Items

Explore individual items gathered for collections and exhibits centered around particular themes, people, places, or events.

• 
  Percy Green standing in the street behind a car

  Black and white, horizontal photograph of Percy Green in a dark shirt and light pants standing behind a car. A person can be seen laying in front of the car. Some bystanders and protestors are standing along the sidewalk watching.
• 
  C.O.R.E. [Congress On Racial Equality] demonstrators demanding equal opportunity employment in front of Jefferson Bank
• 
  Percy Green II
• 
  Drawing of Charleton Tandy by Darnell Chambers

  Framed, bust, pencil drawing of Charleton Tandy by Darnell Chambers. Tandy was a legendary figure in the struggle for civil rights in St. Louis. He might be best known for his efforts to end Jim-Crow segregation on St. Louis's street cars.
• 
  Pastel Drawing, "Portrait of Craig Mershon," by Chris Worth

  Portrait of Craig Mershon, a student with Cerebral Palsy at SLU who went to court with St. Louis University because he was discriminated against for his disability. Mershon finally won his case, and it was finalized in 2016.
• 
  Handmade Sign from a Rally After the Killing of VonDerrit Myers in St. Louis, MO

  A handmade sign used at a demonstration led by a Unitarian Church in south St. Louis, Missouri located on the corner of Hampton Avenue and Chippewa Street, following the killing of VonDerrit Myers. The white, posterboard sign has text written in blue ink on the front that reads, [RACIST INJUSTICE / HURTS EVERYONE / SPEAK OUT!]. On the back are three photocopied articles related to Larry Fiquette, the former Reader's Advocate columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, that have been affixed to the sign using pieces of clear adhesive tape.
• 
  T-shirt worn by Rahiel Tesfamariam at a Protest Commemorating Michael Brown

  A black T-shirt with white lettering on the front that reads: [This Ain’t / Yo Mama’s / Civil Rights / Movement]. The sleeves and bottom edge of fabric have been cut off. The back of the shirt has white lettering that reads: [Hands Up United]. Underneath the lettering, there are two hands printed in white ink. This T-shirt was worn by Rahiel Tesfamariam during a protest in Saint Louis, Missouri held to commemorate the 1-year anniversary of the police shooting of Michael Brown.
• 
  All Hands On Deck #3

  This is one of seven lithographic prints in Damon Davis’s "All Hands on Deck" portfolio: each image presents a different pair of hands held up high. The hands belong to individuals who were involved in the Ferguson, Missouri, protest movement that followed the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer in August 2014. “Hands up, don’t shoot” was a phrase that echoed throughout the protests, but in Davis’s images that gesture of surrender becomes one of resistance, fortitude, and community. According to Davis: “I tell stories that speak to the human experience. The hands you see are images I have captured of people who have shaped and upheld this movement. The people’s movement. It is our right—to be seen, to be heard…to be validated. It is our collective responsibility.”   Davis, an artist who describes his work as “part therapy, part social commentary,” was actively involved in the Ferguson protests himself and originally pasted photographs onto boarded-up storefronts along West Florissant Avenue. He also made the digital image files available on the internet so that anyone anywhere could download them and do the same. In 2015, this fine-art portfolio of lithographs, made from the photographs, was published by Wildwood Press, bringing the work and its message to a new audience.
• 
  Painting of Pearl Maddox by Robert A. Ketchens

  Framed, acrylic painting of Pearl Maddox by Robert A. Ketchens. Maddox founded the Citizens Civil Rights Committee, an early civil rights organization in St. Louis.
• 
  "Scenes of the St. Louis Civil Rights Movement" by Robert A. Ketchens and William Burton, Jr.

