Please Post your St. Louis cultural figure under the appropriate heading. If the heading doesn't exist, please create one.
St. Louis Icon
Jean Rouverol was an author screenwriter and actress from St. Louis. She was born July 8th 1916. Jean, along with her husband Hugo got blacklisted from the Hollywood movie studios inn the 1950''s for being a part of the American Communist Party. They then fled down to Mexico after being investigated by the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC). They lived there for about a dozen years, then moved to Italy for a couple after that and then came back to the states and lived in California. St. Louis has influence on her life because this is where she first started being a part of plays, musicals, and any other creative form of storytelling. In 2000, at eighty-four years old, she published a book called Refugees from Hollywood: A Journal of the Blacklist Years, that told the story of her family's life in exile.
-Jake Coleman
Writer Born in St. Louis
William Burroughs February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997
William Burroughs was born in St. Louis. I have never been able to successfully read anything by him but I find him fascinating nonetheless. I've tried several times to read Naked Lunch but I just can't follow it.
Burroughs was born in the city with an arch to a wealthy family and for college he went to Harvard. He was also a closet homosexual and when Naked Lunch came out it became common knowledge that he liked men. He is probably as famous for being addicted to heroin as he was for his writing.
My friend Clayton collaborated with Burroughs on a piece of art in the 80s and it consisted of Burroughs firing several gunshots into one of Clayton's art paintings. This is meant to be ironic as Burroughs is also famous for accidentally killing his wife while playing William Tell with her.
This is from wikipedia, "In 1951, Burroughs shot and killed Joan Vollmer (his wife) in a drunken game of "William Tell" at a party above the American-owned Bounty Bar in Mexico City. He spent 13 days in jail before his brother came to Mexico City and bribed Mexican lawyers and officials to release Burroughs on bail while he awaited trial for the killing, which was ruled culpable homicide.[14]"
I never got to meet him but I really would have liked to. I would also have liked to meet Jack Kerouac.
I went to The Beat Museum in San Francisco and they have lots of William Burroughs paraphernalia...chairs that he sat in and notes he wrote...etc. The Beat Museum is actually rather unremarkable if you want my opinion. It's like five bucks to walk around a room with not much in it. It was even worse than that dreadful Coney Island Museum which was intentionally low rent...but still somewhat unforgivable in its shoddiness. I'm sure that the Coney Island Museum is now closed as developers bought all the land out there and probably it will all be turned into some blasphemous yuppie apartments.
There were several films made based on the works of Burroughs like Drugstore Cowboy and of course, Naked Lunch.
After seeing films based on the work of Burroughs, I've always thought that his stories reminded me of another homosexual writer who was a contemporary of Burroughs. Burroughs reminds me a bit of James Purdy who also wrote transgressive novels. Although Purdy did not really write about heroin addiction he was nonetheless very controversial cuz he also wrote about same sex love, etc.
You would not think of St. Louis as a city that would produce much beyond an environment for tourists to come spend money in...but perhaps there is more than meets the eye to the town.
-Peter Tunnell
Professional Athlete
Lawrence Peter (Yogi Berra)
Yogi Berra was born on May 12, 1925 in St. Louis, Missouri. He is a former American Major LEague Baseball catcher, outfielder, and manager. He is one of the only four players to be named Most Valuable Player of the American League three times and is one of the only managers to lead both American and National League teams to the World Series.He has appeared in 21 World Series and was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.
-Jamie DeLozier
Dr. Maya Angelous is a celebrated poet, memoirist, novelist, educator, dramatist, producer, actress, historian, filmmaker, and civil rights activist.
Her passion for the arts got her a scholarship to study drama and dance. She also went to Europe, Egypt and many other countries to expand her involvement with the arts and to teach others about the arts. Overall she is very wise and successful.
-Nicole Angeles
St.Louis Poet, Activist, Actress and All-Out Game Changer
Maya Angelo,
A lot of people have already posted the appropriate dates. I think we should read Phenomanal Women. Angelo is so important and a close look into her contributions to Amerrican culture wOuld be fantastic.
