Ella: Summertime in ESTL

Summers in East Saint started like this: me in the backseat with my little brother, anxiously awaiting our arrival at Grandma’s. The route to Grandma’s changed as my father’s duty stations did, but the destination—Grandma’s little pink house—remained the same. I would run up the stairs with my arms outstretched, because there she would be: my Grandma Mae. As she wrapped me in a bear hug she would exclaim, “Hey baby!”

I would then run from the front of the house to the middle room where a pull-out sofa awaited me; and oh, how I awaited it. That room felt like a mansion. It doubled as my playroom and meeting area. After all, I was the cousin from out of town, so of course, I needed a room where I could entertain my guests. Looking back, I think I enjoyed this room for its centrality. The room was in the midst of it all: I could hear Grandma’s chatter on the phone as she sat on the bed; hear whatever was on the TV in the kitchen; all while being within eyesight of the front door. I loved running to the door to peep outside the window next to it and announce to the rest of the house, “Oh, it’s Uncle so and so!” “Oh, it’s Aunty so and so!” But these visits had to happen in the evening or night. Or you better call us the day before to let us know you were coming, because the crew—my mom, me, and my grandma, and my dad and brother—were on the road. We were outside before you could be outside. All because of Ella.

Ella hated nothing more than being home. You would hear her tell people all the time, “I don’t be at home.” And she was right: she loved people, so she went where her people were. She would make her way to East Saint Louis’ main thoroughfare, State Street, and take the bus or the MetroLink to her destination. She loved sports. My father passed down his love of sports to me, but Grandma passed down her teams. To this day, my teams are the Bulls, Cardinals, and the (St. Louis) Rams because of Grandma. Grandma did not have cable, so mornings at Grandma’s consisted of Price is Right, all of her favorite soap operas—Young and the Restless, Bold and Beautiful, and As the World Turns—the local news, and then Jeopardy! And then sports. At her house, the Chicago Bulls and St. Louis Rams were above all else. If you did not like Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Isaac Bruce, or Terry Holt, you need not enter. She loved her teams and her players. When the Rams were in St. Louis, she would go to the Edward Jones Dome and Busch Stadium, where the Cardinals played after the stadium opened in 2006, to partake in any of the free revelry. Anything free they were giving out, she received: signed Rams cheerleader posters? Branded towels? Brochures? T-shirts? Check, check, check, and check. Ella got it, and I, and anyone else who visited her, would be the beneficiaries. I got so much Rams and Cardinals gear.

“Baby, I got this for you. You want it? This is good stuff!”

As a little girl, I would take everything she gave me. Candidly, as the years progressed, I stopped taking everything she gave me; looking back, I should have taken it all.

The Clyde C. Jordan Senior Citizens Center was another Ella hangout. The camaraderie, the games, and the chance to connect with her fellow East Saint Louisans. And frankly, that is also where Ella could see if she still had it. Clyde C. Jordan was an East Saint Louis council member who founded the East Saint Louis Monitor in 1965. If she was not at a sporting event, or at the senior citizen center, she was shopping. She was, first and foremost, a diva who loved to shop at Macy’s, Famous-Barr, and other stores in St. Louis and Fairview Heights.

Summers in East Saint always included Eastside. Events always took place at the stadium and the entire city would come out. As I got older, I still visited the stadium but was running track. I ran track for the East Saint Louis Railers, and my coach was the great Nino Fennoy, the famed East Saint Louis track and field coach of Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Dawn Harper. I loved running for the Railers and I loved the ode to the city’s history that the name gave. 

Many people do not know the history: East Saint Louis was an industrial powerhouse. In “Brothers Notorious” by Taylor Pensoneau, Journalist Carl Baldwin, who wrote for the St. Louis Dispatch and grew up in East Saint Louis was quoted as saying: “East Saint Louis seemed to be sitting on top of the industrial world in 1920. It ranked No. 1 in the sale of horses and mules and was near the top in hog sales. It was the world’s largest aluminum processing center, the second largest railroad center (behind Chicago), and led the country in the manufacture of roofing material, baking powder, and paint pigments. It was the third largest primary grain market and had the cheapest coal in the world. Its population was over 75,000.”

Happy birthday, Grandma. Although it is not the same without you, I am comforted by all our summertime memories in the city.

