Community Calendar

1904 World’s Fair and Bellefontaine Cemetery
Over 120 years ago, St. Louis welcomed 20 million visitors to the Grandest of World’s Fairs from April 30 through December 1, 1904. David R. Francis, President of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, was vital in securing this event for the City of St. Louis. All eyes turned to St. Louis as the new century was on display in the fair’s larger-than-life palaces, and new technology was front and center throughout the Fair Grounds. In our presentation, we will identify and explain some of the key figures in the creation and execution of the 1904 World’s Fair. Those who are featured in these presentations are forever at rest at Bellefontaine Cemetery and Arboretum.

Workshops for Writers—April 5, 2025. The St. Louis Writers Guild presents: Anyone Can Be a Poet
Join the St. Louis Writers Guild from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. CST on Saturday, April 5, 2025, for a free workshop with poet T.M. Pedroley on appreciating and writing poetry.
Our presenter, T.M. Pedroley, will join us LIVE, in person for this FREE workshop. We will gather at The Lodge Des Peres, 1050 Des Peres Rd., St. Louis, MO, 63131 for the presentation, or you may attend the meeting online. To do so, follow the event link from the St. Louis Writers Guild website.
Anyone Can Be a Poet
In this hands-on poetry workshop, poet T.M. Pedroley will discuss poetry’s functions and forms then guide attendees as they write their own poems. If you’ve ever wondered how to get started at poetry, this is the workshop for you! Bring that beautiful notebook gathering dust in a desk drawer (or your trusty laptop) and be prepared to amaze yourself. Questions welcomed and encouraged.
Bio:
Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, T.M. Pedroley has been writing since grade school. An award-winning poet, she took third place at the 2015 All Write Now Conference. Ms. Pedroley has been published in several anthologies and her work appears in The Tin Lunchbox. She released her first poetry collection, Unleashing the Soul, in 2021, and has recently published the fourth book in the Adventures of Jumping Jack children’s series.
Ms. Pedroley loves children and holds a degree in Early Childhood Education.
She writes several blogs, including advice on dating, relationships, and kindness in the community. Most of her time is spent writing and teaching community teen poetry workshops,
but she also enjoys dance, art, photography, and creating fun projects for her friends and family.

Promoting literacy and freedom of expression, the Pulitzer invites you to join us for Banned Book Club. Inspired by Scott Burton: Shape Shift, the banned books focus on LGBTQ+ identity.

Over 10,000 books were banned in public schools during the 2023-2024 school year, nearly three times the number banned during the previous year. Overwhelmingly, book bans target books on race or racism or featuring characters of color, as well as books with LGBTQ+ characters. We look forward to discussing a few of these books and the important themes they cover.

Meet us at the museum on the second Thursday of each month throughout the exhibition to enjoy light refreshments and discuss the novel of the month with guest facilitators, Sarah Tisdale and Kea Wilson.

If you need to purchase a copy, we are partnering with Left Bank Books and participants will receive 20% off the chosen novel of the month. You can also purchase the novel of the month at the museum front desk or get in touch with your local library.

Novels:

October 10th: Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo – with facilitator Sarah Tisdale

November 14th: All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson – with facilitator Sarah Tisdale

December 12th: Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin – with facilitator Kea Wilson

January 9th: Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg – with facilitator Kea Wilson

Space is limited. This program is recommended for ages 16 and up. Individual registration is required. Please contact programs@pulitzerarts.org if you require any accommodations to participate.

Join SMRLD to celebrate National Library Week with a screening of a new PBS documentary, "Free for All." The film explores how public libraries shaped this country and continue to be a sanctuary for Americans everywhere. Free and open to the public, no tickets required. The screening will be held in the Training & Events room at our 2001 Delmar location. The event is geared toward adults, but should be appropriate for all ages.

Join us Monday, April 14, at 5:30 p.m., for the AIA St. Louis Scholarship Trust Lecture from architect Rahul Mehrotra.

Rahul Mehrotra is the founding principal of RMA Architects in Mumbai and Boston. A professor of urban design and planning at Harvard, Mehrotra has led dozens of projects across India, from urban land recycling to housing, boutiques, factories, social institutes and commercial buildings. Recent highlights include an artists’ retreat near Mumbai, a housing project for elephants and their caretakers in Jaipur and the JSW School of Public Policy in Ahmedabad.

This event is part of the Sam Fox School’s Public Lecture Series and is free and open to the public. The lecture will take place in Steinberg Hall.

Free parking is available in the East End Garage beginning at 5:00 p.m. Enter the garage from Forsyth Boulevard or Forest Park Parkway.

