Charlotte Rumbold (stick with me on this one, this one is about the Muny!)
In the early 1900s, Charlotte became the park superintendent for St. Louis City parks and playgrounds, which were segregated at this time. Charlotte used her position as superintendent as a way to create a very progressive (at the time) series of free neighborhood programs for all St. Louisans. Her belief was that if people play together they will work together – seeing this public world as a way to bridge economic and racial divides.
In 1913, Charlotte organized a large playground pageant for children in Forest Park. Each neighborhood playground was assigned a portion of the pageant and came to Forest Park to present their part. The city supported the pageant as a way to unite the city among racial and ethnic divides.
In 1914, city officials were trying to think of a way to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding of St. Louis. Charlotte had an idea. She (with the help of the city) staged a massive public pageant on the Grand Basin at the foot of Art Hill to celebrate. The stage was out on the water and was massive (400 feet long!!), the cast was enormous (7,500 actors!) and the pageant itself was lengthy (between 4 and 5 hours!) and the weather was likely warm, especially in all of that 1914 fashion.
BUT – all of this to say, it was such a huge success. St. Louisans loved it. They wanted more! They wanted summers full of wonderful shows…And this is how we…
Got the Muny!
As for Charlotte, she went to her boss fresh off four nights of pageantry and asked for a raise. She was denied. She left St. Louis and went to Cleveland.
Questions? Ask Kelly when you get back to the finish. There is so much more to this story.
Photos courtesy of the Missouri Historical Society.
Photos of the crowd for The Pageant and the Masque, May 1914.