-Janette Allen
St. Louis Poet
Maya Angelou
Born: April 4, 1928 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings 1969
- Jake Brown-Garcia
-Maya Angelou (poet) -Born on April 4, 1938 Maya Angelou is most recognized for her autobiographies about her childhood and young adult experiences. Her most recognizable piece of literature is "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings". She served as a civil rights activist and worked alongside Martin Luther King to help organize the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Angelou now teaches at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. St. Louis factors into her fame because that is where she was born. -Rosali Delgado
St. Louis Fiction Writer
.J. Cherryh likes to use a writing style labeled "very tight limited third person". Meaning in her writings she only narrates what the viewpoint character is specifically noticing, often in great detail. This can be closely related to a narrative style called stream of consciousness narrating. Cherryh is the one of the most american fiction writers of this century, and even has an asteroid named in her honor, one of her many honors in the science fiction community. Asteroid, 77185 Cherryh, named after her. Referring to this honor, the asteroid's discoverers wrote of Cherryh: "She has challenged us to be worthy of the stars by imagining how mankind might grow to live among them."
-Jeffrey Littman
St. Louis Architect
William Butts Ittner (September 4, 1864 – 1936). Ittner graduated from a trade school which his father helped establish. He then went on to graduate from Cornell with a degree in architecture. He later returned to St. Louis and designed his first school in 1998. His school designs are still scattered around the country; there are 430 nationwide. In addition, 35 of his buildings are on the National Register of historic places.
-Robin Hannah
Eero Sarinen, an architect, immigrated from Europe in 1923 and lived in Bloomfield Hills Michigan. He attended architect school at the university of Yale, graduating in 1934. Beginning his career he built a school in Michigan as well as appendages to Yale (2 dorms and an ice rink). In addition he also is credited with building the GM technical center in Detroit. Yet his most influential piece of work was the Gateway Arch in St. Louis back in 1965. The arch is now the trade mark monument of the city and is incorporated in every picture of professional team of the city.
- David Verduzco
Architecture
Thomas P. Barnett (1870-1929) was born in St. Louis, Missouri and continued to live there an influence his hometown. His famous work is in art and architecture. Thanks to him, Classicism became the major architectural design theme of St. Louis. Many of his works include Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis and Kingsbury Place in St. Louis.
-Jessie Armstrong
(1870–1929)
Thomas Barnett was an architect from St. Louis. His father was also an architect and designed many buildings in St. Louis. After graduating from college, he started his own company and continued to design buildings in the same style found in St. Louis that his father started. An examples of what he's designed is the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis
-Kendall Schene
St. Louis Painter
American Caricaturist Al Hirschfeld (1903-2003) was born in St. Louis, Missouri and is an American Caricaturist; He is very well known for his simple black and white portraits of celebrities and broadway stars. Hirschfeld did not stay in St. Louis, he grew up there and once he started practicing Art he moved to New York and attended the Art Students League of New York. Everyone in St. Louis were so proud of all the things he accomplished on Broadway and doing art for the New York Times and other newspapers/articles that they honored him with a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame. Hirschfeld set the standards for american caricature and has been the inspiration to most everyone who wanted or is a caricature artist. With his creative and unique style, Hirschfeld is known as the most important figures in contemporary caricature.
~Tierra Roetto
St. Louis Musician: blues:
Chuck Berry(1923-)
Chuck Berry was responsible for the intergration of rock and roll and blues. He was born and lived most of his life in st louios. He owns a nightclub there, and attributes much of his carrer to the city. Chuck has many famous songs such as jonny b goode which eventually led to his award in rolling stones for the best guitar song of all time.
Alaina Lascano
Soul:
Donny Hathaway (October 1, 1945 – January 13, 1979)- Hathaway was an American soul singer and songwriter. He grew up in the Carr Housing projects of St. Louis. In 1973 he won a Grammy for the song "Where is the Love" with Roberta Flack. He is cited as an influence by many of todays artist.
-Edwin Santana
Billy Davis Jr. (June 26, 1938-Present) - Davis is a soul singer who was born in St. Louis. He is known for his role in the 5th Dimension, a musical group that also featured Davis's future wife, Marilyn McCoo. Once married, Davis and McCoo came out with many soul and R&B songs of their own. They have won many different awards over the years for their music, and they are still married to this day. Davis has been praised as one of the greatest soul singers ever; this includes praise from Maurice White, who is the founder of Earth, Wind, and Fire. Davis and his wife also had their own television show on CBS in the late 70's and early 80's.