Ella: The Queen of ESTL

I am not sure when I came into possession of this photo. My grandmother is in a white gown, a matching headpiece complete with feathers and silver rounded-toe pumps. It is difficult to tell from the photo, but the shoes appear to be satin with a mesh and rhinestone design. She completes the look with white gloves and silver drop earrings. In the photos, she is holding her award: a trophy and a ribbon bouquet. Her stately look is complete with a tiara. To me, she looks like a queen. 

My grandmother was industrious. A hustler. She was crowned Queen at the 007 Club in Saint Louis. According to my mother, 007 was a social club ran by men. They held fundraisers and the woman who sold the most tickets was crowned Queen. Leave it to industrious Ella to sell the most tickets and take home the prize.  

Looking back, she was the Queen of East Saint Louis, its unofficial mayor. When you entered her home, she had the recent copy of the East Saint Louis Monitor and its other recent editions. As we entered her home, tired after a long day of travel with our belongings and luggage, she gave us little time to get settled.

          “Rosalind! Here go the Monitor right here!” 

She would then launch into her state of the city. Filling my mom in on the city’s news and happenings: what the current mayor was doing (whether she approved of what they were doing because she would let you know); the city’s upcoming events (which was her way of asking my mom and dad if they would take her); and finally, how the city had changed and who from her crew had sadly passed on. She was a forever historian of her city and time. 

Those who have heard of East Saint Louis, typically know of the city because of its infamous race riot that began on July 1, 1917. Tempers began to flare due to the city’s demographic changes from the Great Migration. This resulted in clashes over jobs and housing. Upwards of 12,000 African-Americans left the South for East Saint Louis in 1916 and 1917. After a rumor that a white man had been killed by a Black man, white mobs began targeting the Black community in drive-by shootings, beatings and arson.  

In A Little Devil in America, Hanif Abdurraquib recounts a February 3, 1952 performance of Josephine Baker at Kiel Auditorium in her hometown of St. Louis. The concert was to raise money for a local organization fighting school segregation.  At the end of her set, she recalled witnessing the riot: 

“When I was a little girl I remember the horror of the East St. Louis race riot. I was very tiny but the horror of the whole thing impressed me so that here today at the age of forty-five years I can see myself standing on the west bank of the Mississippi looking over into East Saint Louis and watching the glow of the burning of Negro homes lighting the sky. We children stood huddled together in bewilderment, not being able to understand the horrible madness of mob violence but here we were hiding behind the skirts of grown-ups frightened to death with the screams of the Negro families running across the bridge with nothing but what they had on their backs as their worldly belongings.”

I knew nothing about this infamous riot as a little girl. I learned on a recent trip to East Saint Louis that the bells of Truelight Baptist Church rang out at eleven pm on July 1, 1917, as a warning to the city’s Black citizens that trouble was afoot. I also had the opportunity to view the historical marker for Leroy Bundy’s home. Bundy was a Black man who stood trial for causing the riot (of course he did not). He was sentenced to life in prison and was later exonerated by the state’s supreme court. 

I believe I have my grandmother to thank for this gap in my ESTL history growing up: she was the best of East Saint Louis and she made sure I only knew of, and saw, the city at its best. 

My grandmother was a proud graduate of Lincoln High School. If you know older Black people from her generation, high school pride is second to none. My family is split between Lincoln and Eastside, my mother’s high school. I learned from my talks with my mom and grandma that Eastside was a predominantly white school. Lincoln was established in 1909 for the city’s Black population. Located in the city’s south end, the historically Black portion of East Saint Louis, Lincoln produced two greats: Miles Davis and Jackie Joyner-Kersee. 

The day after we laid my grandmother to rest, my mom and her best friend drove me through the south end. I am sure I saw this area as a little girl, but it was incredible to see where my maternal family lived when they first made their way from Mississippi all those decades ago. I also saw the park where Jackie Joyner-Kersee trained and Lincoln High. Although closed years ago, the building still stands. 

Then, we viewed the plot of land where my great-grandmother’s house once sat; the place where my grandma and all of her siblings lived after making their way to the big city. It took my mom a moment to find the exact plot, my grandmother’s house was long gone, and memories do begin to fade. It was a humid day, with the heat coming up from the ground as my Grandma used to say; but I could not miss the opportunity to get out and take a picture on ancestral land. 

