St. Louis in the century of Henry Shaw : a view beyond the garden wall / edited with an introduction by Eric Sandweiss.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Sandweiss, Eric.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Shaw, Henry, 1800-1889.

Shaw, Henry.

Shaw, Henry, 1800-1889--Influence.

Philanthropists.

Businessmen.

Saint Louis (Mo.)--Biography.

Saint Louis (Mo.).

Businessmen--Missouri--Saint Louis--Biography.

Philanthropists--Missouri--Saint Louis--Biography.

Saint Louis (Mo.)--Civilization--19th century.

Saint Louis (Mo.)--Social conditions--19th century.

Missouri--Saint Louis.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xviii, 251 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Other Title:

Saint Louis in the century of Henry Shaw

Place of Publication:

Saint Louis : Missouri Botanical Garden : Missouri Historical Society ; Columbia : University of Missouri Press, [2003]

Summary:

Assembled in honor of the two-hundredth anniversary of the birth of philanthropist and entrepreneur Henry Shaw (1800-1889), St. Louis in the Century of Henry Shaw is a collection of nine provocative essays that together provide a definitive account of the life of St. Louis during the 1800s, a thriving period during which the city acquired the status of the largest metropolis in the American West. Shaw, who established the Missouri Botanical Garden in 1859, was just one of the many immigrants who left their mark on this complex, culturally rich city during the century of its greatest growth. This volume examines the lives of a number of these men and women, from celebrated leaders such as Senator Thomas Hart Benton and the Reverend William Greenleaf Eliot to the thousands of Germans, African Americans, and others whose labor built the city we recognize today. Leading scholars reconstruct and interpret the world that Shaw knew in his long lifetime: a world of contention and of creativity, of trendsetting developments in politics, business, scientific research, and the arts. Shaw's own story mirrored these developments. Born in Sheffield, England, he immigrated to the United States in 1819 and soon moved to St. Louis. Ultimately becoming a very successful businessman and philanthropist, he was a participant in and a witness to the vast economic and cultural transformation of the city. Together, the essays in this volume convey a sense of the richness and diversity that made nineteenth-century St. Louis such a vibrant place. Anyone interested in cultural history, especially that of St. Louis, will find this book invaluable.

Contents:

From a garden looking out : public culture in Henry Shaw's St. Louis / Eric Sandweiss

Gods in ruins : St. Louis politicians and American destiny, 1764-1875 / Kenneth H. Winn

African Americans in Henry Shaw's St. Louis / Antonio F. Holland

Learning from the "majority-minority" city : immigration in nineteenth-century St. Louis / Walter D. Kamphoefner

The economy of nineteenth-century St. Louis / James Neal Primm

Enterprise and exchange : the growth of research in Henry Shaw's St. Louis / Michael Long

Public education in nineteenth-century St. Louis / William J. Reese

Shaping the authentic : St. Louis theater culture and the construction of American social types, 1815-1860 / Louis Gerteis

Themes and schemes : the literary life of nineteenth-century St. Louis / Lee Ann Sandweiss.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0826214398

OCLC:

50730820