- Ryan Sweeney
Blues:
Chuck Berry is an influential American guitarist and songwriter who was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1926. Chuck Berry is credited for developing rhythm and blues and being a major influence in rock music. In the early 50s, Berry began playing local clubs in St. Louis as a way to earn some extra cash. Other St. Louis musicians actually influenced Berry to become more about showmanship and distinctive guitar riffs. He learned guitar riffs and showmanship from T-Bone Walker, another blues player and also took guitar lessons from his friend Ira Harris. In 1953, he began performing with Johnnie Johnson, a blues pianist. Chuck Berry and Johnnie Johnson helped fuel the St. Louis blues music scene. A lot of the white people in the St. Louis area preferred country music. However, Chuck Berry fused the country sound with the rhythm and blues sound which brought white people into the St. Louis blues audience.
-Sharon Martin
Jazz:
Peter Martin- Peter Martin is an American Jazz Pianist. Born in St. Louis and currently residing there, where is does both directing and playing jazz piano for grammy award winning Dianne Reeves. He is also is a faculty member at Tulane University, Northwestern University, University of New Orleans, and New Orleans school of creative arts.-Doug Palmer
Miles Davis- (May 26, 1926-September 28, 1991) Miles was an American jazz musician. He was considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, and was also noted as one of the key figures in the history of jazz. Davis was at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz, hard bop, modal jazz and jazz fusion. -Cassie
Miles Davis Cont. - The cultural diversity where Miles grew up let him listen to all kinds of music which he incorporated into his sound throughout his career. The strong influence of the blues in East St. Louis helped Davis express emotion through his music. Miles took advantage of the opportunities and diversity East St. Louis provided at the time to produce his own unique sound as a jazz musician. - Craig
Yet another Mlies Davis. The two above me said most a you need to know about what he did for the word of Jazz, so I thought I would leave a link to my favorite song. Summertime http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N090STPx-2M - Jimmy
more love for Miles Davis - most everything is covered already so I'll just drop some factual nuggets, such as that he has received eight Grammy awards alongside existence in the Grammy Hall of Fame. A statement from music writer/author Christopher Smith rightfully flatters the brilliant musician, "Miles Davis' artistic interest was in the creation and manipulation of ritual space, in which gestures could be endowed with symbolic power sufficient to form a functional communicative, and hence musical, vocabulary. [...] Miles' performance tradition emphasized orality and the transmission of information and artistic insight from individual to individual. His position in that tradition, and his personality, talents, and artistic interests, impelled him to pursue a uniquely individual solution to the problems and the experiential possibilities of improvised performance." - Keaton
Country Music:
John Hartford- (December 30, 1937 - June 4, 2007) American Folk/ Country singer who was talented with interchanging his banjo, fiddle, and guitar within his music.
-Kaitlyn Charley
Hip-hop:
Akon
Posted by Sarah Constantini
Akon is a singer songwriter who is popular in the pop genre. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri on April 16th 1973. His parents brought him to the US to be born so he wouldn't have any problems getting his citizenship later in life. Growing up he learned to play many musical instruments which then lead to his love for music. He moved to New Jersey at age 7 and that had a lot of musical impact on him.
Nelly
Posted by Brad Diehl
Nelly is a hip hop artist who has been active from 20002 to the present. Born in Austin, Texas, Nelly moved into the inner city of st.Louis when he was a teenager. At a time when most hip hop artist were from the east or west coast, Nelly was from the midwest giving him a unique label. Having done music with people of all genres from St.Louis, nelly is certainly a cultural figure to the city, and obviously, St.louis has had a huge impact on his music and personality.
Business/Brewer:
Adolphus Busch (July 10, 1839- October 10, 1913) Adolphus initially owned and operated his own wholesale brewer's supply store. He also owned a share in his father-in-law's brewing company located in St. Louis called Anheuser and Company. Upon his father-in-law's death however, Adolphus inherited the brewery and to make a long story short create the beer giant we know of today as Budweiser. Adolphus was a pioneer brewer was the first to incorporate pasteurization into the brewing process as well as be the first brewery to use refrigerated rail cars for distribution. These two innovations alone allowed Budweiser to be sold from coast to coast, making it America's first national beer.
