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The Veiled Prophet Parade and Ball was a civic celebration held each year in St. Louis, Missouri, over which a mythical figure called the Veiled Prophet presided. The first events were in 1878. The last parade under that name was in 2019, but the observances continue yearly as Fair St. Louis on the Mississippi riverfront and America's Birthday Parade every July.

Overview

Although the identity of a given year's Grand Oracle, or Veiled Prophet, was officially a secret, early holders of the office were reported to include Col. Alonzo W. Slayback, Capt. Frank Gaiennie, John A. Scudder, Henry C. Haarstick, George Bain, Robert P. Tansey, George H. Morgan, Col. J. C. Normile, Wallace Delafield, John B. Maude, Dr. D. P. Rowland, Charles E. Slayback, Leigh I. Knapp, David B. Gould, Henry Paschell, H. I. Kent, Dr. E. Pretorious, Win. H. Thompson, and Wm. A. Hargadine.

The office of maids of honor — other women making their debuts at the ball — was later established to accompany the Queen of Love and Beauty. In some years, the Veiled Prophet danced the "Royal Quadrille" with the Queen and then awarded her some keepsake of the occasion. The Queens and their courts received pearl necklaces or silver tiaras, which became family heirlooms, as did the elaborate invitations themselves.

Queens have included the daughters of the most influential members of the organization. In 1999, actor Ellie Kemper was crowned as Queen. Kemper's father, David Kemper, was then the chief executive officer and chairman of Commerce Bank.

The ball, parade and fair became a St. Louis tradition, though not without controversy. "The traditional VP celebration has represented for St. Louisans a perceived link between different components of the community in a holiday celebration, while also reinforcing the notion of a benevolent cultural elite," the St. Louis city government website has said. Historian Thomas Spencer wrote that the event generally revealed rather than soothed class conflicts. In 1882, public objections were raised by Irish Americans to a float which featured that ethnic group, and it was withdrawn from the parade. Onlookers used pea-shooters, rocks and other missiles against the floats. Confectioners' shops stocked the pea-shooters in anticipation of the parade, one observer recalled.

Spencer believes the Veiled Prophet parade cast workingmen in a passive rather than active role, not merely in the celebration, but in the mythology asserted for the history and economic life of the city. The leading socialist and working-class newspaper, St. Louis Labor, "wrote negatively" about the VP event and its organizers between the early 1900s and 1930.

History

Origin

The organization was founded by prominent St. Louisans who had been invited to a meeting in a letter signed by John B. Maude, John A. Scudder, George Bain, John G. Priest, and D.P. Rowland.

On March 20, 1878, Charles Slayback, a grain broker (who had spent several years in New Orleans after the Civil War and become acquainted with its Mardi Gras traditions), called a meeting of local business leaders at the Lindell Hotel.

His brother, Alonzo, a colonel in the Missouri State Guard, which fought for the Confederacy, created a mythology for a secret society, whose public demonstrations would coincide with the annual fair. The Slaybacks borrowed the name "the Veiled Prophet of Khorassan" from Irish poet Thomas Moore's Lalla Rookh; they also incorporated features from Comus of New Orleans. In Moore's poem, the Veiled Prophet was a horribly disfigured man who considered himself a prophet.

First celebration, 1878

The first parade and ball were held on October 8, 1878. John G. Priest, a member of the city's Board of Police Commissioners, was chosen to reign over both of them.

The Post commented:

It was in every way the most complete affair that St. Louis has ever known. It drew together a larger crowd of citizens and strangers than has ever been witnessed in our city; it furnished them with an innocent pleasure which came up to all their expectations, and in a day it has taken place among the established institutions of St. Louis, a promise of wonder and delight for all future time.

1879-1889

1879

The second Veiled Prophet evening was postponed for a day because of heavy rain. It took place on Tuesday, October 8, 1879. "The interest in this affair is simply amazing," said the St. Joseph (Missouri) Gazette. "Excursion trains on all the railroads leading into the city have been crammed to excess all day and not less than forty thousand people came." As the throngs gathered, reported the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "It was evident that there was going to be a crush, and . . . By 8 o'clock the street cars could hardly move . . . and the crowd presented a sea of upturned, expectant faces."