We ended our East Saint Louis tour with a snoot at Sandy’s.  My mom and her best friend began to chat with others who were waiting in line for their barbecue; it did not take long before they unearthed connections. One woman had gone to school with my great aunt; another man was a wealth of knowledge about the city’s past. I began asking him questions about the different businesses and industries that used to exist in the city: from Major Cab Company with its headquarters on State Street across from the library; Regal Cab Company across from 19th and Bond; Broadhead Ford; and Lou Brock Dodge, founded by the Cardinals hall of fame outfielder. Our tour through the city was the perfect final salute to our queen. She would have loved to be right there in the backseat with me, touring her city and providing color commentary. 

Ella was a queen for so many reasons. Her name for one exuded regality, but she was queen principally because of her dignity. She had self-respect. She was tenacious; she withstood so many tests and trials. She also managed to break through barriers in a time when they stood tall and were seemingly unsurmountable for a Black woman. In the early seventies, my grandma decided she would buy a house; people like her just did not do that, but leave it to Ella to do just that. Never mind that she was a woman, a single one, and a divorced woman at that. And never mind that the realtor would only let her choose from five houses in the area because of the color of her skin; Ella made a way and she bought that house. She would go on to graduate college at Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville and work for School District 189.  

I miss her every day but I thank for her being our queen and for setting an example. 

Stay tuned for the next installment in our Ella mini-series.

Ella: An Introduction

My friends commissioned this illustration by the talented Taelor Pawnell of @stylishsista and @shopstylishsista.

My grandmother celebrated her birthday the entire month of July. Even though her birthday was at the end of the month, rest assured that if you came in contact with her on July 1 at midnight and any day of the month thereafter, she would exclaim:

        “It’s my birthday!” 

Those who were her family or friends often were slightly exasperated when she said this. 

I would respond and say: “Today is not your birthday, Grandma. It isn’t until the end of the month,” my hand on my forehead shielding my slight eye roll. 

     She would respond “It’s July! My birthday is in July.” 

And so, we all listened for the next thirty-one days as she told people it was her birthday. In due time, we too, began to celebrate her the entire month of July. 

Join Louis Hilton this July for our mini-series, Ella, as we celebrate the life and legacy of my beloved grandmother. We will share memories, and of course, some history.

I received many of my grandmother’s traits by way of my mother: her wisdom, love for different types of people and her ability to relate and find commonality with them. I also received my favorite Ella trait: her love and steadfast admiration of her roots, her culture and, frankly, her hood. She was so fond of East Saint Louis, and she had no problem proudly telling you where she was from.

She would stop you, look you dead in your eyes and explain: “You know where Saint Louis is? That’s Missouri, I’m from across the river in Illinois. In East Saint Louis.” Even as her hometown changed and faced problems experienced by so many of our once bustling midwestern boom towns, she remained proud; and so I became like her. I too have a deep affection for her city. 

I loved visiting East Saint Louis during the summer: seeing my cousins, going to events at my mom’s high school, watching the Cardinals and hearing my grandma’s take on the Chicago Bulls and St. Louis Rams. At the time, the Bulls were on top of the basketball world and the Rams with Isaac Bruce, Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk and Terry Holt were the greatest show on turf. I also enjoyed selling beanie babies (yes, you read that right) at local flea markets, and generally just riding through the city;  where Ella wanted to take you in East Saint, you went. 

My grandmother and I were connected until the very end. Louis Hilton was founded on May 14, 2023: my birthday and Mother’s Day. A year later on May 14, 2024, my mom called me to tell me my grandma was transitioning; she was gone a week later on my brother’s birthday. That day, I spoke with her for the last time. Tearfully, I listened to my mother remind her of all of my accomplishments, including this platform, Louis Hilton.

       Choking back tears I asked: “How are you doing Grandma? I love you.”

       She responded: “I’m kicking baby, but I’m not kicking too hard.”

My grandma loved life, I mean loved life. Although she was in pain for many of my thirty-three years, the pain had to be unbearable before you heard her complain; that’s how I knew it was bad. She always wanted those around her to be more comfortable than she was; I must say I have adopted that trait as well. I could be having the worst day, but I worry about my friends and family to ensure that they are not. 

     Therefore, in her final moment with me, she immediately quipped, to comfort me: “Well if I ever need a lawyer, I’ll call you! Love you,                babe.” 

I loved her so much. I regret that I did not believe she was truly sick; because Ella always persevered. I thought she would pull through like she always had. Life tried to knock her down so many times, and she always got back up. In my mind, she would get up and keep swinging once again, but it was time and there was greater waiting for her on the other side. 

I love you grandma, may you rest in eternal peace.