-David Flores
St.Louis Actor:
Vincent Price (5-27-1911-1993) Price was known as the "King of Horror". Featured in numerous scary movies. He was also known for doing many voice overs for horror movies. He could make anything he said sound scary. He was in over more than 100 villainous movies as well as television series. He was also an author of many books on the fine arts. Price was born and raised in St. Louis.
-Athena Tsunis
Influential St. Louis Writer, Poet and Actress:
Maya Angelou (1921- ) Not only is she famous for her poetry, she was an actor, writer of essays and biographies and a Civil Rights activist. Her autobiographies start with the first 17 years of her life growing up in St. Louis and continue into her later years marching along side Martin Luther King Jr. Angelou has traveled all over the world and her writings and teachings have influence great people including the president of the United States. I feel it would be very interesting to explore the St. Louis that Angelou grew up in and learn about how it influenced a woman who went on to influence so many others. -Emily Nisse
Chuck Berry-
American guitarists singer and songwriter who was considered a pioneer in rock and roll. He refined blues to make his rock and roll distinctive and his lyrics were centered on teen life and consumerism. He was always interested in music however did not start till he was older..
-Jp
Influential Person, lived in St. Louis for some time.
Dred Scott (1795 – September 17, 1858)
He fought for his freedom saying he lived in states where slavery was illegal. He used the help of attorneys from St. Louis while fighting for slavery to be banished. He lived in St. Louis for quite sometime and that is where his former owner's wife had lived. Dred Scott tried to first buy his freedom from his owner, but when that was denied he tried to do it legally. The ruling ended up being that African Americans were not and could not be U.S. citizens so therefore he had no right to sue. However if it weren't for the Dred Scott case, other people might not have had the courage to stand up for what's right. And who knows, slavery could still exists today if it weren't for him.
Elizabeth (Betty) Ruth Grable was born December 19, 1916 in St. Louis, MO. She was a singer, dancer, actress, and saxophone player. She was the highest paid star during her time earning a total of $300,000. She pasted away due to lung cancer in 1973.
-Jasmine Penniman
St. Louis Icon
Jean Rouverol was an author screenwriter and actress from St. Louis. She was born July 8th 1916. Jean, along with her husband Hugo got blacklisted from the Hollywood movie studios inn the 1950''s for being a part of the American Communist Party. They then fled down to Mexico after being investigated by the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC). They lived there for about a dozen years, then moved to Italy for a couple after that and then came back to the states and lived in California. St. Louis has influence on her life because this is where she first started being a part of plays, musicals, and any other creative form of storytelling. In 2000, at eighty-four years old, she published a book called Refugees from Hollywood: A Journal of the Blacklist Years, that told the story of her family's life in exile.
-Jake Coleman
Writer Born in St. Louis
William Burroughs
February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997
William Burroughs was born in St. Louis. I have never been able to successfully read anything by him but I find him fascinating nonetheless. I've tried several times to read Naked Lunch but I just can't follow it.
Burroughs was born in the city with an arch to a wealthy family and for college he went to Harvard. He was also a closet homosexual and when Naked Lunch came out it became common knowledge that he liked men. He is probably as famous for being addicted to heroin as he was for his writing.
My friend Clayton collaborated with Burroughs on a piece of art in the 80s and it consisted of Burroughs firing several gunshots into one of Clayton's art paintings. This is meant to be ironic as Burroughs is also famous for accidentally killing his wife while playing William Tell with her.
This is from wikipedia, "In 1951, Burroughs shot and killed Joan Vollmer (his wife) in a drunken game of "William Tell" at a party above the American-owned Bounty Bar in Mexico City. He spent 13 days in jail before his brother came to Mexico City and bribed Mexican lawyers and officials to release Burroughs on bail while he awaited trial for the killing, which was ruled culpable homicide.[14]"
I never got to meet him but I really would have liked to. I would also have liked to meet Jack Kerouac.
