St. Louis Must Re-Claim Its Cultural Heritage, But Which One and Where to Start?

The list of St. Louis "firsts" and items of national cultural significance is a long one, even if you leave out the endless "first ____ west of the Mississippi" claims. St. Louis is an old city by American standards and has been witness to everything from the first structural steel bridge (and first crossing of the Mississippi River), to a raucous welcome home celebration for Charles Lindbergh. The Blues flourished here, Ulysses S. Grant lived here, Mark Twain is very nearly a native son... In fact, it's Mark Twain that got me thinking about our unclaimed heritage.

Tiny Elmira College in upstate New York is home to the Center for Mark Twain Studies. It's not without reason, Twain spent years in Elmira, wrote many of his works and raised a family there. So as the autobiography of Mark Twain was released earlier this month, it was Elmira College in the spotlight. Researchers appeared on TV, were interviewed on NPR and were quoted in dozens of articles. The Center was established in 1982 at Elmira. Why not at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, why not Truman State, why not St. Louis University or Washington University?