Source: Mercantile Library Collections,
University of Missouri - St. Louis

St. Louis stood at a crossroads in 1950, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Recovering from the dislocations of World War II, losing population and business to outlying suburbs, and bearing the weight of an outdated physical infrastructure, St. Louis showed serious signs of decay. The outlook was not completely bleak, however. The economy was booming, federal money was available for urban renewal, and the Cold War united people in a common sense of purpose. In the opinion of the newspapers' editors, the key to success lay in promoting awareness of the city's problems and persuading lawmakers to adopt the right policies. The choice between progress and decay was one that St. Louisans had to make for themselves. What the editors of the Post-Dispatch did not anticipate, however, were dramatic changes in the way that people associated with one another: the way parents interacted with children, the way blacks interacted with whites, and the way that men interacted with women.

See how St. Louis met these challenges by exploring the 3-D model of the city on the left side of your screen. Click on buildings, structures, and people to gather information. You may wish to begin by consulting a map and guide for the city that was published for visitors at the time. You may also want to consult basic statistical information about the city

Go to Site Index Special Instructions for Teachers