Missouri Historical Society asks St. Louisans to help collect artifacts from Black areas

The Missouri Historical Society is collecting items from the Greater Ville neighborhood in north St. Louis and the former Mill Creek Valley community to help preserve Black St. Louis history.

Through the African American History Initiative, historians want to gather documents, artifacts, photographs, vintage apparel, heirlooms and memorabilia from people who once lived in the Black neighborhoods. They also are collecting artifacts from defunct businesses that were cornerstones of the community. Historians plan to use the items in upcoming exhibits.

The society’s historians want to tell a complete story of historic Black neighborhoods in St. Louis by highlighting their vibrant culture and prosperous communities and by documenting how the neighborhoods fell victims to neglect and blight, said Rochelle Caruthers, director of the African American History initiative.

“If we don't tell our history and be protectors of our history, it will literally be erased,” Caruthers said.

The Mill Creek Valley exhibit is slated to open in 2025, and the Greater Ville neighborhood exhibit will be showcased in 2027. Historians are collecting old household and business items from the neighborhoods to begin researching pieces, conserving objects and documents and curating the exhibit. Community members can donate or loan items to the society for exhibition use.

About 20,000 Black residents called Mill Creek Valley home until 1959, after the city wiped out the area as part of an urban renewal campaign. The neighborhood bordered parts of downtown St. Louis and the midtown area. Many displaced families moved to the Greater Ville area, other north St. Louis neighborhoods and parts of St. Louis County.