St. Louis Public Library

CITY LIBRARY CELEBRATES BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2016

WITH FULL SLATE OF FASCINATING PROGRAMS

The St. Louis Public Library is proud to celebrate Black History Month 2016 with a full slate of fascinating programs throughout the Library system. This year's national theme is "Hallowed Grounds: Sites of African-American Memory."

Throughout February, each St. Louis Public Library Branch's programs focus on specific, St. Louis-area hallowed grounds.

In addition, the Library is hosting three special events. Author, publisher, and editor Andrea Davis Pinkney is the Featured Guest Speaker on February 4 at the Schlafly Branch at 7 p.m.

Central Library, 1301 Olive St., hosts the Library's Black History Month Keynote Speaker Sonia Sanchez.  The poet and playwright speaks on Sunday, February 21 at 2 p.m.  In addition to Sanchez, visitors can step aboard a 1958 Trailways bus to take a historic journey with the St. Louis Freedom Riders between Noon and 2 p.m.

All Black History Month activities at the St. Louis Public Library are FREE and open to the public, but seating is limited and on a first-come, first-served basis. Please call the appropriate Branch to reserve space.

For program details, pick up the commemorative Black History Month booklet available at St. Louis Public Library locations throughout the city or visit the Library's website at slpl.org.

February 1-29

Baden: Calvary and Bellefontaine Cemeteries | 8448 Church Rd., 314.388.2400 | Branch Hours

Display:  View photographs of famous African Americans buried in the Calvary and Bellefontaine Cemeteries. Read about Dred Scott and his case at the Old Courthouse; about Rev. John Berry Meachum, who founded the Freedom School on the Mississippi River; and more.  All Ages

February 1

Carpenter: Sumner High School | 3309 S. Grand Blvd., 314.772.6586 | 6 p.m.

Pilot Pruitt and Soaring With Other Sumner Alums

Soar with alumni of Sumner High School—Wendell O. Pruitt of the Tuskegee Airmen, Roscoe Robinson Jr. of the U.S. Army, and Edward Bouchet, PhD—as you learn about their achievements. Build model airplanes and learn the physics behind a good paper airplane.  Families

February 3

Central Library: Harris-Stowe State University | 1301 Olive St., 314.241.2288 |

 4 p.m.

Celebrate Harris-Stowe State University and other historically black colleges by decorating school pennants to show your school spirit.  Kids

February 4

Julia Davis: Old Stone Meeting House | 4415 Natural Bridge Ave., 314.383.3021 | 

3 p.m.

Creative Kids: African-American Quilt Board

Use fabric to make a quilt board with Underground Railroad codes.  Kids

February 4

Central Library: Harris-Stowe State University | 1301 Olive St., 314.241.2288 | 

4 p.m.

Celebrate Harris-Stowe State University and other historically black colleges by decorating school pennants to show your school spirit.  Teens

February 4

Authors @ Your Library Presents Featured Guest Speaker Andrea Davis Pinkney

Schlafly | 225 N. Euclid Ave., 314.367.4120 | 7 p.m.

The New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of more than 30 books for children and adults has been named one of the "25 Most Influential Black Women in Business" by The Network Journal, and one of the "25 Most Influential People in Our Children's Lives" by Children's Health magazine.

Pinkney teamed up with her husband, acclaimed illustrator Brian Pinkney, to create Boycott Blues: How Rosa Parks Inspired a Nation, a rhythmic, bluesy, compelling picture book about the 382 days before the Supreme Court sent Jim Crow flying.  Boycott Blues presents a poignant tribute to the men and women of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, who refused to surrender until they received justice.

She was recently selected to deliver the May Hill Arbuthnot Lecture, which recognizes her significant contributions to literature for young people provided through a body of work that brings a deeper understanding of children's books and their impact. Her most recent novel, The Red Pencil, is set during the height of the Darfur genocide and the war in Sudan.

Books available for purchase courtesy of Barnes &Noble.

February 6

Buder: Old Courthouse | 4401 Hampton Ave., 314.352.2900 | 

10:30 a.m.

