A river runs through

When the then-emerging businessman Andrew Carnegie ordered the construction of the man-made wonder The Eads Bridge more than 150 years ago, his intention was to bring the country together. 

The first bridge across the Mississippi River south of the Missouri River is also the oldest bridge on the river. It connects East St. Louis to St. Louis. 

This successful completion was a symbol of strength and possibility. With it Carnegie was launched into the stratosphere as an industrialist whose groundbreaking mass production of steel helped modernize skylines of metropolitan areas – and made him one of the wealthiest men in history. 

As part of its culminating complimentary programming for “Like Water” which closes on August 10, the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (CAM) brought a group together to meditate on the bridge’s role in a tragic moment in American history. The last installment of the Make the River Present gatherings which included a Native Women’s Circle blessing and a trip along the Black Heritage Water Trail, also demonstrated how the bridge has come to represent the opposite of its original intention. 

On Saturday, August 2 – just days after the anniversary of the silent march in New York City to protest the East St. Louis race massacre of 1917 – about 20 people gathered just below the Metrolink station directly across from the Casino Queen.

Like the thousands who marched down Fifth Avenue at the behest of Marcus Garvey and the NAACP, most of them wore white. They carried big pieces of cardboard that replicated the original signage from what came to be known as “The Silent Parade.” 

“The bridge carried people to safety and it was a place to hold people back from enacting more violence,” said Michelle Dezember, Director of Learning & Engagement for CAM. “Keep that in mind as you go across today.”

The idea of running for one’s life towards St. Louis with domestic terrorists on one side and the murky, unknown depths of the Mississippi river below was a reminder of the type of fortitude that lies within the DNA of the ancestors of people who currently reside in “The City of Champions.” 

A poem by Dominique Shelton offered more insight.

“The next sunrises were filled to the brim with violence, unforeseen,” Shelton said in the poem that shares the name of her city’s motto. 

“It needs to be written about,” she said at the end of her poem. “More people need to know about what happened.”

The excursion was organized by Dezember and independent curator – and East St. Louis native – Allena Brazier. The experience connected those who attended to the CAM exhibition, even though it took place miles away from the museum.

“[‘Like Water’] came as an intention to learn from artists and cultural stewards and reconnect ourselves to the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers,” Dezember said. “I was really surprised when I moved here how separate I felt from the river. Right now, we are on the riverfront and we can’t see the water.”

After traveling the four flights up to the Metrolink platform, the view of the murky Mississippi became clear. 

The mere thought of following the narrow walkway – which was probably much narrower more than a century ago – with loved ones, including small children, in tow was enough to induce anxiety. 

Decades later, Dr. Tandra Taylor – assistant professor of history at Southern University Edwardsville and director of the SIUE Freedom School – crossed the Eads Bridge for different reasons. 

“I am a fourth generation daughter of East St. Louis,” said Taylor, who also co-founded the 1917 East St. Louis Race Riot Tour. “This river for me represents crossing. Ever since I can remember there is constant back and forth crossing – at least in my life as an East St. Louisan growing up. As I got older, I began to raise questions. ‘Why must we leave our community for choice foods, to food shop, to get clothes for work?’”

The 1917 East St. Louis Race Riot Tour begins at the top of the Metrolink platform as well.

“You can see the skyline in St. Louis and the underdeveloped skyline in East St. Louis,” Taylor said. 

She says the spot gives a sense of what the fathers of East St. Louis imagined for the city. 

“They imagined that it would be much more fluid relations between the growing wealth, the growing opportunity and the growing industries of St. Louis,” Taylor said. “The hope was for a very fluid relationship that’s separated by the river, but connected in every other way.”

Growing up in the 1980s, Taylor bore witness to the divestment that followed the white flight. 

“I would think, ‘Why do I have to leave my community for every single thing that is good in terms of material,” Taylor said. “Everything good comes from East St. Louis in terms of people capital.”

Taylor said it will take work from both sides to fulfill the vision of what the Eads Bridge represents with respect to community building. 

“I would not like us to see it as way over here – and for St. Louis to see East St. Louis as someplace undesirable,” said Taylor. “I want to set the intention on how we can think of this as one place and not two separate places.”

The Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis’ presentation of Like Water continues through August 10 at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, 3750 Washington Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63108. For more information https://camstl.org/.  

Living It content is produced with funding by the ARPA for the Arts grants program in partnership with the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis and the Community Development Administration.