Veiled Prophet Parade and Ball

The Veiled Prophet Parade and Ball was a yearly civic celebration in St. Louis, Missouri, over which a mythical figure called the Veiled Prophet presided. The first events were in 1878. The last parade under that name was in 2019, but the observances have continued yearly as Fair St. Louis on the Mississippi riverfront and America's Birthday Parade every July.

Program cover, 1883
1885 Veiled Prophet Parade, with theme An Arabian Night.
The representation of the King of the Jinns, with an outstretched arm, first float, is bearing the Veiled Prophet and his attendants, beneath umbrellas. Second is "The Fairy of Poetry and Romance," with two giraffe representations, and, passing in front of the Old Courthouse (St. Louis) is a float with the theme "The Modern Story-Teller of the Orient".[1][2]

Overview

The identity of a given year's Grand Oracle, or Veiled Prophet, has been a secret, but members of the Veiled Prophet organization in 1878 were reported in 1964 to have included Alonzo W. Slayback, Frank Gaiennie, John A. Scudder, Henry C. Haarstick, George Bain, Robert P. Tansey, George H. Morgan, Wallace Delafield, John B. Maude, D. P. Rowland, Leigh I. Knapp, David B. Gould, Henry Paschell, H. I. Kent, E. Pretorious, William H. Thompson, and William A. Hargadine, H.B. Loudermann, and George D. Capen.[3]

The event is organized and funded by the Veiled Prophet Organization, an all-male[4] association founded in 1878 by prominent St. Louisans. Each year, one member was chosen to serve as the "Veiled Prophet of Khorassan," to preside over the Veiled Prophet Ball.

In 1881, nearly four thousand invitations were issued,[5] and in 1885 there were more than seven thousand, of which some six thousand were used.[6]

Queens have included the daughters of the most influential members of the organization. In 1999, actor Ellie Kemper was crowned as Queen.[7] Kemper's father, David Kemper, was then the chief executive officer and chairman of Commerce Bank.[8]

The parade and ball were both originally held in October. The ball was eventually moved to the Friday before Christmas; the parade and fair celebration, once called the VP (Veiled Prophet) Fair and VP Parade, are now called Fair St. Louis and America's Birthday Parade and are held during the week of Independence Day.

Historian Thomas Spencer believes that the event generally revealed rather than soothed class conflicts.[9] Spencer wrote that the VP parade was created in part to displace the parades regularly held by the trade unions. Spencer believed it cast workingmen in a passive rather than active role, not merely in the celebration, but in the mythology asserted for the history and economic life of the city.[10] Occasionally the unions would stage events intended to mock the pretensions of the VP Ball.[11] The leading socialist and working-class newspaper, St. Louis Labor, "wrote negatively" about the VP event and its organizers between the early 1900s and 1930.[12]

The ball still occurs on the Friday before Christmas each year, is attended by thousands, and has been protested by Black Lives Matter members, as well as the St. Louis-based group Missourians Organized for Reform and Empowerment, which linked St. Louis's wealthiest one percent to the VP organization.[13]

Founding

The event had its roots in the St. Louis Agricultural and Mechanical Fair, an annual harvest festival which had been held in St. Louis since 1856. It attracted agricultural crops, crafts, demonstrations and attendees from throughout the region. In the economic difficulties after the American Civil War in the 1870s, such events declined. Spencer wrote that city boosters devised the Veiled Prophet Fair in an attempt to reclaim, from the rapidly growing city of Chicago, pre-eminence for St. Louis as a manufacturing center and agricultural shipping point.[9]

The Veiled Prophets organization was founded by prominent St. Louisans who had been invited to a meeting in a letter signed by John B. Maude, John A. Scudder, George Bain, John G. Priest, and D.P. Rowland.[14]

On March 20, 1878, Charles Slayback, a grain broker who had spent several Reconstruction years in New Orleans after the Civil War and become acquainted with its Mardi Gras traditions, attended a meeting of local business leaders at the Lindell Hotel. He and his brother Alonzo, a former colonel with a Missouri Cavalry Regiment which fought for the Confederates, created a mythology for a secret elite society, whose public demonstrations would coincide with the annual St. Louis Agricultural and Mechanical Fair. Alonzo wrote The First Panorama of Progress of the Veiled Prophets.[15] The brothers borrowed the name "the Veiled Prophet of Khorassan" from Irish poet Thomas Moore's Lalla Rookh; they also incorporated features from the Comus of New Orleans. In Moore's poem, the Veiled Prophet was a horribly disfigured man who considered himself a prophet.[16] In a 1956 promotional book by Vincent H. Sanders and Theodore D. Drury Jr., the Prophet was a world traveler who chose to bless St. Louis.[17]

First parade and ball
Initial Veiled Prophet Parade, 1878, with the Prophet as a giant figure on a horse-drawn float. Men walked on the side to cast light with portable burners.
Image by Edward Jump from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, October 1878. (Click to enlarge.)

