Terry Kennedy: Transcript (22 pp.). Kennedy was the 18th Ward Alderman and he shared how he became involved in politics. His father, Samuel M. Kennedy, held the same office and worked with the Sarah Economic Development Corporation to develop declining areas. Kennedy’s family moved from The Ville to 4190 Enright in the Vandeventer neighborhood, which borders Lewis Place, and it “was a fully engaged black community.” His four grandparents were freed slaves and he shared family stories such as how his father, a young boy during the 1917 East St. Louis race riots, was among a group of children paddled to safety across the Mississippi River when the bridges were closed to St. Louis. He explained his childhood impression of Lewis place as an affluent black community; it was private street that only certain people could walk in; the decline of the 18th ward neighborhoods; and the relationship with Ranken Technical College. Interview and release signed., 2008 Nov 15

File — Box: 1, Folder: 5

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.