Broadway · Hosmer Hall · Humansville · Movies · Playwright · Pulitzer Prize · St. Louis · Zoe Akins

From Humansville to Hollywood

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Zoe Akins wrote a play in the early 1950s called The Greeks Had a Word For It. In 1953, it was adapted for the screen as, How to Marry a Millionaire. Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable and Lauran Bacall starred in the film, and it made Marilyn Monroe popular. Zoe Akins's time in Hollywood came at… Continue reading From Humansville to Hollywood

Amelia Earhart · Aviatrix · Springfield

"It just doesn’t do to wear skirts in these." – Amelia in Springfield –

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Amelia Earhart brought her controversial self to Springfield, Missouri in June of 1931 ... which begs the question, where was the municipal airport in 1931??? “Not rebuked, Amelia says,” Springfield (Mo.) Press, June 20, 1931, page 1. A slim sunburned girl Saturday landed her yellow auto-giro at Municipal airport and chatted in a friendly manner… Continue reading "It just doesn’t do to wear skirts in these." – Amelia in Springfield –

Author · Fannie Hurst · Jewish · Movies · New Mt. Sinai Cemetery · St. Louis · Washington University

Fannie Hurst

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Fun fact: one of the 2 highest paid authors (male or female) in 1925 grew up in Missouri: Fannie Hurst. No, not from the publishing family, rather, a child born to Jewish immigrants, who grew up as a sheltered only child and graduated from Washington University in 1909. Fannie had a thirst for social knowledge.… Continue reading Fannie Hurst

Bellefontaine Cemetery · Hall of Famous Missourians · Jefferson City · Kindergarten · St. Louis · Susan Blow

America’s First Kindergarten

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Susan Blow opened the first publicly-funded kindergarten in the United States, in the Carondalet neighborhood of St. Louis. While in Germany with her father, Susan saw first hand how Friedrich Froebel's theories (the founder of kindergarten or “children’s garden”) were being applied to early child education. She saw the importance and need back in America.… Continue reading America’s First Kindergarten