The first parade and ball were held on Tuesday, October 8, 1878. The Prophet was selected secretly from among the members, who were made up of St. Louis's business and civic elite. The first Prophet was John G. Priest,[9] a member of the city's Board of Police Commissioners.[18][19]

Attendance at the parade was estimated at more than 100,000.[20] Two days earlier, a Missouri Republican feature writer had described the Veiled Prophet as dressed with a white hood and robe while armed with a pistol and rifle. "It will be readily observed from the accoutrements of the Prophet that the procession is not likely to be stopped by street cars or anything else," the text said. But the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's description of the 1878 parade said the day after the parade that the VP had been " a huge figure, about twenty-five feet high, and looking like an overgrown cigar store sign, with a mosquito bar over its face."[21]

Spencer interpreted the Republican's reference to "street cars" as related to the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. "Newspaper feature stories since the 1950s have described the 'first Veiled Prophet parade' as a way of healing the wounds of a bitter labor-management fight," the 1877 St. Louis general strike, he wrote. But he claimed that the first Veiled Prophet parade was "more a show of power than a gesture of healing."[22] There is no record, however, that St. Louis streetcar operators joined the nationwide strike of railroad men.[23] The Globe-Democrat reported that "wherever else a strike takes place, there will be none on the street cars unless outside interference brings it on."[24]

Notable VP Ball incidents and activities

The Belles and the Queens of Love and Beauty
See also: List of Veiled Prophet Belles and Queens
Suzanne Slayback, 1878

The custom of singling out a young woman for special attention began with the first Veiled Prophet Ball in 1878, when Suzanne (Susie) Slayback was chosen by the first Veiled Prophet, John G. Priest, to be the "belle" of the ball at the age of 16. According to a 1958 article in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, in those earlier times it was "the custom of the Prophet to select a girl for his partner in the first dance at the ball."[25][26]

In 1884 the title of this honoree was changed to Queen of Love and Beauty. She was to "act as regent" between the Prophet's yearly visits.[27]

19th century
Mayor Ziegenhein, 1902

The rules soon required "full evening dress" for attendees, which for women, according to the investigation by a newspaper reporter in 1880, meant that "low neck and short sleeves" would not be "insisted upon, but the wearing of hats or bonnets will not be countenanced... it is expected that ladies will appear in an elaborate coiffure."[28]

"A peculiar thing" about the ball in 1881, a Kansas City Times reporter averred, is that "the committee lays down a law that no lady in bonnet or gentleman not in full dress shall be admitted." Full dress for men was defined as "Black swallow-tail coat, black low-cut vest, black pants, white cravat and light gloves." Nevertheless, the reporter wrote, "Despite this... ladies were seen on the floor with bonnets. Gentlemen were there in light coats, the tails of which were pinned back, thus making an improvised swallow tail."[29]

St. Louis Mayor Henry Ziegenhein refused to wear a dress suit when he was invited to attend the Veiled Prophet Ball and "welcome" the Veiled Prophet to his city in 1898. He said he had never worn one and never would, preferring a Prince Albert coat (frock coat), which he wore on all state occasions.[30][31]

In 1884 a carpet was laid for dancing, "to protect ladies' dresses.[32]

1901-1934
Journalist Marguerite Martyn sketched these Ball attendees in 1911 and in 1916.
Martyn drew herself seated in the right panel.
1935-2000

By 1935, men and women in the "floor seating and standing spaces, the boxes and balcony," were to be in "full evening dress," but gallery viewers were expected only to be "neatly dressed."[33]

In summer 1986, Jennifer Knight, that year's Queen of Love and Beauty, headed a group of her court members in a fund-raising fashion show at Buder Park. The dress code was "sporty Sunday clothes, fun skirts — certainly not blue jeans," spokeswoman Ginny Orthwein said.[34]

Tableaux

In 1883 the organization began a series of tableaux, which was "not to be an exclusive affair, nor to be confined to the members of the Veiled Prophets. . . . Any person, of respectable character" could send for tickets, which were limited so that they should "not fall into the hands of improper or disreputable characters." Seats at the Olympic Theater were five dollars each , and there would be "no discrimination." In addition to the tableaux, musical attractions were on the bill.[35] There would be no requirement for "full dress."[36][37]

In conjunction with the 1889 removal of the VP Ball from the Merchants Exchange to a new site at the Music Hall, the program was changed from a March and Veiled Prophet's Quadrille to "a series of magnificent tableaux" with "elegantly costumed" participants.[37]

Mexican visitors

In 1898, St. Louis was one stop for a large group of visitors on tour from Mexico, and Mrs. Otto F. Forster of St. Louis arranged for the women of that group to be "given an insight into the high social life" of the city, but she could not find "enough society women who can speak Spanish to form a reception committee."

From the local Latin-American Club she received a list of women who could speak the language, but, as the Post-Dispatch reported, "it didn't suit. The ladies were all stenographers and probably not one of them figured as a maid of honor at a Veiled Prophet's Ball or acted as a lady patroness at a swell function. They were all nice and good, no doubt, Mrs. Forster argued, but they didn't represent what is conceded to be society in St. Louis."[38]

After coronation

Before 1915, the newly crowned Queen was taken by family and friends to a fashionable hotel for a "light cotillion," or light refreshments, and then escorted home. In that year, the supper was supplanted by an elaborate party, first at the St. Louis Country Club, then over time at the Chase Hotel and next the Jefferson Hotel (for 27 years). In 1964 and after it was at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel.[3]

In 1926, as in "past years" and after "a ceremony of allegiance to the new Queen," the custom for her and some others was to leave the venue "and spend the rest of the evening in hotel ballrooms or dining rooms."[39]

The married Queen

In 1928, Mary Ambrose Smith, who was selected as Queen, was found to have secretly married Dr. Thomas Birdsall days earlier, violating the rule that the Queen of Love and Beauty must be a "maiden."[40] The Post-Dispatch quoted a man "high in the councils of the Veiled Prophet organization," who said: "We have no precedent to guide us. The disclosure is most extraordinary, astounding, to be exact."[41]

In a 1979 interview with the St. Louis Times,[42] Smith recalled how the Veiled Prophet:

gave her traveling money and told her to "begone, don't register at any large hotels, and don't use your real name."... Smith was "made to feel she disgraced her family. None of her friends stuck by her (she was told she could not visit their houses), she was never invited to another VP ball, her picture was removed from the collection of queens' portraits at the Missouri Historical Society, and her name was deleted from the Social Register.

