Pruitt-Igoe and Elizabeth Keckley

Cost: $5; doors open at 6:30pm. Note: our cover charge helps support equipment and other expenses to bring you these talks. No one who wants to attend will be turned away for lack of funds**.**

"This month’s Unseen STL History Talks explores two very different chapters of Black history in St. Louis. Pruitt-Igoe remains one of the city’s most recognizable stories, yet photos of its demolition often overshadow the people who lived there. Elizabeth Keckley became a celebrated dressmaker and confidante to Mary Todd Lincoln, but fewer people know that she spent nearly 12 years in St. Louis, purchasing her freedom for herself and her son here.

"Together, their stories reveal how Black St. Louisans built homes, communities, careers, and freedom in a city that repeatedly put barriers in their way.."

The Speakers:
"Shawntay Nicole Vaughn is a second-generation St. Louisan, entertainer, and author with a lifelong love of history and the remnants of the past. She is currently honing her storytelling skills and delving deeper into St. Louis history as a docent at 4theVille and in the Missouri Historical Society’s Storytelling Cohort."

"Naysa Adams is a curator, historian, and multimedia artist born and raised in St. Louis. Their research-forward practice explores local history and the stories too often left at its margins."

Learn more about the talk and the speaker at https://unseenstlouis.substack.com/p/unseen-stl-history-september-2026