Norman Seay Park

Norman Seay Park is 1 of 108 St. Louis parks.  Placed into ordinance in 1936, the park is located on 3 acres, in the Jeff Vander Lou neighborhood at Gamble Street and Glasgow Avenue:

Per the city website, the park was originally the site of the old Gamble Reservoir, Norman Seay Park was acquired by the Park system from the City Water Department in 1874. During the 1930's, a Gamble Recreation Center was built and the Park is now used as a playground (source).

The park is a beauty, it appears well cared for, clean and in-use by dignified park goers.  I really like the feel of this one.  A stark contrast to other near-by parks.

There is a beautiful pavilion, walking path, basketball court, softball field, playground and of course the previously mentioned Gamble Community Center that among other things, is host to a summer camp program by the City's Recreation Division.

The Gamble Community Center was erected in 1938 under Mayor Bernard Dickman.

So who is Norman Seay?  He is considered one of St. Louis' most widely respected civil rights activists.  He was also an administrator and director of equal opportunity at the University of Missouri-St. Louis in the suburbs north of St. Louis.  He marched in the 1963 Jefferson Bank protests against lack of black professional hirings at the bank and other institutions.  This march is considered a key chapter in the civil rights history of St. Louis.  The St. Louis Beacon did a nice interview with Mr. Seay in 2010.  Here are some excerpts from that story:

"St. Louis was highly segregated," Seay said, describing what life was like in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He told of department stores and drug stores where African-Americans could not eat at the lunch counters. And how African-Americans couldn't get jobs in downtown establishments, other than as janitors or elevator operators. 

As a teen, Seay had been meeting in a discussion group for young people, sponsored by the National Council of Christians and Jews. The group met in the University City home of Margaret and Irv Dagen, who were starting a St. Louis branch of the Congress of Racial Equality, or CORE. 

In St. Louis, the Dagens invited the young Seay to join them. It was CORE that led many of the demonstrations around town, including at the Jefferson Bank. 

As Seay reflects on the time that has passed since his early protest days, he acknowledges the gains that have been made. While St. Louis has struggled to see racial parity among the ranks of its police and fire departments, both have had African Americans as chiefs. Where the public transportation system once hired only whites as drivers, African-American men and women operate many of the buses and MetroLink trains that run throughout the metropolitan area. 

Still, Seay said, more work needs to be done. Racism today is no longer as obvious as it once was, he said. "It's sneaky. It's subtle," Seay said. Even in a nation with a president who is African American, racism and sexism continue to make it difficult for women and people of color to reach their full potential, Seay said. 

"We still need to do more to make sure all kids are getting a good education," so they can compete in a struggling economy. And parents need to be more active in their children's lives to keep them out of trouble, he said. 

But when asked who he sees as the future leaders of the civil rights movement in St. Louis, Seay shakes his head. 

Who are the next generation of Frankie Freemans, Margaret Bush Wilsons and William Clays? Who is the next Norman Seay? 

"I don't think we did a very good job of raising up new leaders," he said.
Seay remains active with the Urban League and the NAACP and said he is working to compile a report on the state of African Americans in St. Louis and St. Louis County. 

With widespread problems such issues as unemployment, crime and teenage parents, he said he sees much work to be done. 

There is another sign of tangible progress, however, that makes Seay smile. These days, when he has money transactions, he goes to the Bank of America branch at St. Louis and North Florissant avenues. 

"They have a black manager and assistant manager," he said. "And all the tellers are fully integrated."

The times have indeed changed for the better of us all, and we owe people like Norman Seay gratitude for doing the right thing and taking a stand toward bringing attention to the idiocy of segregation and discrimination in the mid 20th Century.

In 2013, a group called 'Friends of Norman Seay' raised some money and through the office of U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, arranged for Mr. Seay to visit President Obama in December, 2013.  UMSL chancellor Thomas F. George asked Seay to present Obama with a Chancellor’s Medallion, the university’s highest award. (source)

Norman Seay still lives in his family home on James "Cool Papa" Bell Avenue in the Jeff Vander Lou neighborhood in which the park carrying his namesake exists. Star baseball player Cool Papa Bell was Seay's uncle.  

I am grateful that there are parks named after our civil rights leaders of the past; otherwise, I would have never researched these important figures in our history.  I like the local flavor these commemorations add to the park's and city's story.

It will be up to the next generation to preserve the neighborhood surrounding Norman Seay Park from falling further into ruin.  It has been beaten and abused and abandoned by the last couple generations.  It needs leaders and activists and investment from the current community.  Churches, homes, businesses are decaying and being destroyed by the elements and the brick thieves.

I hope this and the next generations take a stand for what is right and work toward making Jeff Vander Lou and the other all-black neighborhoods of North City become a place of dignity and pride and success in honor of those who fought for dignity, pride and success in the recent past.

Jet Banks Park

Jet Banks Park is 1 of 108 St. Louis parks located at Cass and Garrison in the Jeff Vander Lou Neighborhood.

