“After Mill Creek: Uses and Fate of LaClede Town’s Iconic ‘Experiment in Integration'” by Benjamin Looker (Fall 2026 Lecture Series)
September 30 @ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
FreeRSVP - Benjamin Looker 2026 Fall Lecture
Lecturer: Benjamin Looker, SLU faculty member in American Studies
Date: Wednesday, Sept. 30th, 2026 @ 6:00 PM
Location: Landmarks Office, 1805 S. 9th Street, Saint Louis, MO 63104
St. Louis of the late 1960s was high on the list of America’s most racially segregated cities, even as it attracted widespread rebuke for the catastrophic disrepair at its Pruitt-Igoe housing complex. Paradoxically, the city at this same moment possessed one of the decade’s most lauded “experiments in integration”: the Midtown housing development known as LaClede Town. Characterized by its interracial resident base, LaClede Town became a seedbed for countercultural and activist social projects. How did this freshly built neighborhood achieve this identity? Whose ends did its glowing national reputation serve? What happened to the site after its heyday? Join us for an exploration of how race, redevelopment, and culture intersected in an iconic St. Louis neighborhood.
Benjamin Looker is an award-winning researcher who writes on topics including U.S. urban history, jazz and theatre, and 20th-century social movements. His publications on St. Louis include volumes on the groundbreaking Black Artists’ Group (BAG) and on 1960s–70s progressive activism here.
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Join Landmarks Association of St. Louis for our lectures series, a diverse selection of talks covering the history, architecture, and culture of the St. Louis Region.
Lectures are at 6:00 PM on Wednesdays. With assistance from the Regional Arts Commission, all lectures are FREE.
Walk-ins are welcome, but seating is limited. Registration is requested. Please register for each lecture individually.*
*If RSVP capacity is reached, walk-ins may be limited to standing room only.
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DIRECTIONS AND PARKING
1805 S. 9th Street | St. Louis, MO 63104 (corner of 9th and Soulard)
Parking: Free street parking is available along 9th and Soulard streets.
Entrance: Enter the building via the gangway on the north side (right-hand side of the building).
| From 64:
– Take I-64 E/US-40 E |
From 44:
– Take I-44 E |
From 55:
– Take I-55 N |
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The seasonal Landmarks Lecture series is made possible by support from the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis.