Bengal Lancers

An honor guard for the Veiled Prophet began around 1922 with uniforms modeled after those of a British first life guard; then, a West Point cadet and, next, a cavalier. In 1935 the men were fitted with a new look: that of a Bengal lancer of India, with a royal blue turban, a scarlet tunic, white breeches, white gauntlets and black jackboots with silver spurs. The Globe Democrat reported that year:[43]

The turban is striped with yellows and reds with a green center stripe; each color representing a religion of these fighting men. The green signifies Mohammedanism, while the other colors stand for the various other Eastern faiths.

Each year, the guard performed an exhibition drill before the introduction of the Prophet to the assemblage.[44] As time passed, their movements drew laughter:

(1937) The Prophet's Guard, still garbed as Bengal lancers, began squads-righting and forming perfect fronts. The laughter which greeted them . . . must have been caused either by their [fake] black beards or their bamboo lances, which, when held defensively before them, caused some of the spectators to ask whether the fishing was good.[45]

(1949) Another highlight was offered by the pompously correct Bengal Lancers, who won applause and some deliberately provoked titter when their military maneuvers . . . went awkwardly awry. They seemed to enjoy the few bobbers perhaps more than their 10,000 spectators.[46]

In 1960, the Lancers rode horseback during the Parade, just ahead of the Prophet's float.[47]

By 1986, laughter was expected, with Patricia Rice of the Post-Dispatch observing[48] that the Lancers'

antics begin and end every Veiled Prophet Ball, setting its tone, and last night . . . the bearded, turbaned lancers once again kept the 1,500 guests laughing. Such fun is just one of the ways in which the guests are reminded that the ball is primarily a party, and that nothing must be taken too seriously.

Celebrities identified

In 2021 and 2022, two celebrities were singled out in social media as having been Veiled Prophet Queens when young.

Some Twitter users called actress Ellie Kemper a "KKK princess" because in December 1999, she had been Queen of Love and Beauty at the VP Ball.[49] She responded in a five-slide Instagram apology, beginning:[50]

Hi guys - when I was 19 years old, I decided to participate in a debutante ball in my hometown. The century-old organization that hosted the debutante ball had an unquestionably racist, sexist and elitist past. I was not aware of this history at the time, but ignorance is no excuse. I was old enough to have educated myself before getting involved.

Trudy Busch Valentine, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, apologized in early 2022 for having been the VP Queen in December 1977. She wrote: "I should have known better, and I deeply regret that my actions hurt others."[51]

Location

The first VP Ball in 1878 was held in the "beautiful precincts of the Chamber of Commerce,"[52] also known as the Merchants Exchange. In 1889 the venue was switched to the Grand Exposition Music Hall.

1937 ball in the Municipal Auditorium, with Bengal Lancers in formation

In the first part of the 20th century, the ball was held at the St. Louis Coliseum. Beginning in 1936 it was held at the Municipal Auditorium (which had been renamed the Kiel Auditorium)[3] until a lawsuit was brought against the Veiled Prophet organization for shutting down the public auditorium for weeks at a time, arguing that the common taxpayers did not have access to the event.[53] In the 1950s, the Chase Park Plaza Hotel constructed the opulent Khorassan Ballroom specifically to host the annual debutante ball, and the event was formally moved to the Chase Park Plaza Hotel in December 1975.[54]

Memorabilia and thefts
1894: Silver and washed gold special maids crown with green and red inset jewels, and adorned with 14 four-pointed crosses separated by fleur-de-lis, made by Mermod, Jaccard & Co.

In 2018, two "jewel-encrusted" gold and silver Veiled Prophet tiaras, worn by a Special Maid in 1894 and the Queen of Love and Beauty in 1896, were stolen from the Missouri History Museum. They were never recovered.[55][56]

Notable VP Parade incidents and activities

Lawsuit
John G. Priest

In 1879, George Soulie, who had been living in New Orleans engaged in work on the annual Mardi Gras celebration, sought to do similar work for the new Veiled Prophet Parade in St. Louis. He was placed in touch with businessman John G. Priest, known as a kind of "boss" Prophet. The two signed a contract for Soulie "to paint, decorate, and fix up generally in first-class style twenty-one chariots, or floats" for $630. He worked for three weeks, then was discharged by Superintendent Daniel E. Carroll.[57]

Because the Prophets were supposed to be nameless, "every effort" was made to keep the matter quiet, but Soulie filed suit against Priest, president; Frank Galennie, secretary; Daniel Carrol, superintendent; Charles E. Slayback and Preston T. Slayback.[57] The Daily Globe Democrat reported that after "the indignant artist threatened to reveal all he knew concerning the Prophets and their identity," a "consultation of the high-muck-a-mucks of the V.P.'s was held," they offered $200, Soulie withdrew the suit, "the bounced artist promised to remain true to his plighted word not to squeal, and the awful mystery which surrounds to Prophets remains as impenetrable as before."[58]

