After this country was hit by a devestating earthquake, it seemed fitting that the Dunham Museum organize a donation effort.

This effort was very successful! As you can see from the picture below, the Dunham Museum collected mounds of clothing to send overseas.

Many of these donations had to be sorted through, organized, and boxed up for their trip overseas!

Here is a picture of the group of volunteers that made this possible!

Part of the virtual historical society involved traveling to East St. Louis to obtain recorded interviews about how life was like in East St. Louis from the people who lived there. In order to do this, the IUR visited the Joseph Center/ Eagle’s Nest. According to their website, “Eagle’s Nest is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with a mission to empower homeless military veterans to achieve their highest level of self-sufficiency, economic independence, and rejoin the community as productive members of society. In November of 2009, Eagle’s Nest opened their doors to The Joseph Center, a full-service living center in East St. Louis. It provides supportive housing to 26 homeless veterans and is the only center of its kind in the entire St. Louis metropolitan area.” Source: http://www.thejosephcenter.org/

Here is a picture of IUR volunteers conducting an interview.

A picture of the group!

In 1975, “The Katherine Dunham Fund purchases three adjoining houses in East Saint Louis from Southern Illinois University. Located on Tenth Street, one is to be Dunham and Pratt’s residence; one is to be used as an office (and later for storage); and the third, a stone building referred to as the “corner house,” is to be a residence for students, instructors, and visitors.” Source: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/dunham/dunham-timeline.html

Here is a picture of Ms. Dunham’s house.

A few images of the destruction in Ms. Dunham’s home due to years of misuse and neglect.

After many hours, Ms. Dunham’s house came back to life. In addition to cleaning, many artifacts were collected and stored at the Katherin Dunham museum down the street. These artifacts will one day be useful for students and the general public to learn about Ms. Dunham and the progress she was able to make for society.

A picture of the group of volunteers who worked very hard on this project.

The site gives users an interactive way to explore the rich history of East St. Louis through a variety of photos, videos, articles, newspapers, and facts about the city.

Click here to visit the Virtual East St. Louis Historical Society.

Dr. VanSlette’s findings will report on the effect of the “high school question” on non-native St. Louisians, with information such as how many times they’ve been asked the question, how being a transplant influences employee relationships in workplaces, and how the question in general makes them feel about the St. Louis area.

In the meantime, you can check out the Riverfront Times article about Dr. VanSlette’s research, and their interactive flowchart to find out which school you might have attended had you lived in St. Louis at that time.

flowchart snapshot courtesy of the Riverfront Times, article by Aimee Levitt

We will meet on campus at 8:30 a.m. in Lot A for a carpool to the Joseph Center. The carpool will leave campus no later than 9 a.m., and will return to campus no later than 2 p.m.

Participating in this event will give you an opportunity to communicate with our former military service members and learn about what life has been like for them.

If you are interested in helping with this project, please contact Patience Ferry in the Institute for Urban Research at 650-5262 or by email at pferry@siue.edu.

Dr. Theising will be discussing the latest book in the East St. Louis Sesquicentennial Series, “An East St. Louis Anthology: The Origins of a River City”. Edited by Dr. Charles Lumpkins of Pennsylvania State University, the book reveals the history of the city through essays and historical documents.

“St. Louis on the Air” airs live at 11:00 a.m. on St. Louis public radio, KWMU- 90.7 FM, and streaming online at http://www.news.stlpublicradio.org/programs/st-louis-air.

If you miss the original broadcast, the show will be repeated at 10:00 p.m. both on the radio and online.

The book is available for purchase at amazon.com.

“An East St. Louis Anthology: The Origins of a River City”

(Spoiler alert: the correct answer, D, has been paraphrased by the RFT. The study is about the effect of the whole “high school question” on non-St. Louisians.)

Thursday, November 15
12:00 pm
Harris-Stowe State University
University Library: Seminar Room

Please see the attached flyer for more details.