I went to The Beat Museum in San Francisco and they have lots of William Burroughs paraphernalia...chairs that he sat in and notes he wrote...etc. The Beat Museum is actually rather unremarkable if you want my opinion. It's like five bucks to walk around a room with not much in it. It was even worse than that dreadful Coney Island Museum which was intentionally low rent...but still somewhat unforgivable in its shoddiness. I'm sure that the Coney Island Museum is now closed as developers bought all the land out there and probably it will all be turned into some blasphemous yuppie apartments.
There were several films made based on the works of Burroughs like Drugstore Cowboy and of course, Naked Lunch.
After seeing films based on the work of Burroughs, I've always thought that his stories reminded me of another homosexual writer who was a contemporary of Burroughs. Burroughs reminds me a bit of James Purdy who also wrote transgressive novels. Although Purdy did not really write about heroin addiction he was nonetheless very controversial cuz he also wrote about same sex love, etc.
You would not think of St. Louis as a city that would produce much beyond an environment for tourists to come spend money in...but perhaps there is more than meets the eye to the town.
-Peter Tunnell
Professional Athlete
Lawrence Peter (Yogi Berra)
Yogi Berra was born on May 12, 1925 in St. Louis, Missouri. He is a former American Major LEague Baseball catcher, outfielder, and manager. He is one of the only four players to be named Most Valuable Player of the American League three times and is one of the only managers to lead both American and National League teams to the World Series.He has appeared in 21 World Series and was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.
-Jamie DeLozier
Dr. Maya Angelous is a celebrated poet, memoirist, novelist, educator, dramatist, producer, actress, historian, filmmaker, and civil rights activist.
Her passion for the arts got her a scholarship to study drama and dance. She also went to Europe, Egypt and many other countries to expand her involvement with the arts and to teach others about the arts. Overall she is very wise and successful.
-Nicole Angeles
St.Louis Poet, Activist, Actress and All-Out Game Changer
Maya Angelo,
A lot of people have already posted the appropriate dates. I think we should read Phenomanal Women. Angelo is so important and a close look into her contributions to Amerrican culture wOuld be fantastic.
-Janette Allen
St. Louis Poet
- Maya Angelou
Born: April 4, 1928I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings 1969
- Jake Brown-Garcia
-Maya Angelou (poet)
-Born on April 4, 1938
Maya Angelou is most recognized for her autobiographies about her childhood and young adult experiences. Her most recognizable piece of literature is "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings". She served as a civil rights activist and worked alongside Martin Luther King to help organize the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Angelou now teaches at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. St. Louis factors into her fame because that is where she was born.
-Rosali Delgado
St. Louis Fiction Writer
.J. Cherryh likes to use a writing style labeled "very tight limited third person". Meaning in her writings she only narrates what the viewpoint character is specifically noticing, often in great detail. This can be closely related to a narrative style called stream of consciousness narrating. Cherryh is the one of the most american fiction writers of this century, and even has an asteroid named in her honor, one of her many honors in the science fiction community. Asteroid, 77185 Cherryh, named after her. Referring to this honor, the asteroid's discoverers wrote of Cherryh: "She has challenged us to be worthy of the stars by imagining how mankind might grow to live among them."
-Jeffrey Littman
St. Louis Architect
William Butts Ittner (September 4, 1864 – 1936). Ittner graduated from a trade school which his father helped establish. He then went on to graduate from Cornell with a degree in architecture. He later returned to St. Louis and designed his first school in 1998. His school designs are still scattered around the country; there are 430 nationwide. In addition, 35 of his buildings are on the National Register of historic places.
-Robin Hannah
Eero Sarinen, an architect, immigrated from Europe in 1923 and lived in Bloomfield Hills Michigan. He attended architect school at the university of Yale, graduating in 1934. Beginning his career he built a school in Michigan as well as appendages to Yale (2 dorms and an ice rink). In addition he also is credited with building the GM technical center in Detroit. Yet his most influential piece of work was the Gateway Arch in St. Louis back in 1965. The arch is now the trade mark monument of the city and is incorporated in every picture of professional team of the city.
- David Verduzco
Architecture
Thomas P. Barnett (1870-1929) was born in St. Louis, Missouri and continued to live there an influence his hometown. His famous work is in art and architecture. Thanks to him, Classicism became the major architectural design theme of St. Louis. Many of his works include Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis and Kingsbury Place in St. Louis.
