When Barack Obama was elected president he acknowledged that the historic election of a black man was only possible by his “standing on the shoulders” of those who had fought for ending discrimination and racism in previous decades and generations. Among two of the best known of this group in St. Louis were the late Margaret Bush Wilson and activist Norman Seay. She served nine terms as the chairman of the national Board of Directors of the NAACP and was president of the St. Louis chapter. She was a lawyer-activist and assisted her father as he worked on ending housing discrimination. His work led to the famous 1948 Shelley vs. Kraemer Supreme Court decision that put an end to restrictive covenants used against blacks. Norman Seay was active for decades in fighting discrimination. He was jailed for ninety days for his role in 1963 demonstrations against the discriminatory hiring practices of the Jefferson Bank in St. Louis. In the days following President Obama’s election, they reflected on the history of the event, and of events which preceded it in which they were involved.

Listen to the episode:

Contributors:

Margaret Bush Wilson, civil rights attorney and activist

Norman Seay, civil rights activist

Additional information about this episode:

Obama election victory speech video and transcript from the New York Times

CNN transcript of President Obama's election victory speech

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About the Project:

With this collection of archived interviews of St. Louis on the Air, we present an oral history of civil rights, the black experience, and race relations in St. Louis from 1847 to 2010.

Additional Resources:

The Beacon's Race Frankly Series:
An on-going community discussion around progress being made on the subject of race in the St. Louis metro area.

Eyes on the Prize:
A documentary from PBS's American Experience

FOCUS St. Louis project: Bridges Across Racial Polarization:
Get to know people whom you might not otherwise meet.

Missouri History Museum exhibit, Race: Are We So Different?
Learn the history of race, the role of science in that history, and the subtle and obtrusive expressions of race and racism in institutions and daily lives.

NAACP:
The nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization.

Southern Poverty Law Center:
A nonprofit civil rights organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of society.