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Local author expands, updates illustrated timeline of St. Louis' 250 years and counting

St. Louis Public Radio | By Xandra Ellin,
Evie Hemphill
Published November 13, 2018 at 4:15 PM CST
Historian Carol Shepley has added about 50 pages' worth of fresh content to her 2014 book "St. Louis: An Illustrated Timeline," which was first published during the Gateway City's 250th birthday.
Evie Hemphill | St. Louis Public Radio
Historian Carol Shepley has added about 50 pages' worth of fresh content to her 2014 book "St. Louis: An Illustrated Timeline," which was first published during the Gateway City's 250th birthday.
Historian Carol Shepley has added about 50 pages' worth of fresh content to her 2014 book "St. Louis: An Illustrated Timeline," which was first published during the Gateway City's 250th birthday.
Credit Evie Hemphill | St. Louis Public Radio
Historian Carol Shepley has added about 50 pages' worth of fresh content to her 2014 book "St. Louis: An Illustrated Timeline," which was first published during the Gateway City's 250th birthday.

About four years ago, Carol Shepley was busy putting the final touches on her visually oriented history of St. Louis as the city celebrated 250 years. But there was still much more St. Louis history yet to be told, including with regard to the tragedy and unrest that rocked the region that same month she finished her book.

“When I completed work on the first edition, it was the end of August 2014, and Michael Brown was killed August 9th,” Shepley recalled Tuesday on St. Louis on the Air while talking with host Don Marsh.

In the months and years since that period, Shepley has updated “St. Louis: An Illustrated Timeline” to include more information and her own conclusions about the regional and political activity surrounding the police shooting that sparked the Black Lives Matter movement.

Shepley said she’s also added further detail about St. Louis’ founding and has expanded her exploration of the 1904 World’s Fair.

The book integrates vignettes and photographs into a creative retelling of the city’s history that delves deep into the culture, politics and characters that have made the region unique over the past quarter of a millennium.

Shepley is one of the storytellers taking part in a St. Louis Public Radio-sponsored event this Thursday evening celebrating St. Louis history.

Related Event

What: St. Louis Storytelling LIVE

When: 7 p.m. Thursday, November 15, 2018

Where: Missouri Athletic Club (405 Washington Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63102)

St. Louis on the Air brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. St. Louis on the Air host Don Marsh and producers Alex Heuer, Evie Hemphill, Lara Hamdan and Xandra Ellin give you the information you need to make informed decisions and stay in touch with our diverse and vibrant St. Louis region.

Copyright 2021 St. Louis Public Radio. To see more, visit St. Louis Public Radio.

Missouri News
Xandra Ellin
Xandra Ellin is so psyched to join the St. Louis on the Air team as this fall’s production intern! Xandra graduated from Wesleyan University this spring with a degree in Psychology and American Studies. She found ways to incorporate a passion for radio into her academic pursuits, with an honors thesis that dealt with the psychological and sociocultural phenomena that have historically made localized radio a viable mechanism for social change in American communities. Xandra’s career in public radio began at her college radio station, WESU, where she was the Public Affairs Director by day and a music DJ by night. She has also had two production internships prior to this one: one at WYPR in her home city of Baltimore, MD in 2017 and another at WNPR in Hartford, CT in 2018. When she's not at KWMU, Xandra spends her time going for runs, watching bad reality television, and serving up some quality local artisan brews through her side hustle at the Craft Beer Cellar in Clayton.
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Evie Hemphill
Evie Hemphill joined the St. Louis on the Air team in February 2018. After earning a bachelor’s degree in English literature in 2005, she started her career as a reporter for the Westminster Window in Colorado. Several years later she went on to pursue graduate work in creative writing at the University of Wyoming and moved to St. Louis upon earning an MFA in the spring of 2010. She worked as writer and editor for Washington University Libraries until 2014 and then spent several more years in public relations for the University of Missouri–St. Louis before making the shift to St. Louis Public Radio.
See stories by Evie Hemphill