ST. LOUIS DIASPORA FROM AN AFRICAN AMERICAN NEIGHBORHOOD PERSPECTIVE
Scattered Neighbors Find Solace In Reunions
Friday, September 6, 1996 By Gregory Freeman
TODAY THEY CALL it "Ghost Town."
It's the area roughly following Interstate 70 that includes the Trans WorldDome north to about Tyler Street.
When I-70 was built in the 1950s, it plowed through the heart of this community,scattering neighbors, friends and relatives, many of whom had lived heresince the turn of the century.
For many years, those who grew up here saw one another infrequently, oftenonly at funerals and during other tragic circumstances.
"Four years ago, after a funeral, some of us decided that it wouldbe nice to have a reunion, to see each other again," said Lovell Thorpe.
What Thorpe and others put together was the Ghost Town reunion, a gatheringof 100 or so people who grew up in this area.
"I had never heard of another reunion like this one, where we got theold neighborhood together," said Delores Abernathy Dickens, one ofthe gathering's organizers.
"But some of us had stayed in touch with some others of us, some ofus were related to other people who had lived in the area, some people justknew other people who lived there," she said.
The first Ghost Town reunion was held in 1993, and there's been one everyyear since. This year's will be Nov. 16 at the Henry VIII Hotel & ConferenceCenter in Bridgeton.
"Neighborhood was real important to us in those days," Dickenssaid. "Everybody was close. We were like one big happy family."
African-Americans lived in this area, as did those with Polish, Italianand German backgrounds.
"We all got along," said Dickens, who is black. "This wasbefore the schools were integrated, but we all played together. We wentto our schools and they went to their schools, but we all got along."
Many of those who lived here were poor.
"But we were safe," she said. "You didn't have to have locksand burglar alarms and things like you do now. If you went away, somebodywould keep an eye out for you, and if they went somewhere, you'd do thesame for them."
The reunions have been successful, Dickens says.
"I've never seen so much hugging and kissing in my life," shesaid. "We're all just down-to-earth folks, and this is a down-to-earthreunion, and everybody's just so happy to see each other."
Another old neighborhood is hoping for the same results Sunday. Those whogrew up in the 3400 block of Hickory Street in St. Louis - dating back tothe 1930s - will hold their first gathering at Spruill's Catering, 2625Stoddard Street.
Much of the block of Hickory is gone now, replaced by parking lots nearSt. Louis University Hospital. A few houses remain; one resident has livedin her house for 60 years.
"We've been talking about pulling together a reunion for many years,"said Gladys Cofield, one of the organizers, who grew up there in the 1940sand early 1950s. "Much of our block is gone - there's a big lot wheremy house was - but we still have great memories of that area and of thattime.
"No one worried about being molested or drive-bys or any of the thingsyoungsters have to worry about today," she said.
Cofield demonstrates a pride in her block.
"We were an all-black neighborhood, and we didn't have any professionaladults in our neighborhood, other than Mrs. Dean, who was a notary publicand a staunch Republican," she said.
Yet Cofield produced an impressive list of neighborhood residents who havebecome successful in countless fields. The block can count among its formerresidents a lawyer, a chemist, a psychologist, a chiropractor, several nurses,a nun and nearly a dozen educators.
Cofield, herself a retired teacher, explained that many of the youngstersremained in school simply because it was what was expected by their parents."Many of us went to Stowe Teachers College because it cost $10 a semester,"she said. "It was an inexpensive way to get a higher education."
When Cofield and others began to plan for the reunion, they didn't anticipatea great response. "We just thought there'd be a few people at first,and then it just grew and grew," she said. They're now expecting atleast 100 people, eager to relive their days of growing up on the blockjust east of South Grand Boulevard.
Like Dickens, Cofield says that her neighbors were all very close. "Today,I don't know who my neighbors are except those who live in the next coupleof houses," she said. "In those days, we knew everyone on theblock and we cared for everyone on the block."
So close were they, in fact, that Cofield says that next to her parentsdying, "my greatest fear was that one day we would all grow up andnot be as close.
"Of course that happened," she said. "But it will be niceto bring everyone back together again - if only for a few hours."
Gregory Freeman's column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Friday.
Gregory Freeman's Article Was FoundHere
The Post-Dispatch may be subscribed on internet at $10 per month by telephoning(314) 535-5555. Gregory Freeman is an African American who writes frequentlyon civil rights, human rights, integration, and related issues as a regularcolumnist for the Post-Dispatch. Mr. Freeman also writes columns on otherareas and issues from time to time. Mr. Freeman is well-known and is quitea popular figure in the St. Louis Area. Mr. Freeman also appears on thePBS News/Talk Show "Donnybrook" frequently.
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