St.

Louis City/County Census Demographics 1772-2000

Figure 1:

St. Louis Population, 1772-2000

1200000 1000000 800000 600000 400000 200000 0
Total Population St. Louis City St. Louis County

Analysis: What are the larger trends can you see represented in this chart? How can this information be used to analyze migration movements in the Midwest? What additional information would help your analysis? Figure 2:St. Louis City Population, by race:
1000000 900000 800000 700000 600000 500000 400000 300000 200000 100000 0 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 2000 White Blacks

Analysis: Can you draw information from both graphs to see larger demographic movements? Do you see the effects of the Great Migration of southern blacks after the Civil War and into the early 20th century?

Adele Eve Keithahn

Adele was born February 23, 1924, in St. Louis, MO to illiterate Lithuanian immigrants, Franciscus Chipp (formerly Chebatorius) and Julijona (Greicus) Chipp. Julijona Greicus arrived in America in approximately 1903, and settled in Collinsville, Illinois, where she was married. After her husbands death, she moved her family to St. Louis, where she married Franciscus (Frank) Chipp, and had two daughters, Juliana and Adele. Adele, writing about her mother: How I wish I knew the story of Mamas voyage and arrival at Ellis Island or Castle Gardens. Unfortunately, we didnt discuss our roots. The reason for the lack of communication was, I believe, twofold: a language barrier and a cultural barrier. We all spoke Lithuanian at homethe childrens knowledge of it sufficed for daily living and getting along in the Lithuanian community when necessary but perhaps was insufficient to encourage conversations at a feelings level, and in reverse Mamas English stopped at a fairly basic level. More directly responsible probably was the unspoken struggle between Mama and us stemming from her need to cling to her heritage and the new generations need to cast it aside and fit into the present society.

1: (L to R) Juliana and Adele at their First Communion, May 8, 1932

Questions: Using the above picture, and our prior discussions about industry, what do you think a city provided for a relatively small immigrant population that a more rural setting could not? Based on the quoted text, what do you see as barriers between immigrants and their children?

Americanization
Beyond any natural attempts for the children of immigrants to try and distance themselves from their backwards or traditionalist parents, state governments were pressured by nativist activists to Americanize immigrants, essentially discouraging native languages, foods, and customs. This was done as a nationalistic attempt at preserving American culture and discouraging the contributions of less-desirable immigrant groups, such as those from eastern and southern Europe. Question: Do you see this kind of ethnic discrimination happening today? What are your feelings about what it means to be a proper citizen of the United States?