Christopher Alan Gordon, “A Dramatic Turning Point: St. Louis 1849”

The History Department and Pickler Memorial Library will be co-hosting Christopher Alan Gordon on “A Dramatic Turning Point: St. Louis 1849” at 7:00 p.m., Thursday, October 11, 2018, in Baldwin Hall 201. Gordon is director of library and collections for the Missouri Historical Society and his lecture will examine the impact that the cholera epidemic and Great Fire of 1849 had upon the inhabitants of St. Louis and the future of the city. Gordon’s recently-published book, Fire, Pestilence, and Death: St. Louis, 1849, will be on sale at the lecture and the author will be available to sign copies.

 

The lecture is free and open to all.ChristopherGordon_poster

October 11, 2018
7:00 pm
October 11, 2018
General
Baldwin Hall 201
In 1849, St. Louis was little more than a frontier town, swelling under the pressure of rapid population growth, strained due to poor infrastructure, and often trapped within the confines of ignorance and prejudice. A massive cholera epidemic and the Great Fire of 1849 were consequences of those problems, but they were also chances for the city to evolve. Using newspaper accounts, letters, diaries, city and county records, as well as contemporary publications, Christopher Alan Gordon brings to life the stories of St. Louisans who lived through this tumultuous year and their surprising resilience and optimism in a time of extreme crisis.
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