The Irish float
Drawing of the Irish float in the Globe-Democrat, October 4, 1882

In 1882, the parade was marked by a controversy over a float which was adversely criticized for its portrayal of Irish people. It was reported that the Irishmen who drove the parade's teams and wagons would "withdraw their services" if the float was included in it, so the entry was removed.[59]

St. Louis members of the Irish Land League were incensed, and after two hours of argument, "it was universally agreed there that there would be a grand and frightful riot unless the Irish float was taken out of the procession."[60]

Alonzo Slayback, one of the principal organizers of the Veiled Prophet organization, said: "Why, the float is perfectly unobjectionable. It is not a caricature, but merely a piece of pleasantry and is not calculated to hurt the feelings of anyone but a fool."[61]

He said that the message of the "first procession" in 1878 had gone "over the heads of the spectators" and since then "we found that a float which aimed rather to convey a pleasant bit of fun pleased the people much better[,] and we have carried out this idea ever since. . . . Let them raise a finger against any part of the pageant, if they dare. I feel sure that there will be on hand a sufficiently large number of people . . . to prevent any attack. Yes, sir, just let them try it."[61]

Then followed in the newspaper a description of the proposed float as it was drawn and pictured in the Veiled Prophets' official publication, including shillelagh-wielding men and a woman in "peasant costume" dancing to a fiddle. A "drinking booth with the Irish harp" is nearby. "A pig sty, with a couple of grunters anxiously peering over the side, stands to the left, a bushel basket of potatoes evidently tempting them."[61]

The offending scene was eliminated, and other props were used on the refurbished float.[62]

Reaction of onlookers

In 1881 a "gang of roughs" pelted the floats with mud and stones.[63]

But in 1883, the Post-Dispatch reported that[64] "The large and overwhelming majority" of the crowd were . . . visitors to the city who were enjoying their first holiday since last Christmas." This over,

they repaired to the beer saloons, the restaurants, the theaters and hotels and proceeded to 'round off' the occasion in such manner as their tastes dictated. A few indulged too freely in their ardent devotions to Bacchus and were nearly corralled in the police wagons . . . very little rowdyism was indulged in, such as there was . . . being . . . for the most part, the boisterous good humor of the 'smart Aleck' era of a rising generation. A few boys, lined up in 'hand to shoulder' fashion, occasionally forced their way through the crowds of women and children, but this rudeness was received good-naturedly.

In the 1930s, some onlookers used pea-shooters, rocks and other missiles against the floats. Confectioners' shops stocked the pea-shooters in anticipation of the parade, according to Robert Tooley, who identified himself as VP "den superintendent" in that era.[65]

In October 1966, a judge sentenced an 18-year-old man to sixty days in the city workhouse after convicting him of throwing stones at a police car during the weekend VP Parade.[66]

Biblical theme
A thinly veiled Prophet leads the way in this grand entrance to the post-Parade 1887 VP Ball, including angels and Moses bearing the Ten Commandments. The parade theme was the Old Testament of the Bible. At lower right, a couple dances. (Click to enlarge.)

St. Louis Protestant minister S.J. Nichols castigated the Old Testament theme of the 1887 VP Parade. He said:[67]

In this shocking prostitution of things sacred, there is a failure to make a distinction between sacred and profane, or common things, and it is calculated to foster the spirit of irreverence and bring God's Word into contempt. . . . All this is done in the name of a great city for gain. . . . [This] last great blunder is well calculated to bring St. Louis into disrepute with other cities . . . .

David Swing
'foolish old boys'

He was soon answered by David Swing, a widely known progressive minister from Chicago, who wrote:[68]

The "Veiled Prophets" are a set of rather foolish old boys, who are not worthy of any special notice from the pulpit. Their parade once a year can not have much influence for or against the real cause of Christianity. . . . No one is hurt. . . . nearly all the episodes of the Old Testament have been repeatedly pictured in a humorous aspect . . . there are thousands of persons in St. Louis who will gain . . . their first lessons in sacred things . . . . They will learn by pictures of Bible scenes what they can never learn from the baseball grounds alone, nor from a life-long association with cigars and beer.

Shift to daylight

In 1970, the parade was shifted to daylight hours and incorporated into a larger civic celebration.[69]

Later incidents

In 1987, fair officials and St. Louis Metro Police Department were confronted with accusations of racism when they closed the Eads Bridge to pedestrian access, which reduced the ability of attendees from East St. Louis to reach the VP fair, where predominantly black East St. Louisans were blamed for the crime that had been occurring there. Judge John F. Nangle ordered the bridge to reopen, saying that there was no proof that the crime was caused by East St. Louisans.[54]

In 1992, the name was changed to Fair Saint Louis.[70] The fair is still funded by the Veiled Prophet Organization.[71][72]

In 2003, the organization created a Community Service Initiative, through which members participate in a wide variety of projects in and around the city of St. Louis.[73] In 2016, it secured a trademark for the name America's Birthday Parade.[74]

Civil rights

First mention

Walter W. Witte, rector of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, set forth the first widely circulated opposition to the ball in a letter printed in the Post-Dispatch on September 30, 1966. He wrote:[75]

. . . I recall my fascination some 10 years ago when I was told that St. Louis had a Veiled Prophet Parade. I was new to the city then and I presumed that this gala event must be some climactic community celebration, perhaps historical in nature. Then to discover that this was the yearly feast of the rich, culminating in a "coming out" ball at the municipal auditorium . . . was indeed a disappointment. Since then disappointment has given place to disgust. The spectacle of the wealthy daring to parade through the neighborhoods or near neighborhoods of the poor is outrageous.