-Jessie Armstrong
(1870–1929)
Thomas Barnett was an architect from St. Louis. His father was also an architect and designed many buildings in St. Louis. After graduating from college, he started his own company and continued to design buildings in the same style found in St. Louis that his father started. An examples of what he's designed is the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis
-Kendall Schene
St. Louis Painter
American Caricaturist
Al Hirschfeld (1903-2003) was born in St. Louis, Missouri and is an American Caricaturist; He is very well known for his simple black and white portraits of celebrities and broadway stars. Hirschfeld did not stay in St. Louis, he grew up there and once he started practicing Art he moved to New York and attended the Art Students League of New York. Everyone in St. Louis were so proud of all the things he accomplished on Broadway and doing art for the New York Times and other newspapers/articles that they honored him with a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame. Hirschfeld set the standards for american caricature and has been the inspiration to most everyone who wanted or is a caricature artist. With his creative and unique style, Hirschfeld is known as the most important figures in contemporary caricature.
~Tierra Roetto
St. Louis Musician:
blues:
Chuck Berry(1923-)
Chuck Berry was responsible for the intergration of rock and roll and blues. He was born and lived most of his life in st louios. He owns a nightclub there, and attributes much of his carrer to the city. Chuck has many famous songs such as jonny b goode which eventually led to his award in rolling stones for the best guitar song of all time.
Alaina Lascano
Soul:
Donny Hathaway (October 1, 1945 – January 13, 1979)- Hathaway was an American soul singer and songwriter. He grew up in the Carr Housing projects of St. Louis. In 1973 he won a Grammy for the song "Where is the Love" with Roberta Flack. He is cited as an influence by many of todays artist.
-Edwin Santana
Billy Davis Jr. (June 26, 1938-Present) - Davis is a soul singer who was born in St. Louis. He is known for his role in the 5th Dimension, a musical group that also featured Davis's future wife, Marilyn McCoo. Once married, Davis and McCoo came out with many soul and R&B songs of their own. They have won many different awards over the years for their music, and they are still married to this day. Davis has been praised as one of the greatest soul singers ever; this includes praise from Maurice White, who is the founder of Earth, Wind, and Fire. Davis and his wife also had their own television show on CBS in the late 70's and early 80's.
- Ryan Sweeney
Blues:
Chuck Berry is an influential American guitarist and songwriter who was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1926. Chuck Berry is credited for developing rhythm and blues and being a major influence in rock music. In the early 50s, Berry began playing local clubs in St. Louis as a way to earn some extra cash. Other St. Louis musicians actually influenced Berry to become more about showmanship and distinctive guitar riffs. He learned guitar riffs and showmanship from T-Bone Walker, another blues player and also took guitar lessons from his friend Ira Harris. In 1953, he began performing with Johnnie Johnson, a blues pianist. Chuck Berry and Johnnie Johnson helped fuel the St. Louis blues music scene. A lot of the white people in the St. Louis area preferred country music. However, Chuck Berry fused the country sound with the rhythm and blues sound which brought white people into the St. Louis blues audience.
-Sharon Martin
Jazz:
Peter Martin- Peter Martin is an American Jazz Pianist. Born in St. Louis and currently residing there, where is does both directing and playing jazz piano for grammy award winning Dianne Reeves. He is also is a faculty member at Tulane University, Northwestern University, University of New Orleans, and New Orleans school of creative arts.-Doug Palmer
Miles Davis- (May 26, 1926-September 28, 1991) Miles was an American jazz musician. He was considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, and was also noted as one of the key figures in the history of jazz. Davis was at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz, hard bop, modal jazz and jazz fusion. -Cassie
Miles Davis Cont. - The cultural diversity where Miles grew up let him listen to all kinds of music which he incorporated into his sound throughout his career. The strong influence of the blues in East St. Louis helped Davis express emotion through his music. Miles took advantage of the opportunities and diversity East St. Louis provided at the time to produce his own unique sound as a jazz musician. - Craig
Yet another Mlies Davis. The two above me said most a you need to know about what he did for the word of Jazz, so I thought I would leave a link to my favorite song. Summertime
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N090STPx-2M - Jimmy
more love for Miles Davis - most everything is covered already so I'll just drop some factual nuggets, such as that he has received eight Grammy awards alongside existence in the Grammy Hall of Fame. A statement from music writer/author Christopher Smith rightfully flatters the brilliant musician, "Miles Davis' artistic interest was in the creation and manipulation of ritual space, in which gestures could be endowed with symbolic power sufficient to form a functional communicative, and hence musical, vocabulary. [...] Miles' performance tradition emphasized orality and the transmission of information and artistic insight from individual to individual. His position in that tradition, and his personality, talents, and artistic interests, impelled him to pursue a uniquely individual solution to the problems and the experiential possibilities of improvised performance." - Keaton
Country Music:
John Hartford- (December 30, 1937 - June 4, 2007) American Folk/ Country singer who was talented with interchanging his banjo, fiddle, and guitar within his music.