1880

A half million people watched the parade. A hundred and eighty police officers were assigned the task of "keeping the streets clear and preventing undue crowding." A display of fireworks "showed a gold shower, the myriads of sparks ascending volcano-like, then ending with a loud report."

At the succeeding ball, music included "Faust's Torchlight Polonaise, Carle's Garden Fest, Suppe's Bohemian Girl, Herman's March from Seaugeriset, and Postlewaite's Veiled Prophets March, composed for the occasion.

1881

"As the last car left the den, a number of rockets were sent up, causing a stampede among the horses, which dashed into the crowd, knocking down the guards that had been set up to keep pedestrians back and scattering confusion generally. Fortunately, no one was hurt."

1882

The parade was marked by a controversy over a float which was adversely criticized for its portrayal of Irish people. It was reported that the (Irishmen) who drove the parade's teams and wagons would "withdraw their services" if the float was included in it, so the entry was removed.

St. Louis members of the Irish Land League were incensed, and after two hours of argument, "it was universally agreed there that there would be a grand and frightful riot unless the Irish float was taken out of the procession."

Alonzo Slayback, one of the principal organizers of the Veiled Prophet organization, said: "Why, the float is perfectly unobjectionable. It is not a caricature, but merely a piece of pleasantry and is not calculated to hurt the feelings of anyone but a fool."

He said that the message of the "first procession" in 1878 had gone "over the heads of the spectators" and since then "we found that a float which aimed rather to convey a pleasant bit of fun pleased the people much better[,] and we have carried out this idea ever since. . . . Let them raise a finger against any part of the pageant, if they dare. I feel sure that there will be on hand a sufficiently large number of people . . . to prevent any attack. Yes, sir, just let them try it."

Then followed a description of the proposed float as it was drawn for the Veiled Prophets' official publication, including a shilleighllah-bearing man and woman in "peasant costume" dancing to a fiddle. A "drinking booth with the Irish harp" is nearby. "A pig sty, with a couple of grunters anxiously peering over the side, stands to the left, a bushel basket of potatoes evidently tempting them."

The offending scene was eliminated, and other props were used on the refurbished float.

1883

Program title page, 1883

Something new for the celebration were the six Veiled Prophet tableaux presented in the Olympic Theater on Friday night, including entertainment by violinists and "the best musical talent in the country."

"Some 200 men, of all ages, nationalities, and colors" were hired to "wear an oilcloth coat and cowl" and to each carry a burning gasoline lamp and reflector weight about twenty-three pounds. Each of them, including a reporter for the Post-Dispatch, received a check good for one dollar.

1884

One float struck a gas arch which fell to the ground, flinging a woman onto the fireplug on a corner. She was taken to a hospital, where a doctor said she had suffered injuries to the chest and spine which would "probably prove fatal." Others were injured in the same mishap.

1886

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1900s

1907

Fourteen state governors were in attendance at the ball, where Mrs. Moses Fraley wore sixty-eight thousand dollars' worth of garment and jewelry — a point lace gown, a necklace, a tiara, a bar pin, a chain, a lorgnette, bracelets, a "bow knot", back hair ornaments, and a "dog collar." While less wealthy residents were watching the parade, thieves took jewelry and other loot from their homes.

1908

So great was the crowd that downtown streets were almost impassable. A reviewing stand collapsed, throwing several hundreds to the street. The parade was viewed by Judge William H. Taft, Republican candidate for the Presidency.

1910s

1910

The "Royal Set" was composed of the Veiled Prophet, two High Priests and the Grand Marshal, the Queen and her three attendant Maids of Honor. "At each corner of the square will stand an Asiatic attendant . . . . There the dance will be given. The stately measures and the beautiful costumes and dthe gowns will be visible to all."

