The Story of Old St. Louis; Prepared for the information of persons who expect to witness The Pageant and Masque of St. Louis in Forest Park, St. Louis 1914, Celebrating the One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Founding of the City
St. Louis: Press of Con. P. Curran Printing Co., 1914. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Wraps. Format is approximately 5 inches by 7.25 inches. [6] 103, [3] pages. Ink notation on fep. Faded stamp on the front cover from Board of Education. Front cover separated but present, Spine has text and is chipped at the top. Before European settlement, the St. Louis area was a regional center of Native American Mississippian culture. St. Louis was founded on February 14, 1764, by French fur traders Gilbert Antoine de St. Maxent, Pierre Laclède and Auguste Chouteau, who named it for Louis IX of France. In 1764, following France's defeat in the Seven Years' War, the area was ceded to Spain. In 1800, it was retroceded to France, which sold it three years later to the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase; the city was then the point of embarkation for the Corps of Discovery on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. In the 19th century, St. Louis became a major port on the Mississippi River; from 1870 until the 1920 census, it was the fourth-largest city in the country. It separated from St. Louis County in 1877, becoming an independent city and limiting its political boundaries. In 1904, it hosted the Louisiana Purchase Exposition and the Summer Olympics. This volume is the result of an effort to present the interesting story of the adventurous lives led by the inhabitants of St. Louis in early times, in a form accessible to all, and in a book of size convenient for use. This story has been told before in bulky volumes that may be found upon the shelves of reference rooms in our libraries, but our people know little of the wonder full life of our early' pioneers. Few of our children are acquainted with the heroic history of our forefathers in the Mississippi Valley. They can tell of the struggles and accomplishments of the colonists on the Atlantic seaboard, but they have heard little of the greater struggles by which our own section of the United States was wrested from the wilderness. The epic story of this life of our pioneers is about to be presented in dramatic form in the Pageant and Masque of St. Louis, for the purpose of arousing our people to pride in the glorious past and to unison of effort in the early accomplishment of yet greater things in the future. This prose story of old days in St. Louis is issued in furtherance of that purpose. That the people may appreciate and enjoy the drama, it is necessary they should know the facts of our history, and something of the kind of people who made St. Louis, what manner of life they lived, how they appeared, what forces they encountered and overcame. To give such basis for the enjoyment of the Pageant and Masque is the purpose of this volume. The Pageant and Masque of Saint Louis was a historical pageant presented May 28 – June 1, 1914, in Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri. Commemorating the 150th anniversary of the founding of the city, it was one of the largest theatrical events ever presented. Five hours in length, the city-wide event included a pageant surveying 300 years of local history, from the Mound Builders through the Civil War. An allegorical civic masque by playwright Percy MacKaye followed. With a cast of 7,500 local volunteers and an audience of 75,000 on opening night, it was one of the largest theatrical events ever presented. From May 28 to June 1 (plus one rain-out), the two-part spectacle was performed on the slope of Art Hill in Forest Park. City leaders and Progressive era civic boosters planned the event with the purpose of uniting citizens towards a prosperous future by sharing its rich history. Following the success of The Pageant and Masque of Saint Louis, the Municipal Opera was established nearby, five years later. Charlotte Rumbold, the secretary of the Public Recreation Commission of the St. Louis Park Dept., first suggested a city-wide event to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the founding of the city. She was among the many civic leaders who felt St. Louis was in decline because of poor political, social, and economic conditions. An enormous semicircular stage was constructed for the show. Built on pilings in the Grand Basin, the stage was over 500 ft. wide and 200 ft. deep. A 40-foot-high wall at the rear of the stage served as a sounding board. A pit large enough to accommodate the 100-piece orchestra and 1000-voice chorus was built at the center-rear of the stage against the backdrop. Thomas Wood Stevens, a nationally recognized master of modern American pageantry, wrote and directed the Pageant portion of the event. Beginning in 1909 Stevens wrote and/or directed over 50 pageants and masques in 20 states and in Europe. Artist/director Joseph Lindon Smith and Percy MacKaye, a playwright and poet, collaborated on the "masque" segment of the program, fashioning a symbolic sweep through St. Louis history told in pantomime and dance. Some of Smith's vivid sketches for costumes survive. He designed scenery as well, including a temple based on architecture he had seen and painted at Chichen Itza. Smith was best known for his paintings of Egyptian antiquities. Frederick M. Converse composed of the music for Saint Louis: A Civic Masque. Condition: Fair / No DJ issued.
Keywords: St. Louis, Sesquicentennial, Pageant and Masque, Local History, Mound Builders, Settlers, de Bellerive, Pontiac, Cruzat, De Leyba, Zenon Trudeau, Lewis and Clark, Fur Trade, Mississippi River, Steamboats, Lafayette, Cholera, Immigration
[Book #84806]
Price: $85.00