Ive always been a curious person. Many of the most important things I said as a child started with Why is...? Growing up, the why is questions often were about the world around me. Questions about the natural world, like Why is the sky blue or Why is it cold in winter didnt seem to vex me, the world was the way it was. What vexed me were questions resulting from human activity. Why is... was a way of asking Why would someone... One perennial favorite was Why is this street called what it is? We lived on Bowen Road, which seemed strange, since many of the other streets around us were named after species of Oak Trees (Red Oak, White Oak, etc). So Id ask my dad, and, in the wisdom accorded to Fathers of Inquisitive Children, hed reply It was named after Mr. Bowen (or Mr Fielder, or Mr Cooper, or Mr Davis, or Mr Collins, or, or, or....). As a seven or eight year old, this was enough to satisfy my curiosity, but not for long. Within a few years, I wanted to know who Messrs. Bowen, Fielder, Davis, Copper, Collins, etc actually were, and what did they do that there were streets named after them. Before too long, I was required, as were all seventh graders in Texas, to take a course in Texas History. To my surprise, I found that not only did I love it but I seemed to have a natural aptitude for it. For the first time ever I was interested enough in a school subject to read ahead in the book. I began piecing together an understanding of the broader world around me, the macro and how the present state of affairs came to be, but the micro the very present here-and-now that confronted me daily was still somewhat elusive. Then at the tender age of sixteen, fate, in the form of my parents anniversary intervened. To get out of the house and give them some alone time I went up to the Fielder Fielder House Museum, not far from where I lived. I was surprised to find two schoolmates volunteering there, Lisa Melton Glasgow and Heidi Melton Kamei who, seeing my interest and the working knowledge Id already accrued, encouraged me to volunteer as well. So I did. In doing so, not only did I learn who Mr Bowen was (he was the founder of several newspapers in Texas, including the Houston Chronicle and the Arlington Citizen. The Citizen eventually evolved into the Citizen-Journal. His home had been not far from where I grew up, which surprised me), I also learned who the other streets I was curious about were named after....and got to meet some of their descendants! Once, when I was still a teenager, I rode in the Fourth of July Parade in a vehicle Robert Fielder, the son of the man after whom Fielder Road was named, had driven decades before as a teen while working a summer at Yellowstone. Robert Fielder was in the front seat, I was in the back. Ive been in St Louis for over a decade now. This place practically seeps history from its very pores, and the local historian in me is like a kid in a candy store. Why is... questions abound, and the answers are plentiful, amazing, and never seem to end. I live on Klemm Street. Who names ANYTHING Klemm, beyond Edgar Bergens Clem Kaddidlehopper Turns out my street was named after St Louis first official City Engineer, who had also been an assistant to James Eads, of bridge and boat fame. At one end of my street is Mullanphy School....Turns out Brian Mullanphy was an early St Louis mayor who, among other things, founded what is today the Travellers Aid Society. Think of THAT, the next time youre lost in a strange airport! In the next few weeks, Im going to be enrolled in a class at UMSL called History of St Louis Looking over the syllabus and class materials that are available to me, already my hearts beating a little faster. Im energized, Im ready...Im curious. This, dear friends, is going to be good.
Posted on: Thu, 01 Jan 2015 17:19:11 +0000
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