And the ritual. Is it merely "cute," or are we witnessing the honest to God cult of the affluent with its prophets, queens, attending angels, heavenly courts taken seriously and paid for dearly by the educated business and professional men of the community? . . . .

Could it be turned into a genuine community event? I have an idea. If the powers would contact me, I have several outstandingly beautiful candidates in my parish for the Queen of Love and Beauty. Mind you, these candidates are not Mary Institute graduates nor are they currently attending Wellesley, Smith, or Vassar, nor are they likely to be. But they would, indeed, add beauty. Then again they would probably be disqualified. They suffer from one serious limitation. They are black.

Protests mount

Protests against the VP Parade began in 1966 after police shot a black robbery suspect and Percy Green, head of the Action Council to Improve Opportunities for Negroes (ACTION) passed out leaflets urging that the annual VP parade be "stopped" in response to the killing, calling it "the personification of St. Louis racism and white supremacy.[76]

The next year, ACTION scheduled a "City Dwellers Week" to coincide with Veiled Prophet activities. It was code named Target 84, a reference to the Prophet's 84th visit. The aim was to force an end to the VP, which William L. Matheus said was "a symbol of racial and economic oppression."[77]

On September 30, 1967, ACTION sponsored a "Black Veiled Prophet Ball" in parody of the VP Ball, the latter which was said to be fostering "racial discrimination and segregation."[78] The group planned the selection of a Queen of Human Justice, who would be chosen according to the number of tickets sold on her behalf.[79]

On October 1, 1967, a "small group of marchers," led by Patrick Dougherty, a St. Louis University professor, contended in the suburb of Clayton, Missouri, that the VP Ball and Parade were "offensive to the Negro community" and should be transformed into a children's event.[80]

The next weekend, some fifty demonstrators were in a sidewalk protest across the street from the VP Ball in Kiel Auditorium. Leaders, who had no tickets, demanded entry to the hall, and on October 6 three of them were arrested on charges of disturbing the peace and failure to obey the commands of a police officer; they were released on bond. They were Precious Barnes, in regalia as the "Black Veiled Prophet," Esther Davis, who was the Queen of Human Justice, and Witte.[81][82][83] Journalists said the newspeople were shoved and jostled by police and that some officers held hats and hands in front of cameras to prevent photos.[84] Ron Gould, an 18-year-old seminary student, said he took a photo of a policeman beating a black woman, and another another officer smashed his camera with a baton, then stepped on the exposed film. He later filed a complaint against the police department, which ruled he had no case.[85][86] (Charges against Barnes, Davis, and Witte were dropped on January 23, 1968, because of insufficient evidence.)[87]

The next day, Barbara Torrence, Ruth Poland, and Mary Ann Kerstetter were arrested for lying in the street in front of the Veiled Prophet Parade in protest of alleged racial discrimination. They were sentenced to thirty days in jail for resisting arrest but were placed on probation for a year.[88]

Bishop George L. Cadigan asked Witte and William Matheus, St. Stephens Church curator, to resign their positions because of "misunderstandings about procedural matters and the seeming inability of Mr. Witte to relate to the program of the diocese."[89] The activities of the two in demonstrations, particularly against the Veiled Prophet Ball, had "incurred the wrath of many Episcopal laymen," a newspaper report said.[83]

Witte said he and Matheus regarded the annual VP ceremonies as symbols of social bigotry and economic discrimination.[83] In an interview, Cadigan responded that he "holds no brief for the Veiled Prophet Ball and Parade, and it may well be a serious affront to the nonaffluent members of the St. Louis community," but, he said, the two clergymen "vastly overrated" the VP's significance, devoting "great energy, but little skill, in attacking it."[90]

Count Basie cancellation

In 1968, ACTION threatened to stage protests against musician Count Basie unless he canceled an agreement to play in the VP Parade, whose theme that year was "Music for Everyone." Basie agreed on September 25 to withdraw, "for personal reasons."[91]

Changing parade route

In 1968, United Press International reported that "ACTION has staged demonstrations at the ball and parade in recent years to protest that the ball was for whites only and that the parade flaunted white wealth down a route that skirted Negro neighborhoods. The route of this year's parade has been shifted to avoid some of the poorer neighborhoods."[92]

More arrests

Percy Green, William Brown, and William Mitchell were arrested on September 27, 1968, when they "attempted to attend the ball but were denied entry," the Post-Dispatch reported.[93] Later the newspaper said the arrests were made when pickets ignored orders to stop marching directly in front of Kiel Auditorium.[94]

Sarah Jones and Barbara Jean Saper were arrested after they chained themselves to one of the floats in the 1968 parade. They pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace and were fined.[95]