  Framed, acrylic painting on linen titled, "Scenes of the St. Louis Civil Rights Movement," by Robert A. Ketchens and William Burton, Jr. The painting was commissioned specifically for the Missouri History Museum's exhibit "#1 in Civil Rights: the African American Freedom Struggle in St. Louis."
• 
  Oil Painting of Reverend Owen Whitfield with Scenes of the 1939 Sharecroppers Strike by Robert A. Ketchens

  Oil on canvas painting of Reverend Owen Whitfield with scenes of the 1939 sharecroppers strike. Reverend Owen Whitfield was the leader of the 1939 Missouri sharecroppers strike, an event Emory historian Carol Anderson has called one of the most powerful moments of the Great Depression. Whitfield?s protest involved an estimated 1,000 evicted sharecroppers (Black and white) who staged a dramatic roadside demonstration stretching along two highways in Southeast Missouri.
• 
  Rosa Said "nah," St. Louis, Missouri

  Photograph shows an unidentified woman at a Black Lives Matter protest in Brentwood, Missouri, holding a sign, "Nah. - Rosa Parks, 1955." The woman wears a face mask to protect from COVID-19.
• 
  Face Off, St. Louis, Missouri

  Photograph shows a young African American man walking in front of rows of police in riot gear. The man wears a face mask as protection from COVID-19.
• 
  Black fire breaths, St. Louis, Missouri

  Photograph shows an unidentified African American man standing outside a suburban shopping mall holding a bouquet of flowers and a sign, "I CAN'T BREATHE," the last words of George Floyd before he was murdered by police in Minneapolis. He wears an iron slave collar with bells and a face mask to protect against COVID-19.
• 
  American sons, St. Louis, Missouri

  Photograph shows an unidentified African American youth standing with fist raised as he joins others in protest against police brutality in the St. Louis suburb of Brentwood. The protestors wear face masks to protect against COVID-19.
• 
  American patriot, St. Louis, Missouri

  Photograph shows an unidentified African American woman seated on the roof of a car holding an upside down American flag during a protest against police brutality in the St. Louis suburb of Brentwood. She wears a face fask to protect against COVID-19.
• 
  Resilience, St. Louis, Missouri

  Photograph shows an unidentified African American woman at a Black Lives Matter protest in St. Louis, Missouri, seated on the pavement with her fist raised.
• 
  March on Washington Movement, 1942

  March on Washington Movement General Committee, 1942. E.J. Bradley, John Davis, Leyton Weston, Harold Ross, David M. Grant, A.N. Vaughn, McNeal, Charles Ross Pitts. The St. Louis Chapter of the MWOM was organized in 1942 by Theodore D. McNeal and attorney David M. Grant.
• 
  Mary McLeod Bethune

  Black educator and civil rights activist Mary Mcleod Bethune in a group photo.
• 
  "Anti-Lynching Convention of the American Negro Labor Congress - Now the League of Struggle for Negro Rights, Held in St. Louis.

  Horizontal, black and white panoramic photograph showing a large group of people outside of a brick residential building. Many are holding signs dealing with a variety of topics including lynching, police brutality, and equal pay. "Anti Lynching Convention of the American Negro Labor Congress - now the League of Struggle for Negro Rights, held in St. Louis Nov. 15-16 1930." is written in white in the lower right corner.
• 
  Trans Voices, St. Louis, Missouri

  Photograph shows an unidentified man holding a sign, "End police brutality." Photographer's caption continues: Protesters including members of St. Louis' LGBTQIA+ community march the streets of Central West End in St. Louis to protest against police brutality.
• 
  Dream Deferred, St. Louis, Missouri

  Photograph shows the back of an unidentified African American man marching in the street with other Black Lives Matter protesters. He carries an American flag displayed upside down.
• 
  Taken Innocence, St. Louis, Missouri

  Photograph shows an unidentified African American child at a Black Lives Matter protest in St. Louis, Missouri, holding a sign, "Do I fit the description? My health matter!! My education matter!! My life matter!!"
• 
  Reform, St. Louis, Missouri

  Photograph shows a group of five protesters in front of the dome of the Old Courthouse in St. Louis, Missouri. One holds up a sign "REFORM" and another holds up a sign "BLACK LIVES MATTER."
• 
  Crossfires, St. Louis, Missouri

  Photograph shows unidentified St. Louis Metropolitan police officers watching people march with Black Lives Matter signs. The policeman in the foreground has a carnation attached to his uniform.