This 3.36 acre park was placed into ordinance in 1963 and sits just south of Vashon High School.

The park used to be called Garrison-Brantner-Webster (street surrounding the park) but was changed to Jet Banks Park.

State Senator J.B. "Jet" Banks

Mr. Banks was a state politician who died in 2003. He sounded like quite a character in addition to being an accomplished politician and advocate for mainly black causes...even though he ended his career with a tax problem the got him 5 years probation.  But what is a career politician without a good old fashioned felony?

Apparently he was oft stylin' and profilin'; from State Sen. Harold Caskey:

As the Legislature's fashion plate, Banks at times changed suits several times a day -- what Caskey called "just his way of being flamboyant." 

"That was his trademark. He'd put on a fashion show," Caskey said, recalling that Banks' wardrobe -- from green leather suits to all-white duds topped off by a matching hat -- left no detail unattended, right down to a matching handkerchief. 

Banks at times resorted to theater to make his case. In 1995, he strapped toy six-shooters under his suit coat to mock backers of a measure that would have legalized concealed guns. 

"There's nothing more important to the people I represent" in St. Louis, Banks pressed then, suggesting that crime in his hometown "is as rampant as raindrops when it's raining."

He was to be taken serious too though, as he was a staunch advocate for Harris-Stowe University in Midtown:

In the 1970s, Banks also shepherded legislation merging Harris-Stowe, a historically black St. Louis college that was financially struggling, into the state higher education system -- an achievement Caskey cast as "one of his finest hours." 

"There would not be a Harris-Stowe State College had it not been for Jet Banks," said Henry Givens Jr., the college's longtime president who also credits Banks with expanding the school's degree offerings from one to a dozen. "He will be sorely missed. This is a tremendous loss."

But, he did run into some problems when he admittedly lied about income...a felony barring him from holding office:

Banks' leaving the Senate came three months after he pleaded guilty to filing false state income tax returns for 1994 and 1995, a felony that netted him five years of probation and a court-ordered 300 hours of community service.  By pleading guilty, Banks admitted he overstated his investment in an airport limousine company. (source)

Regardless of his felony charges, he climbed the political ladder from humble beginnings.  Banks was born a sharecropper's son in the boot heel of Southern Missouri.  He served in the Missouri legislature, eventually the state Senate majority leader which landed him the distinction of Missouri's highest-ranking black elected official.  It's easy to see how his good worked out weighed the bad, so it is fitting that a park be named after him.  

The park is the home to a Cardinal's Care ball field.  This one dedicated to beloved Cardinal shortstop Ozzie Smith.

That's really it, nothing other than the ball field on the park property.  The field and facilities are in great condition.

There are some really cool modern homes to the south of the park, including roofs with solar panels and a cool looking building called "Tillie's Corner 'Butterfly' Home".  This building is dedicated to Mrs. Lillie V. "Granny" Pearson (Miss Tillie) 1915-2006, local storefront snack shop and market owner and neighborhood sweetheart.  The building that Miss Tillie's Corner was recently destroyed in a windstorm in 2013.  She sounded like a great person and there is a nice write-up on Miss Tillie and the story in St. Louis Magazine by Stefane Russell.

Here's the Butterfly Home:

And here are some examples of the handsome new homes:

There are many ultra-cheap suburban style apartments too from previous attempts at re-generation.

Glad to see the housing stock improving around Jet Banks Park.

Ivory Perry Park

Ivory Perry Park is 1 of 108 St. Louis parks.  This park, formerly named Visitation Park, was placed into ordinance in 1961.  The city website has the park at 0.29 acres, but that doesn't seem accurate.  It is much larger.

The park is bordered by Cabanne Avenue to the north, Belt Avenue to the west, Arlington Avenue to the east (roughly) and Clemens Place to the south and is located in the Visitation Park Neighborhood.

Again the park used to be named Visitation Park until 1989 when the name was changed to honor Ivory Perry, a local civil rights activist.

Ivory Perry lying down in front of a car during a protest against police brutality

1965 Photograph by Lester Linck, St. Louis Post-Dispatch © 1965, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Ivory Perry was an interesting guy who fought for social justice and racial equality.

In each part of his life Ivory Perry faced conflicts and issues that helped prepare him for what was ahead. Born to sharecropper parents in 1930, Ivory grew up in rural Arkansas and later Pine Bluff. His family was near civil rights activities, but never participated in them.
The segregation and racism that Ivory experienced as a teenager in Arkansas meant that he was not surprised to serve in a segregated unit when he joined the army in 1948. But toward the end of his time in Korea, he found racism in the military intolerable and began to object to it, though he did not join protests. 

Ivory came to St. Louis in 1954 and was drawn into civil rights protests within a few years. When the extensive picketing for jobs at Jefferson Bank began in 1963, he became one of the most reliable activists on the picket line. It was during this time that Ivory was often in the press when he was arrested for actions such as lying down in front of cars.
Protests of the 1960s objected to the exclusion of Blacks from American life — from jobs, from voting, from being served at lunch counters. 