In 1969 Carl Jackson (that year's Black Veiled Prophet), Madame Carol (the Black Veiled Prophet queen), Lois Greer (Queen of Human Justice) and George Johnson were arrested after Jackson and Carol presented a slip of blue paper at the Kiel Auditorium door which they said was an invitation and refused to leave.[96] Arrests were made again in 1970 when ACTION members again attempted to enter the VP Ball by presenting a written statement in lieu of tickets. Those taken in were Judge G. Johnson, Sharon Hall, and Rita Scott.[97]

Percy Green, Melvin Carr, Florence Jarrett, Ralph Brown, and Gina Scott were arrested on December 22, 1971, on a charge of general peace disturbance when they attempted to enter Kiel Auditorium with no tickets.[98]

Episcopal resolution

A convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri in October 1969 adopted a resolution stating that "Actions of the Veiled Prophet Society are such to be a source of constant irritation to the black communities" in the diocese.[99]

Unmasking the Prophet

On December 23, 1972, six women were armed with tickets provided by debutantes, and white women Gena Scott and Jane Sauer walked together into Kiel Auditorium, with no problem. Then Charles Reed, that year's Black Veiled Prophet went to the entrance with Beverly Crosby and Florence Jarrett, presented the gatekeeper with three tickets and a statement demanding entrance. They were denied entry because they were not "dressed properly." Refusing to leave, they were arrested and taken to a police station.[100]

Sauer and Scott took balcony seats on opposite sides of the house. During the program, Sauer began dropping leaflets into the audience, then "threw the rest of the leaflets over the railing" as two men converged on her and began to pull her away.[100]

Meanwhile, Scott was rappelling on a rope from a balcony when she tumbled hard to the floor, climbed to her feet, rushed to the stage, grabbed the crown and veil and yanked it from that year's VP. The Post-Dispatch reported that "the Veiled Prophet, whom everybody could see was bald, and very angry, struggled gallantly to restore the veil and its 95-year old tradition [of anonymity]] to its proper place."[100][101] The VP was later to be revealed as Thomas K. Smith.

Scott said: "The chairman of the VP committee, Alexander Cornwell Jr., had wanted to press charges, but when he was informed that the Veiled Prophet would have to appear in open court to do so, the whole matter was dropped." Scott's ribs were diagnosed as bruised and possibly broken.[100]

Aftermath and changes

In early 1973, Scott was awakened when her car was bombed outside of her apartment.[53] Her apartment was vandalized numerous times.[102] In 1975, ACTION member Patrick Dougherty unfurled a banner on stage reading "ACTION Protests Racist VP," and in 1976, two ACTION members sprayed what Green called "commercial tear gas"[103] at VP audience members along the stage.[102]

In November 1973, a class-action suit was filed on behalf of all black St. Louisans by Percy Green, George (Judge) Johnson and Melvin Carr, claiming the VP organization's rental agreement for Kiel was illegal and that blacks viewed the VP Committee as an "antiblack, semisecret organization made up of members of the economic, political and social white power structure" of St. Louis.[104]

In 1979 the Veiled Prophet Organization admitted its first black members, three physicians.

The 1980s and 1990s saw the Veiled Prophet Organization become more secretive as the group took steps to lessen its public profile. The Veiled Prophet Ball was reworked in order to be a more private event and the parade changed to be more focused towards general entertainment, though the Veiled Prophet and his entourage still rode in the Parade.[105]

Notable guests

President Grover Cleveland and his wife, Caroline, attended in 1887[106][107] and Margaret Truman, the author and daughter of President Harry S. Truman, in 1969.[108] At the former, the number of invitations to "perhaps the most exclusive ball of them all" had been "somewhat limited" and the guest list "carefully scrutinized," the St. Louis Republic recalled in 1900.[109]

In 1893, sixty representatives from 34 countries or colonies exhibiting at the World's Fair in Chicago arrived by train and were escorted in carriages to the Southern Hotel. They were feted at a dinner, witnessed the parade, and taken to the Ball. The next day featured a tour of St. Louis sights.[110]

The governors of fifteen U.S. states participated in the annual VP festivities in 1907. It was the largest number of state executives ever assembled up to that time in one city. They met with President Theodore Roosevelt and accompanied him on a voyage down the Mississippi River.[111]

  • Missouri History Museum. "Household of the Veiled Prophet." From Veiled Prophets Sixth Annual Autumnal Festival, October 2, 1883
  • Two medallions with Veiled Prophet images, 1902
  • Metal World's Fair (1904) tray with image of Prophet on throne, building, and female personification at left
  • Ball invitation, 1913, with measuring marker at the bottom