Image: RMA’s restoration of the Chowmahalla Palace Complex in Hyderabad, India. (Photo: RMA)

Beer Barons at Bellefontaine Cemetery
Join us for a ZOOM presentation about Bellefontaine’s Beer Barons! Beer making has been part of the St. Louis scene since the mid-1800s, and more than 60 Beer Barons are buried at Bellefontaine. The city became a leader in beer production because of our location, lots of clean water, unique cave systems used to lager beer, and a heavy migration of Germans who helped make and consume the product. Our presentation will focus on eleven of the more provocative Barons. Some well-known include Busch, Anheuser, and Lemp, as well as less prominent names like Max Feuerbacher and William Nolker.

Photographers at Bellefontaine Cemetery
As photography went from an art form only done in a studio to a hobby performed by everyone, St. Louis photographers could be found at the cutting edge of this transition. Several photographers are memorialized here at Bellefontaine Cemetery and Arboretum and will be featured in this online presentation, from Thomas Easterly, to the Parish Sisters, Fitz Guerin and many others who made their mark in this new media.

Photography has transitioned with the times. Initially a rare and always artistic media, photography will emerge as a means for all to record the passage of time. Explore those St. Louis photographers that capture people, places, and things so that we can “see” what they saw in their time.
Sign up now to attend this free 50-minute Zoom presentation.

Promoting literacy and freedom of expression, the Pulitzer invites you to join us for Banned Book Club. Inspired by Scott Burton: Shape Shift, the banned books focus on LGBTQ+ identity.

Over 10,000 books were banned in public schools during the 2023-2024 school year, nearly three times the number banned during the previous year. Overwhelmingly, book bans target books on race or racism or featuring characters of color, as well as books with LGBTQ+ characters. We look forward to discussing a few of these books and the important themes they cover.

Meet us at the museum on the second Thursday of each month throughout the exhibition to enjoy light refreshments and discuss the novel of the month with guest facilitators, Sarah Tisdale and Kea Wilson.

If you need to purchase a copy, we are partnering with Left Bank Books and participants will receive 20% off the chosen novel of the month. You can also purchase the novel of the month at the museum front desk or get in touch with your local library.

Novels:

October 10th: Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo – with facilitator Sarah Tisdale

November 14th: All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson – with facilitator Sarah Tisdale

December 12th: Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin – with facilitator Kea Wilson

January 9th: Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg – with facilitator Kea Wilson

Space is limited. This program is recommended for ages 16 and up. Individual registration is required. Please contact programs@pulitzerarts.org if you require any accommodations to participate.

Saints and Sinners and Bellefontaine Cemetery
The era in which we live may impact our idea of who is a Saint or a Sinner. Virginia Minor worked most of her life to make the world better for others. During the Civil War, she worked with the St. Louis Union Aid Society, a precursor to the American Red Cross. Later, she attempted to use the 14th Amendment to vote in the Presidential of 1872 and worked to secure women the right to vote. Despite Virginia’s lifetime of service, no clergy would officiate her 1894 funeral because her Suffragist belies and activities were considered disruptive of the “natural order” of the times.

Learn how others in their time may have been classified compared to how we view their lives today during a free Zoom presentation featuring some of the Saints and Sinners eternally resting within the 314 acres of Bellefontaine Cemetery and Arboretum. Reservations are required, so please sign up today!

Promoting literacy and freedom of expression, the Pulitzer invites you to join us for Banned Book Club. Inspired by Scott Burton: Shape Shift, the banned books focus on LGBTQ+ identity.

Over 10,000 books were banned in public schools during the 2023-2024 school year, nearly three times the number banned during the previous year. Overwhelmingly, book bans target books on race or racism or featuring characters of color, as well as books with LGBTQ+ characters. We look forward to discussing a few of these books and the important themes they cover.

Meet us at the museum on the second Thursday of each month throughout the exhibition to enjoy light refreshments and discuss the novel of the month with guest facilitators, Sarah Tisdale and Kea Wilson.

If you need to purchase a copy, we are partnering with Left Bank Books and participants will receive 20% off the chosen novel of the month. You can also purchase the novel of the month at the museum front desk or get in touch with your local library.

Novels:

October 10th: Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo – with facilitator Sarah Tisdale

November 14th: All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson – with facilitator Sarah Tisdale

December 12th: Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin – with facilitator Kea Wilson

January 9th: Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg – with facilitator Kea Wilson

Space is limited. This program is recommended for ages 16 and up. Individual registration is required. Please contact programs@pulitzerarts.org if you require any accommodations to participate.