Author Ed Wheatley traces St. Louis’ long love affair with “America’s favorite pastime” –from kids playing in farm fields and school yards to the sports heroes of the major leagues and Negro leagues.

Ed grew up in and around the world of baseball and continues to play in senior leagues across the country. As a leader of the St. Louis Browns Historical Society, he works to preserve the history and legacy of this transplanted American League team.

Author Stephen P. Walker is a native St. Louisan with a lifelong passion for local history and the paranormal. His fascination with the Lemp family began during his first visit to the Lemp Mansion in 1982—a visit that launched years of research in libraries, archives, and museums. That exploration of one of St. Louis's most legendary families ultimately inspired him to write his first book.

Lemp: The Haunting History, the first book devoted entirely to the Lemp family, traces their rise as the brewing dynasty that once dominated the Midwest, their tragic decline during the era of Prohibition, and the lingering supernatural legacy said to haunt their grand mansion. Since its publication in 1989, the book has remained a regional bestseller and an essential resource for readers interested in the history, mystery, and hauntings of St. Louis.

Jeffrey Edison is a museum educator and historian with the St. Louis County Parks Department. His research has focused on the all-Black military units that were stationed at the Jefferson Barracks Army post as well as the freedom seekers who fled the historic Daniel Bissell House plantation.

His presentation will focus on his other area of interest: York, the enslaved body servant of William Clark. Jeffrey will discuss York’s role in the famed Lewis and Clark Expedition, as well as his life and relationship with Clark once the expedition was completed.

Locals know it as the Old Cathedral, but its formal name is the Basilica of Saint Louis, King of France.  No matter its name, it is the first cathedral west of the Mississippi, with roots dating back to 1764.  Join us as we explore the development of Catholicism and of the City of St. Louis through the eyes of the Old Cathedral, which sits in the shadow of the Gateway Arch.

Rena Schergen has been an archivist at the Archdiocese of St. Louis since 2013.  She holds a Master of Science in Library and Information Science (MSLIS) from the University of Urbana-Champaign and is a certified archivist. The archdiocesan archives office developed the content for the new exhibits at the Old Cathedral Museum, which reopened in 2024.

When we hear about the ancient Cahokian civilization, most of us think of the state park in Collinsville, Illinois, which features Monk's Mound, Woodhenge, and the Grand Plaza.  Yet that area is only one part of a vast early Mississippian cultural landscape, including the East St. Louis area, the downtown St. Louis mound group, the Richland Complex and Emerald Mound, as well as the extensive landscape of settlement in the American Bottom. Kyle Olson will examine the broad scope and extent of Greater Cahokia and discuss the significance of Cahokia's history in the global archeological field.

Kyle G. Olson is an archaeological anthropologist who teaches at Washington University.  He researches the history of archaeology, collections stewardship, and archaeological mapping. He has worked all over the world but the focus of his presentation examines the vast prehistoric Cahokian world.

Geoff Ward is Professor of African and African American Studies and faculty affiliate in the Department of Sociology and American Culture Studies Program at Washington University in St. Louis. He is director of the WashU & Slavery Project, a university initiative in partnership with the global consortium of Universities Studying Slavery. Professor Ward's scholarship has broadly focused on the intersection of race, crime and justice.

More information on his presentation coming soon.