Dred Scott and Sacred Sanctuaries

Descendant of Dred Scott,Lynne Jackson,presents "Dred Scott and Sacred Sanctuaries." She discusses her ancestor's life and significance in local, regional, and national African-American history  .Adults 

February 6

Baden: Calvary and Bellefontaine Cemeteries | 8448 Church Rd., 314.388.2400 | 

11 a.m.

Search for facts, pictures, and books in the Library's scavenger hunt and learn about the famous people buried there.  All Ages

February 6

Central Library: Central Cinema Presents Black History Month | 1301 Olive St., 314.241.2288 | 1 p.m.

Freedom Riders (2011)               

February 9

Machacek: George Washington Carver Monument, Diamond, MO | 6424 Scanlan Ave., 314.781.2948 | 4 p.m.

Creative Kids: George Washington Carver Monument

Make a monument to George Washington Carver like the one in Diamond, Missouri.

Kids

February 9

Walnut Park: Scott Joplin House | 5760 W. Florissant Ave., 314.383.1210 | 4 p.m.

Creative Kids: Discover the Life and Music of Scott Joplin

Move your feet to the ragtime beat on the world's biggest piano ever!  Kids/Teens

February 9

Carpenter: Sumner High School | 3309 S. Grand Blvd., 314.772.6586 | 7 p.m.

Sumner and Vashon High School

Several Sumner High School and Vashon High School alums participate in a Black History Month 2016 reunion. Enjoy a brief history of each institution and watch as the alums participate in a trivia game. Adults

February 10

Cabanne: Annie Malone Children and Family Service Center | 1106 Union Blvd., 314.3670717 | 4 p.m.

Annie Malone's House: Make It and Take It Hair Product

Be like Annie Malone and make a natural haircare product simply for the love of chemistry and haircare.  Teens

February 11

Schlafly:  Annie Malone Children and Family Service Center | 225 N. Euclid Ave., 314.367.1210 | 6:30 p.m.

WORLD PREMIER:  Voices of Experience, Voices of Hope: Personal Hallowed Grounds in St. Louis' Past, Present, and Future

Created by Cabanne, Divoll, and Schlafly Branch staff, this short documentary highlights ordinary people and their powerful and unique stories of past experiences and how their refusal to accept the status quo changed the history of St Louis one piece at a time.  Families

February 13

Central Library: Central Cinema Presents Black History Month | 1301 Olive St., 314.241.2288 | 1 p.m.

Malcolm X (1992)

February 16

Divoll: Annie Malone Children and Family Service Center | 4234 N. Grand Blvd. ,314.534.0313|

4:30 p.m.

Creative Kids: Annie Malone Hope Floats

The Annie Malone May Day Parade has been a St. Louis tradition for over a century. Construct a mini parade float to honor Annie Malone's contributions to the culture, community, and business of St. Louis.  Kids

February 16

Kingshighway: Sumner High School | 2260 S. Vandeventer Ave., 314.534.0313 | 

4:30 p.m.

Sounds of Sumner!

Discover rock & roll greats Chuck Berry and Tina Turner and learn the dances they popularized.  Families

February 16

Buder: Old Courthouse | 4401 Hampton Ave., 314.352.2900 | 

5:30 p.m.

This Case is Dred Scott's: A Fight for Freedom

See artifacts from the actual time period of this historic case tried in the Old Courthouse downtown.  Families

February 18

Carondelet: Greenwood Cemetery | 6800 Michigan Ave., 314.752.9224 | 

4 p.m.

Creative Kids: Historic Headstones

Discuss St. Louis' historic African-American cemeteries and some of the people buried there. Make a headstone with words and pictures.  Kids

February 18

Barr: Famous Alumni of Sumner and Vashon | 1701 S. Jefferson Ave., 314.771.7040 | 5 p.m.

Creative Kids:Play historical bingo and learn about famous alumni of Sumner and Vashon High Schools.  Kids

February 18

Schlafly:  Annie Malone Children and Family Service Center | 225 N. Euclid Ave., 314.367.1210 | 6 p.m.

