Ain't but a Place: An Anthology of African American Writings about St. Louis

Gerald Early writes in the introduction to "Ain't But a Place": An Anthology of African American Writings about St. Louis, "An impressive amount of artistic energy is generated in St. Louis, and the source of a good deal of that energy is its African American citizenry." Although the majority of writers and entertainers left St. Louis "to engage their muse and quarrel with American culture from another location," the experience gained from the St. Louis region has remained prominent in…