Nathan Young (1862-1933)

BLACK ELITES:
SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE OF COLOR
IN ST. LOUIS

An exhibit in the
Saint Louis University Archives,
Pius XII Memorial Library, Room 307,
3650 Lindell Boulevard,
St. Louis, Missouri 63108.
The exhibit is free and open to the public,
Monday thru Friday, 8:30 A.M.-5:00 P.M.
The exhibit runs from February 4, 2002,
through the end of March.
Call for information: (314) 977-3091.

In recognition of Black History Month, the Saint Louis University Archives is pleased to present: "Black Elites: Successful People of Color in St. Louis." This exhibit, on display in the St. Louis Room of the Pius XII Memorial Library, highlights the fascinating stories of two remarkable black families of the St. Louis area, the Nathan Young (1862-1933) family and the Richard Hudlin (1858-1918) family. The Youngs and Hudlins became academically, professionally, and economically successful black families, members of the "black elite" of St. Louis. Looked upon with suspicion or open hostility by upper class white society who saw them as competition, and viewed with ambivalence by many blacks who feared they might be looked down upon by them, the black elite has remained largely an invisible class of people, a group about whom not much has ever been known or written.

Most of the primary source materials in the exhibit are taken from the Nathan B. Young Collections of the Saint Louis University Archives and from the Hudlin family private collections. Many historians working in black history often lament the scarcity of original source materials generated or maintained by blacks that are reflective of their experiences in America. These historians of American black culture point to the danger of writing or interpreting black history based upon what others said or wrote about blacks rather than writing it based upon what the black man or woman said about him/herself. Through the use of original source materials from these two local black families, the exhibit suggests that such documents produced by blacks do indeed exist, but they are not always easy to locate.

The exhibit also calls attention to the recent scholarship of Dr. Julie Winch by including her edition of Cyprian Clamorgan's, The Colored Aristocracy of St. Louis, published originally in 1858. Clamorgan, the grandson of Jacques Clamorgan, the famous early St. Louis fur trader, land speculator, and businessman, became a successful St. Louis businessman in his own right during the middle of the 19th century. In The Colored Aristocracy, Clamorgan introduces his readers to a world of free black men and women virtually unknown not only to the St. Louis of his day, but also to present day St. Louis. Clamorgan tells the stories of some fascinating individuals, people who had the opportunity to compete and to make their own way in the world. The exhibit uses the Clamorgan book to broaden the context of the exhibit and as a bridge between the ante-bellum free black community of St. Louis and the 20th century black families featured in the exhibit.

Finally, implicit in the exhibit is the suggestion of the need for more research in black history. Even with all that is known of the black American experience, much remains to be discovered. The Saint Louis University Archives hopes that this exhibit might contribute to inspiring someone to investigate the still untold stories of the remarkable contributions black men and women have made, and continue to make, to the development of the United States.

Richard Hudlin
(1858-1918)