Annie Malone Hope Floats

The Annie Malone May Day Parade has been a St. Louis tradition for more than a century. Construct a mini parade float to honor Annie Malone's contributions to the culture, community and business of St. Louis.  Families

February 19

Machacek: George Washington Carver Monument, Diamond, MO | 6424 Scanlan Ave., 314.781.2948 | 11:30 a.m.

George Washington Carver National Monument and Carver's Artistic Origins

Enjoy a National Park Service slide show about Carver's artistry and its origins in Diamond, Missouri. Then, paint a version of one of Carver's plant paintings.

Adults

February 20

Central Library:  Central Cinema Presents Black History Month | 1301 Olive St., 314.241.2288 | 1 p.m.

Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll (1987)     

February 20

Julia Davis: Old Stone Meeting House | 4415 Natural Bridge Ave., 314.383.3021 | 

4 p.m.

Lila: The Life of a Missouri Slave

St. Louis native and storyteller Angela DaSilva performs Lila: The Life of a Missouri Slave.  Q&A follows.  Families

February 21

St. Louis Freedom Riders Bus on Display

Central Library | 1301 Olive St., 314.241.2288 | Noon

A 1958 Trailways bus, identical to the one used by the St. Louis Freedom Riders to test the "Jim Crow" laws at transportation facilities in Arkansas and Louisiana in 1961, will be on display. Walk through the bus and explore the historical information of this landmark journey.

Sponsored by the American Association of Railroaders, Inc., St. Louis Chapter, a non-profit educational and historical organization interested in transportation, especially railroads and tracked systems.

February 21

Authors @ Your Library Presents Black History Month Keynote Speaker Sonia Sanchez

Central Library | 1301 Olive St., 314.241.2288 | 2 p.m.

Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Members of the FRIENDS of the St. Louis Public Library should call 314.539.0359 for limited reserved seating.

A prolific writer, poet, and playwright Sanchez is both serious and original. Her poems depict the struggles between blacks and whites, between men and women, and between cultures. Her use of language and structure is innovative;sometimes using "black" dialects to drive home a point. Her brilliant sense of history and vision helps her to create expressive poetry.

Sanchez explores the characterization of women, especially the stereotypes that black women endured in the 1960s and '70s. A renowned playwright, her work includes the token black prostitute, a white woman (also sometimes represented as a prostitute), and a revolutionary sister—charting the transformation of a black woman from soul sister to old Christian woman. Sanchez examines the lives of women within family and society as they have changed throughout her lifetime. Poet Maya Angelou deemed her "a lion in literature's forest" for her work.

The author of 14 books, including Shake Loose My Skin: New and Selected Poems, Sanchez has received a host of awards, including the Harper Lee Award for 2004.Does Your House Have Lions? was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Sanchez is an internationally acclaimed speaker, having lectured at more than 500 colleges and universities in the U.S., in addition to speaking engagements around the world.

Books available for purchase courtesy of Amber Books.

February 27

Carondelet: Greenwood Cemetery | 6800 Michigan Ave., 314.752.9224 | 11 a.m.

Historic Greenwood Cemetery: Oldest Commercial African-American Cemetery in St. Louis

Archivist Etta Daniels and her colleagues from Friends of Greenwood Cemetery discuss their efforts to clean and restore the cemetery, some of the famous and unknown people interred there, and how they relate to St. Louis' African-American history.  Adults

February 27

Walnut Park: Scott Joplin House | 5760 W. Florissant Ave., 314.383.1210 | 

12:45 p.m.

A Visit With The King of Ragtime

Forty lucky Walnut Park patrons will tour the Scott Joplin House for FREE, thanks to the generosity of Scott Joplin House Administrator Almetta Jordan.  Includes museum exhibits that interpret Joplin's life, an authentic self-playing piano featuring Joplin melodies, and a small souvenir provided by the Scott Joplin House.  Pre-registration at the Branch is required.  Patrons are responsible for their own transportation to and from the site, located at 2658 Delmar Blvd. Street parking is available.  Adults

February 27

Central Library: Central Cinema Presents Black History Month | 1301 Olive St., 314.241.2288 | 1 p.m.

Ali (2001)

Support for the St. Louis Public Library's Black History Month programs is provided by the St. Louis Public Library Foundation.

For program details, call the appropriate Branch.

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