-Kaitlyn Charley
Hip-hop:
Akon
Posted by Sarah Constantini
Akon is a singer songwriter who is popular in the pop genre. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri on April 16th 1973. His parents brought him to the US to be born so he wouldn't have any problems getting his citizenship later in life. Growing up he learned to play many musical instruments which then lead to his love for music. He moved to New Jersey at age 7 and that had a lot of musical impact on him.
Nelly
Posted by Brad Diehl
Nelly is a hip hop artist who has been active from 20002 to the present. Born in Austin, Texas, Nelly moved into the inner city of st.Louis when he was a teenager. At a time when most hip hop artist were from the east or west coast, Nelly was from the midwest giving him a unique label. Having done music with people of all genres from St.Louis, nelly is certainly a cultural figure to the city, and obviously, St.louis has had a huge impact on his music and personality.
Business/Brewer:
Adolphus Busch (July 10, 1839- October 10, 1913) Adolphus initially owned and operated his own wholesale brewer's supply store. He also owned a share in his father-in-law's brewing company located in St. Louis called Anheuser and Company. Upon his father-in-law's death however, Adolphus inherited the brewery and to make a long story short create the beer giant we know of today as Budweiser. Adolphus was a pioneer brewer was the first to incorporate pasteurization into the brewing process as well as be the first brewery to use refrigerated rail cars for distribution. These two innovations alone allowed Budweiser to be sold from coast to coast, making it America's first national beer.
-David Flores
St.Louis Actor:
Vincent Price (5-27-1911-1993) Price was known as the "King of Horror". Featured in numerous scary movies. He was also known for doing many voice overs for horror movies. He could make anything he said sound scary. He was in over more than 100 villainous movies as well as television series. He was also an author of many books on the fine arts. Price was born and raised in St. Louis.
-Athena Tsunis
Influential St. Louis Writer, Poet and Actress:
Maya Angelou (1921- )
Not only is she famous for her poetry, she was an actor, writer of essays and biographies and a Civil Rights activist. Her autobiographies start with the first 17 years of her life growing up in St. Louis and continue into her later years marching along side Martin Luther King Jr. Angelou has traveled all over the world and her writings and teachings have influence great people including the president of the United States. I feel it would be very interesting to explore the St. Louis that Angelou grew up in and learn about how it influenced a woman who went on to influence so many others.
-Emily Nisse
Chuck Berry-
American guitarists singer and songwriter who was considered a pioneer in rock and roll. He refined blues to make his rock and roll distinctive and his lyrics were centered on teen life and consumerism. He was always interested in music however did not start till he was older..
-Jp
Influential Person, lived in St. Louis for some time.
Dred Scott (1795 – September 17, 1858)
He fought for his freedom saying he lived in states where slavery was illegal. He used the help of attorneys from St. Louis while fighting for slavery to be banished. He lived in St. Louis for quite sometime and that is where his former owner's wife had lived. Dred Scott tried to first buy his freedom from his owner, but when that was denied he tried to do it legally. The ruling ended up being that African Americans were not and could not be U.S. citizens so therefore he had no right to sue. However if it weren't for the Dred Scott case, other people might not have had the courage to stand up for what's right. And who knows, slavery could still exists today if it weren't for him.
Elizabeth (Betty) Ruth Grable was born December 19, 1916 in St. Louis, MO. She was a singer, dancer, actress, and saxophone player. She was the highest paid star during her time earning a total of $300,000. She pasted away due to lung cancer in 1973.
-Jasmine Penniman