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In the Beginning was Kirkwood

The Impact of Critical Events on Families in St. Louis's first suburb and the St. Louis area, 1853 to 1940

by David Damerall

Paperback

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Product description...

Original History Using Unique Sources

The residents of Kirkwood, Missouri were eyewitnesses to a number of demographic and economic changes between 1890 and 1940. Kirkwood was the first suburban town established along the Missouri-Pacific railroad outside St. Louis and existed as St. Louis County’s only incorporated town for 43 years. As such, it experienced pre-Civil War conflicts between slave owners and German immigrants, the financial panic of 1873 and the ensuing economic catastrophe. Competition for survival against the five new railroad towns founded in the immediate aftermath of the great Panic drove Kirkwood to strengthen its ability to attract new residents at a time when St. Louis was becoming the fourth largest city in America. The town served as a window to the social transformation that overtook the Midwest between 1853 and 1940. Although many of the changes in Kirkwood were social and political, inventions involving mass communication also had a huge impact on advertising and cultural values of middle-class people. Advances in radio technology allowed families to enjoy listening to news and entertainment together, but this national sensation also deepened the social isolation of recent immigrants and racial minorities who could not afford to purchase a set. Finally, the Great Depression, which had a unique effect on every community, was deeply damaging to St. Louis city and every town in the county. The reaction of people to war, inventions, and economic crises were the source of the most meaningful changes in the St. Louis area during the twentieth century.

Product details...

Paperback
Format: 6 x 9 Black & White Paperback, 277 pages
Publisher: Outskirts Press (Oct 10, 2024)
ISBN10: 1977254381
ISBN13: 9781977254382
Genre: HISTORY / United States / State & Local / Midwest (IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD, WI)

Author Information...

David Damerall received his PhD in History from the University of Texas. While serving as superintendent of the Kirkwood, Missouri schools, he explored the fascinating history of a small group of black people who were schoolchildren in Kirkwood during the 1930’s. After his retirement, that interaction launched an intensive search into a past that many in Kirkwood and its surrounding area have never heard. David and his wife, Lynda, have lived in Kirkwood since 1994.
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