But when Ivory became an employee of the Human Development Corporation in the late 1960s, he faced a different aspect of racial injustice — Black people being crowded into substandard housing. Ivory’s experience in demonstrations served him well as he organized for tenant rights, including the rent strike of 1969. 

While visiting renters in their homes, Ivory noticed recurring health problems among children. He discovered that they could be traced to lead in the paint of old homes. Previously, Ivory had been a dependable foot soldier for events that others called. But with lead, Ivory was the person who drew attention to a major problem. His work was instrumental in persuading the St. Louis Board of Aldermen to pass the city’s first legislation on lead in 1970. 

Ivory Perry had broken new ground in making the link between social justice and human health issues. By the end of the decade, problems such as these would become known as “environmental racism.” (source) 

In 1892, the Catholics built Visitation Academy on what is now Ivory Perry Park.  The original Visitation Convent and Academy was on Cass Avenue.

The Academy of the Visitation was incorporated in 1858 by Visitation Nuns who arrived in St. Louis from Kaskaskia following the flood of 1844. Its three story brick building was erected on a large wooded lot donated by Mrs. Anne Biddle on Cass Avenue near Twentieth Street. In a westward move in 1892, the Academy occupied a large French Renaissance style building on a tract at the southeast corner of Cabanne and Belt Avenues. This structure was designed by Barnett, Haynes, and Barnett and was occupied by the Academy until 1962 when it made another westward move to 3020 North Ballas Road in St. Louis County. The old property was sold to the City; the main building was razed and its site became the present Visitation Park. (source)

The sale of "Viz" to the city in 1962 was a blow to the neighborhood as it became a staple of the neighborhood.

There is a nice video from local PBS affiliate KETC's "Living St. Louis" series on the park and Visitation Academy:

The park has a walking path complete with work out stations.

There is a pavilion for parties, a playground and a basketball court:

There is also a former fountain that was not operational upon my visit:

There is also a tree in the park that is surrounded by a small fence.  Upon further inspection, there is a plaque placed in the memory of Rodney McAllister, a 10 year old boy who was tragically killed by a group of stray dogs in 2001.  You can read about the entire tragic incident here.

The park plays host to an annual summer concert series.  This year's shows will take place June-August:

Kreative Pandemonium 6/22/2014, Sunday, 6:00 p.m.

Ptah Williams' Trio 7/27/2014, Sunday, 6:00 p.m.

The Uncensored Band 8/24/2014, Sunday, 6:00 p.m.

The homes to the south of the park along Clemens Place are straight up beauties:

There is a large apartment complex north of the park (Winston Churchill Apartments):

Samuel Kennedy Park

Samuel Kennedy Park is 1 of 108 St. Louis parks.  This small, triangular park was placed into ordinance in 2007 and is located in the Central West End neighborhood.

This park can accurately be described as a pocket park based on the small, irregular strip of land that it was built upon.  The sliver of space is between Olive Street and Washington Avenue, just east of Kingshighway.

This park is fantastically done with its careful landscaping, shaded resting spots, peaceful and inviting from the sidewalk and interior.  This park is an asset to the Central West End.  Gateway Contracting was the general contractor that built the park.

The park is named in honor of former 18th ward alderman Samuel M. Kennedy who was a public servant for over 20 years.

A native of East St. Louis, Kennedy served as President of a Textile Union prior to running for his first unexpired term of office in 1967.
The accomplishments of Samuel M. Kennedy are vast. He was Senior Black Alderman on the St. Louis Board of Aldermen; Chairman of the Aldermanic Housing Committee, Floor Majority Leader, Vice Chairman of Ways & Means, a member of the Public Safety & Zoning Committee and several other influential committees. But the aspect of Samuel Kennedy's character which truly distinguished him as a man of great stature was his personable style and consideration of others. (source)

There must have been some serious money invested in this park at some point, or it is maintained by a volunteer group or some other source.  There is simply too much landscaping, investment and care to indicate otherwise.

The fencing that defines the space is high quality and the gates honor Kennedy Park.

There is a beautiful water fountain accessible from the sidewalk:

The interior of the park has a playground at the eastern, widest point on the park, with benches for parents to rest, tucked under shade trees and surrounded by perenials.

There is another climbing gym as you head east toward the "point" converging at Olive & Washington.

Then you have two beautiful fountains, one operational upon my visit, the other not.

The first of two is designed to have water flowing low over a conical surface, creating sound as the water flows over metal studs, sculpted with artistic designs and contours in the concrete.

The second of two fountains is a vertical blast of water for kids to get wet and have fun.

This is what a pocket park should be.  I love it.  Great job Central West End!

The homes surrounding this little park are classics, and set on an interesting angle.

twin peacocks

The Central West End is arguably St. Louis' premier neighborhood and Samuel Kennedy Park adds to the neighborhood's sense of place, style and class.