Carole Johnson (1946- ): Biographical Information and Family History, Transcript (18 pp.). The Johnsons purchased 24 Lewis Place in the fall of 1977 from Iola Fiddler-Reed whose aunt and uncle were among the first African American residents to move to the street in the 1940s. Their daughter’s family also resides on Lewis Place. Johnson recalled neighbors who lived on the street when she moved; explained that her husband grew up nearby on Fountain Avenue; how the difference in size among the homes might affect the socioeconomic make-up of the neighborhood; her work with the Lewis Place Association and the St. Louis Association of Community Organizations (SLACO); the neighborhood’s relationship with Ranken Technical College and the Ranken Community Development Association (RCDC); and advantages and disadvantages of retaining Lewis Place as a private street with no city services. Interview and release signed., 2008 Sept 30

File — Box: 1, Folder: 4

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

The collection is comprised of ten oral history interview transcripts for interviews with nine individuals conducted by historian Gwen Moore of the Missouri Historical Society for the Lewis Place Oral History Project. The video interviews were conducted between September 2008 and January 2009. The transcripts are arranged alphabetically by name of interviewee. Moore began each interview with questions about the interviewees’ backgrounds (family history, education, etc.), which revealed St. Louis’s segregation history. Some other topics included reasons for moving to Lewis Place or to the neighborhood, reasons for remaining in the neighborhood, causes and effects of the neighborhood’s decline, and the pros and cons of Lewis Place being a private street. Five of the individuals interviewed lived on Lewis Place (Buchanan, Goldston, Johnson, Renner, Talley); two lived on neighboring Newberry Terrace (Hill, Sampson); and one lived on Lewis Place as a child (Kennedy). John Wood was vice president for education at Ranken Technical College. Several of the interviews discussed the role of Ranken Technical College in the Lewis Place neighborhood. In 1909, David Ranken, Jr. located his School of Mechanical Trades on Cook Avenue near Lewis Place. The school later changed its name to Ranken Technical College. Ranken did not admit African Americans until 1963, which affected its relationship with the surrounding area. In the 1990s, Ranken began working in the community to build homes with community input.