See also

References
  1. No headline, ‘’St. Louis Daily Globe-Democrat,’’ October 7, 1885, image 14
  2. "An Arabian Night," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 7, 1885, page 2
  3. Karin Hayward, "Veiled Prophet Tradition Began at Fair in 1878," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 16, 1964, image 306
  4. Huguelet, Austin (June 14, 2021). "Unveiled: How St. Louis' secret society is responding to the Ellie Kemper fiasco". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Archived from the original on June 16, 2021.
  5. "The Secret Seers," The Kansas City Sunday Times, October 9, 1881, image 2
  6. "An Arabian Night," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 7, 1885, image 2, column 5
  7. Chloe Melas, "Ellie Kemper Apologizes for Participating in Controversial Pageant as a Teen," CNN Entertainment, June 8, 2021
  8. "David W. Kemper: Commerce Bancshares Inc
  9. Spencer, pp. 45–46
  10. "Order of the Veiled Prophet", St. Louis Post Dispatch, January 13, 2004
  11. District 8 and movement unionism, Northern Illinois University
  12. Spencer, pp. 77–78
  13. Kelsey Klotz (February 12, 2018). "The Uneasy Past of the Veiled Prophet Organization: Part II".
  14. "The Exposition Opening: Plans Under Consideration for an Imposing Pageant," St. Louis Times, March 22, 1878, cited in Spencer, page 173
  15. Thomas Spencer, “The St. Louis Veiled Prophet Celebration: Power on Parade,” p. 9, ISBN 0826212670
  16. Moore, Thomas (1817). Lalla Rookh: An Oriental Romance. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown.
  17. Vincent H. Sanders, Theodore Drury, Jr. (1956). The Story of the Veiled Prophet. illustrated by Charles A. Morganthaler.
  18. George Garrigues, The Failed Joke of the Veiled Prophet, p. 85, ISBN 0999014226
  19. "John G. Priest Dead," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 4, 1900, image 12
  20. Spencer, 2000, p. 30
  21. "The Veiled Prophet." St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 9, 1878, p. 5
  22. Spencer (2000), pp. 7–8
  23. George Garrigues, The Failed Joke of the Veiled Prophet, pps. 50-51, ISBN 0999014226
  24. "The Strike at Home; The Street Cars," St. Louis Globe-Democrat, July 27, 1877, image 3
  25. Walter E. Orthwein, "Idea for VP Festival Came Out of Meeting in Old Lindell Hotel," St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 7, 1958, image 34
  26. "Belle of First Ball Tells How She Felt," St. Louis Globe-Democrat,October 7, 1958, image 39
  27. "Where Are the V.P. Queens of the Past?" St. Louis Daily Globe-Democrat, October 4, 1914, image 59
  28. "Costume de Rigueur," St. Louis Daily Globe-Democrat, September 24, 1880, image 7
  29. "The Secret Seers," The Kansas City Sunday Times, October 9, 1881, image 2
  30. John Smith, no headline, The Buffalo (New York) Express,September 26, 1898, image 4, column 5
  31. "St. Louis' Dress Coat Muddle," The Kansas City Journal, September 26, 1898, image 4
  32. "The Veiled Prophet: Complete Regulations for the Grand Ball on Tuesday Evening," St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 5, 1884, image 11
  33. "Veiled Prophet Will Crown Queen for 1935-6 at Ball in the Coliseumm Tonight," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 9, 1935, image 3
  34. Joan Dames, "Dance-O-Saurus: A Heavenly Event at the New Science Center," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 8, 1986, image 157, column 3
  35. "The Prophets' Tableaux," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 14, 1883, image 8
  36. "The V.P. Tableaux," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 3, 1883, image 21
  37. "The Prophet's Tableaux," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 13, 1889, image 7
  38. "From Across the Rio Grande," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 29, 1898, image 7
  39. "Prophet's Reign to End With Crowning of Queen," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 6, 1926, page 3
  40. "Veiled Prophet Queen Turns in Her Resignation". Decatur Evening Herald. 23 October 1928. p. 1 – via newspapers.com.
  41. "Veiled Prophet's Queen, Crowned as a Deputante, Married Two Months Ago," October 11, 1928, page 1
  42. "The Veiled Prophet Found Out She Was Married and Told Her to Flee". The St. Louis Times. Newspapers.com. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  43. "Uniform of Bengal Lancers to Be Worn by Guard of V.P.," St. Louis Globe-Democrat, September 30, 1935, image21
  44. "Veiled Prophet Will Crown Queen for 11935-6 at Ball in the Coliseum Tonight," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 9, 1935, image 3
  45. Carlos F. Hurd, "Nancy Morrill Chosen Queen at 58th V.P. Ball," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 7, 1937, image 27, column 2
  46. "Carol Gardner Is Crowned Queen at Prophet's Ball," St. Louis Star-Times, October 6, 1949, image 12
  47. "V.P. Parade," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 6, 1960, image 15, column 4
  48. "First of All, It's a Party," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 22, 1982, image 49
  49. Michael Ordoña, "Why Twitter Is Up in Arms About Ellie Kemper's 'racist' debutante crown from 1999," Los Angeles Times, June 1, 2021
  50. Michael Ordoña, "Ellie Kemper apologizes for participating in debutante ball with 'racist, sexist' past," Los Angeles Times, Jun 7, 2021
  51. Sara Sirota, "Missouri Democrats' New Senate Candidate Was Crowned Queen of Whites-Only Ball," The Intercept, March 30, 2022
  52. "Decorations of the Grand Hall," St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 9, 1878, image 6
  53. Lucy Ferriss, Unveiling the Prophet
  54. Spencer, 2000, p. 148.
  55. "Questions remain about jewel-encrusted tiaras stolen from Missouri History Museum". April 18, 2018.
  56. "Century-old Tiaras Stolen From Missouri History Museum," St. Joseph News-Press, April 19, 2018, page B2
  57. "The Veiled Prophets: Awful Revelations About to Be Made Touching Their Membership," St. Louis Globe-Democrat, August 30, 1879, page 4
  58. "A Narrow Escape," St. Louis Globe-Democrat, August 31, 1879, image 9
  59. "Veiled Prophet Echoes: The Fate of the Irish Float," St. Louis Daily Globe-Democrat, October 5, 1882, page 7, column 1
