Archive: ESLARP's Social History Project - Cultural and historical material on East St. Louis. Includes a bibliography and several links
  • IDOT Servey - History of East St. Louis
• Photos of East St. Louis
• Evocative photos from Built St. Louis
• City-Data.com - East St. Louis, Illinois
  • Downtown East St. Louis
  • Metrolink station
  • ruined old church
  • ruined house
• East St. Louis Flyers Football