Former St Louis County Historian and preservationist, Esley Hamilton has spoken a number of times to SCHS and we are thrilled to have him back on October 28, 2015.
Esley will speak on St Louis County Parks. From only two parks in 1950, St. Louis County has created one of the outstanding park systems in the country. Esley Hamilton, longtime preservation historian for the county, tells this surprising story using pictures from his 2012 book with NiNi Harris, “St. Louis Parks.”
SCHS Fall General Meeting and Presentation
October 28, 2015 Wednesday, 7:00 pm
Early admittance starting at 6:30 to browse displays and other offerings
At Lindbergh High School in Anne Morrow Lindbergh Room
See directions to Lindbergh High School in Anne Morrow Lindbergh Room.
More about Esley Hamilton
See Esley’s book on Amazon
Esley spoke on St Louis Public Radio
See interview with Esley for the Beacon
See brief history of St Louis County Parks on St Louis County website
See article about Esley in the South County Times at the time of his retirement.
Esley Hamilton at White Haven. Photo by
Diana Linsley
of the South County Times
More about the book
“St Louis Parks” is available on Amazon and St Louis County libraries, including Tesson Ferry library. See image of book cover at top of this page.
The blurb on the back cover of “St. Louis Parks,” by NiNi Harris and Esley Hamilton
St. Louis has great parks. And St. Louisans are passionate about them. “St. Louis Parks” delivers portraits of St. Louis City and County parks, both major and minor, that prove why these common spaces are crucial to the region’s way of life. Acclaimed local historians NiNi Harris and Esley Hamilton take readers through the city and county, respectively. Dramatic photography by Mark Scott Abeln and Steve Tiemann complement the essays. “St. Louis Parks” evokes the unique character and history of the individual parks in the St. louis region and visualizes the need for green space, whether it is to escape the urban life or to come together as a community.
The forward to the book is by Peter Raven.
The table of contents lists many of the parks featured in the book. See expanded list of parks.
The book puts the parks in context of the other parks and green spaces in the region.
Other attractions at the October 28 SCHS general meeting.
Come early to see what you can see. Doors open at 6:30 pm. The meeting officially starts at 7:00 pm., but coming as early as 6:30 when the doors open allows you more time to to browse displays and other offerings.
From 6:30 to 7:00 and during refreshment time you can:
• Say ‘hello’ to St Louis County celebrity, Esley Hamilton
• Buy Esley Hamilton’s book, “St. Louis Parks”
• Sign up for the Meet-at-the-Site tour
• Buy a book by Elizabeth Terry. You may pay in cash, check or credit card for your convenience.
• See the displays, an archival display on travel and a display on the 1875 pictorial map of St Louis
• Buy a copy of the SCHS Hometown Heroes book, for yourself or for Christmas gifts
• Participate in a small silent auction for history-related books
The evening will start officially at 7:00 with
• “Pledging Allegiance to the Flag” and a non-sectarian invocation
• Continuing through a light and brief business meeting
• Refreshment time is the most important moment
• Finally, the main event of the evening, hear Esley Hamilton speak on a topic near to his heart, the history of St Louis County parks.
Elizabeth Terry, has written a new book with her two co-authors, “Ethnic St Louis” which she will be selling at our SCHS October meeting. You may remember that Elizabeth was at our July SCHS meeting selling her book, “Oysters to Angus: Three Generations of the St. Louis Faust Family.” She spoke at Friendship Village for the SCHS at Friendship Village speaker series in 2015 and will speak on her new book in 2016.