  60. "The Fate of a Float,," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 4, 1882, image 2
  61. "The Irish Float," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 3, 1882, page 4
  62. No headline, St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 4, 1882, page 10, column 2
  63. "The Secret Seers," The Kansas City Sunday Times, October 9, 1881, page 2
  64. "After the Pageant: The Night's Fun," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 3, 1883, image 13
  65. Interview by Spencer, p. 75
  66. "Gets 60 Days for Stoning of Police Car at Parade," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 3, 1966, image 16
  67. "The Veiled Prophet: His Coming Pageant Denounced by a Clergyman," The Times-Democrat, New Orleans, September 20, 1887, image 4
  68. Quoted in "Knocking Out Niccolls," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 27, 1887, image 5
  69. "Galluping Away," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 28, 1970, image 18
  70. Beauchamp, Scott (2 September 2014). "The Mystery of St. Louis's Veiled Prophet". Theatlantic.com. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  71. O'Malley, Beth. "Veiled Prophet: Symbol of wealth, power and, to some, racism". Stltoday.com. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  72. Amy Pray, "Fall Fair the Fourth," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 25, 1995, image 33
  73. "Veiled Prophet Organization".
  74. Valerie Schremp Hahn, "VP Parade Known as 'America's Birthday Parade' in More Homes Nationwide," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 29, 2017
  75. "The Parade From a Pulpit," page 16
  76. "Civil Rights Group Protests Police Slaying," The News-Democrat of Belleville, Illinois, September 28, 1966, image 3
  77. "Veiled Prophet Protest Planned," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 1, 1967, image 17
  78. "Black Veiled Prophet Crowns Queen at Ball," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 2, 1967, image 3
  79. "Civil Rights Group to Have Ball Sept. 30," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 31, 1967, image 8
  80. "Veiled Prophet Protest March," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 2, 1967, image 3
  81. "Police Bar Protestors at Auditorium" St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 7, 1967, page 1
  82. "Protestors," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 7, 1967, page 8
  83. Timothy Bleck, "Clergymen in Difference With Bishop Cadigan Are Committed to Struggle of Urban Poor," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 15, 1967, image 3
  84. "Protesters," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 7, 1967, image 8
  85. "Charges Police Broke Camera After Crowd Incident," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 15, 1967, image 31
  86. "Procedure Confusing," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 22, 1973, image 24
  87. "Charges Are Dropped Against VP Protestors," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 23, 1968, image 6
  88. "Probation for Women in VP Protest," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 29, 1968, image 9
  89. Charles B. Bunce, "Two Clergymen Rights-Backers Asked to Resign," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 13, 1967, page 1
  90. "Bishop," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 22, 1967, image 29
  91. "Count Basie Cancels Out for VP Parade," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 25, 1968, image 7
  92. "Count Basie Will Not Be at VP Ball," The News-Democrat of Belleville, Illinois, September 26, 1968, page 11
  93. Jerry W. Venters, "Rebecca Williams Is Crowned VP Queen," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 28, 1968, image 1
  94. "3 ACTION Members Charged in Picketing," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 26, 1968, image 8
  95. "Percy Green, Four Others Fined," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 19, 1968, image 46
  96. "Black VP and Queen Arrested Outside Kiel," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 4, 1969, image 3 (with photo)
  97. "3 From ACTION Seized Trying to Enter VP Ball," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 22, 1970, image 10
  98. "ACTION Group Pickets VP Ball; Percy Green, 4 Others Arrested," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 23, 1971, image 9
  99. "Episcopalians Call VP an Irritation to Negroes," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 20, 1969, page 1
  100. Gary Ronberg, "How They Unveiled the Prophet," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 31, 1972, image 54
  101. Gary Ronberg, "Hope Jones Is Veiled Prophet Queen," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 24, 1972, image 11
  102. Spencer (2000), pp. 134–36
  103. Spencer (2000), pp. 138–39
  104. "Sues to Bar Veiled Prophet Use of Kiel," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 15, 1973, image 3
  105. Mooney-Melvin, Patricia. "The St. Louis Veiled Prophet Celebration: Power on Parade, 1877–1995." The Annals of Iowa 60 (2001), 295–97.
  106. "The Ball at the Exchange," Chicago Tribune, October 5, 1887, image 1
  107. "In Society," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 7, 1887, image 2
  108. "Oct. 3, 1969: Veiled Prophet Ball becomes a scene of racial protest". St. Louis Post Dispatch. October 3, 2020.
  109. "Veiled Prophet Queens of the Past," St. Louis Republic, September 23, 1900, image 37
  110. "Foreign Representatives," St. Louis Daily Globe-Democrat, October 4, 1893, image 8
  111. No headline, ‘The Daily News,’’ Joliet, Illinois, October 7, 1907, image 7, column 4

Further reading
  • Darst, Katherine. "The Prophet's Pearls", The St. Louis Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 4, Sept. 1963.
  • Nance, Susan. "The Veiled Prophet's Oriental Tale: St. Louis' Famous Festivals in Context, 1878–1895." Missouri Historical Review 103, no. 2 (January 2009): 90–107.
  • Stevens, Walter B. St. Louis The Fourth City, 1764–1909, S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1909.
  • Veiled Prophet Collection finding aid at the St. Louis Public Library
  • Official site, Veiled Prophet organization
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