Ball invitation, 1913, with photographic marker at the bottom

1925

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1927

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1928

In 1928, Mary Ambrose Smith, who was selected as Queen, was found to have secretly married Dr. Thomas Birdsall days earlier, violating the rule that the Queen of Love and Beauty must be a "maiden." In a 1979 interview with the St. Louis Times, Smith recalled how the Veiled Prophet:

gave her travelling money and told her to "begone, don't register at any large hotels, and don't use your real name."... Smith was "made to feel she disgraced her family. None of her friends stuck by her (she was told she could not visit their houses), she was never invited to another VP ball, her picture was removed from the collection of queens' portraits at the Missouri Historical Society, and her name was deleted from the Social Register.

1930s

1934

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1940s

1949:

The parade continued to attract large crowds and exerted a certain fascination. In 1949, for the first time, the ball was broadcast on KSD-TV (now KSDK), and the station estimated that more than 80 percent of area viewers tuned in. According to historian Thomas Spencer, "Most St. Louisans probably enjoyed the 'fairy tale' nature of it. By watching the ball, they were vicariously living the experiences of the elites dancing across their television screens."

1960s

1966

Walter W. Witte, rector of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, set forth the first widely circulated opposition to the ball in a letter printed in the Post-Dispatch on September 30, 1966. He wrote:

. . . I recall my fascination some 10 years ago when I was told that St. Louis had a Veiled Prophet Parade. I was new to the city then and I presumed that this gala event must be some climactic community celebration, perhaps historical in nature. Then to discover that this was the yearly feast of the rich, culminating in a "coming out" ball at the municipal auditorium . . . was indeed a disappointment. Since then disappointment has given place to disgust. The spectacle of the wealthy daring to parade through the neighborhoods or near neighborhoods of the poor is outrageous.

And the ritual. Is it merely "cute," or are we witnessing the honest to God cult of the affluent with its prophets, queens, attending angels, heavenly courts taken seriously and paid for dearly by the educated business and professional men of the community? . . . .

Could it be turned into a genuine community event? I have an idea. If the powers would contact me, I have several outstandingly beautiful candidates in my parish for the Queen of Love and Beauty. Mind you, these candidates are not Mary Institute graduates nor are they currently attending Wellesley, Smith, or Vassar, nor are they likely to be. But they would, indeed, add beauty. Then again they would probably be disqualified. They suffer from one serious limitation. They are black.

1967

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1969

Veiled Prophet Ball becomes a scene of racial protest |url=https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/history/oct-3-1969-veiled-prophet-ball-becomes-a-scene-of-racial-protest/article_0d45d7e8-1f78-5f31-9b3f-72eff42a3f3f.html |access-date=29 August 2021 |work=STLtoday.com |language=en}}</ref> By 1969, the ball was the object of civil rights protests, resulting in numerous arrests. Green had a flair for the dramatic, and had once climbed the St. Louis Arch with suction cups during its construction to protest the lack of minority workers.

1970s

1972

On December 22, 1972, in Kiel Auditorium, the three Caucasian female members of ACTION crashed the ball using tickets given to them by Veiled Prophet insiders. Gena Scott, Phyllis Knight, and Jane Sauer (née Gottlieb) dressed in evening gowns and entered the ball, sitting in a high balcony reserved for unimportant friends. Knight's actions that evening are unknown, but Sauer crossed the auditorium and threw leaflets from an upper balcony while screaming "Down with the Veiled Prophet!" Amid Sauer's diversion, Scott slid down a three-inch thick electrical cable towards the stage. The cable snapped and dropped Scott an estimated 50 feet onto the steps of the stage. Scott says she broke three ribs and blacked out for a moment, then convinced guards that she had fallen from the balcony. After being escorted to the back of the stage, Scott diverted a security person's attention and ran up behind the Veiled Prophet's guards, the Bengal Lancers. She was able to get even closer, and Scott reached forward and yanked the mask off the Veiled Prophet, then threw it to the ground. There was complete silence as the unmasked prophet was seen to be Monsanto Company Executive Vice President Tom K. Smith, whose name was published in only the St. Louis Journalism Review.

After a moment, Smith picked up the veil and placed it back on his head, and the ball went on as normal. Scott was later arrested after being taken to the hospital to have her ribs taped, but charges were ultimately dropped, as the Veiled Prophet Organization would have had to publicly admit that Tom K. Smith had been the Veiled Prophet.

1973

In early 1973, Scott was awakened when her car was bombed outside of her apartment. Her apartment was vandalized numerous times. The unveiling of the Prophet was the most dramatic disruption in ACTION's long campaign (1965–1976) to encourage the many CEOs in the VP Organization to hire more minority workers at their businesses.

1975

Other efforts include in 1975, ACTION member Patrick Dougherty unfurling a banner on stage reading "ACTION Protests Racist VP."

1976

and in 1976, two ACTION members sprayed what Green called "commercial tear gas" at VP audience members along the stage. While VP spokesmen said they took no notice of ACTION, its leader, Percy Green, had been laid off in 1964 and never was able to get another job for a St. Louis corporation.

1979

In 1979 did Veiled Prophet Organization admitted its first black members, three physicians.

1980s

The 1980s and 1990s saw the Veiled Prophet Organization become more secretive as the group took steps to lessen its public profile. The Veiled Prophet Ball was reworked in order to be a more private event and the parade changed to be more focused towards general entertainment, though the Veiled Prophet and his entourage still rode in the Parade.

1987

In 1987, fair officials and St. Louis Metro Police Department were confronted with accusations of racism when they closed the Eads Bridge to pedestrian access, which reduced the ability of attendees from East St. Louis to reach the fair. East St. Louisans, mostly African American, were blamed for the crime that had been occurring at the fair. Judge John F. Nangle ordered the bridge to reopen, saying that there was no proof that the crime was caused by East St. Louisans.

1990s

1992

The largest change came in 1992 as the VP Fair was renamed to Fair St. Louis, removing all reference to the Veiled Prophet in its name.

2000s

2000

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2003

In 2003, the organization created a Community Service Initiative, through which members participate in a wide variety of projects in and around the city of St. Louis.

2010s

2018

The ball still occurs on the Friday before Christmas each year, is attended by thousands, and has been protested recently by Black Lives Matter members, as well as the St. Louis based group Missourians Organized for Reform and Empowerment. In 2018, two "jewel-encrusted" gold and silver Veiled Prophet tiaras, worn by a Special Maid in 1894 and the Queen of Love and Beauty in 1896, were stolen from the Missouri History Museum. They have never been returned.

Location

Plan of Coliseum as arranged in 1913

In the first part of the 20th century, the ball was held at the St. Louis Coliseum. Later it was held at the Kiel Auditorium until ACTION's lawsuit against the organization for shutting down a public auditorium for weeks at a time, arguing that the common taxpayers did not have access to the event. In the 1950s, the Chase Park Plaza Hotel constructed the opulent Khorassan Ballroom specifically to host the annual debutante ball, and the event was formally moved there in December 1975.

Beginning in 1974 the Veiled Prophet Fair was held on the riverfront. Since the turn of the 21st century, the Ball has been held at the Downtown St. Louis Hyatt at the Arch.

Belles and Queens

See also: List of Veiled Prophet Belles and Queens

Maid's crown, 1894

The custom of singling out a young woman for special attention began with the first Veiled Prophet Ball in 1878, when Suzanne (Susie) Slayback was chosen by the first Veiled Prophet, John G. Priest, to be the "belle" of the ball at the age of 16. According to a 1958 article in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, in those earlier times it was "the custom of the Prophet to select a girl for his partner in the first dance at the ball."

The first crowned "queen" was Hester Bates Laughlin in 1894.

See also

People

• Walter B. Stevens (1848–1939), active in the VP organization

Similar festivities

• Fleur de Lis Ball – St. Louis's other debutante cotillion
• Jewel Ball – another debutante cotillion in Missouri

External links

• Veiled Prophet Collection (Finding aid at the St. Louis Public Library)

Additional reading

Lucy Ferriss, one of the debutantes seated on stage that night whose aunt, Ann Chittenden Ferriss, was the 1931 Queen of Love and Beauty, wrote about the events and interviewed Sauer and Scott for her memoir Unveiling the Prophet: The Misadventures of a Reluctant Debutante.

Category:Culture of St. Louis Category:Debutante balls Category:Balls in the United States Category:Recurring events established in 1878 Category:1878 establishments in Missouri