- [Jim] A historic Illinois town celebrates its past.

- It was a wonderful place to grow up.

- [Jim] And fights for its future.

Local entrepreneurs open a clothing store for plus-sized customers with choices many stores simply don't offer.

- [Erica] The fact that they can come in here and they have so many options of things that do fit them.

- [Jim] And a story of St. Louis baseball.

Different time, different ballpark, and very different memories.

- [Interviewee] Could walk up to any ballplayer, shake his hand, and get a autograph, if necessary.

- [Interviewee] Yeah, the kids could run around on the field after the games were over.

- [Jim] It's all next on "Living St.

Louis."

(bluesy upbeat music) (bluesy upbeat music continues) (bluesy upbeat music continues) - I am Ruth Ezell.

When I'm in conversations with "Living St. Louis" viewers, they often ask, "So, what are you working on right now?"

Recently my response has been, "I'm working on a story about Brooklyn, Illinois," to which they replied, "I've never heard of Brooklyn, Illinois."

Well, no better time than the present to remedy that.

- Henry Hawkins Sr. was my maternal grandmother's grandfather.

- [Ruth] In Brooklyn, Illinois, the Hawkins family goes back a long way.

- His son, Henry Hawkins Jr., is buried here and along with several of their children.

- [Ruth] And this is Prince Wells III, Brooklyn native, Hawkins descendant, and family genealogist.

He's the keeper of precious home movies taken in his hometown during the mid 20th century.

Here's young Wells out and about with his father.

Brooklyn was among America's first predominantly African American communities to incorporate.

That took place in 1873.

Wells, who lives in St. Louis, has fond memories of growing up in that Metro East Village.

- You had to have been there to understand what I'm talking about, but other people say this too.

It's not just my opinion.

There are lots of people in my age group, they'll tell you it was a wonderful place to grow up.

We had everything that you could need.

It was a little self-sufficient town, with a pharmacy, doctor's office, two grocery stores and dry cleaners and gas stations.

Everything was there.

So it was great.

- [Ruth] A plaque in Brooklyn's Civic Center lists the Board of Managers when the facility was built in 1952.

Prince Wells Sr., paternal grandfather of Prince Wells III, was clerk.

Trustee, Andrew Bradley, was Wells's maternal great-grandfather.

- I lived across the street from the fire chief.

I had a couple of cousins who were the police chiefs at one time.

- Brooklyn's story revolves around Priscilla Baltimore.

- [Ruth] On the Nine PBS podcast, "Listen St. Louis with Carol Daniel," Cicely Hunter of the Missouri History Museum talked about the history of Brooklyn and about the formerly enslaved woman considered the community's founder.

Priscilla Baltimore was an abolitionist who assisted the newly emancipated and escapees from bondage.

- In 1829, you have 11 families who come from St. Louis and they journey to Illinois as Priscilla Baltimore and her husband, John Tobias Baltimore, become their leaders.

Essentially, that's what happens.

- Brooklyn's population today is less than a third of its mid-century numbers.

In a community that once served as a stop on the underground railroad, well-maintained homes might sit within a stone's throw of structures that are beyond repair.

And Brooklyn's primary sources of tax revenue are a couple of night spots that feature adult entertainment.

It appears a combination of factors contributed to the village's current state.

Industries that had a major presence in communities surrounding Brooklyn closed their factories, leading to job losses in the region.

At around the same time, railroad companies were buying up property, significantly reducing Brooklyn's residential land mass.

The people fighting not just for Brooklyn's survival, but its resurgence, have their hopes pinned on an ambitious proposal that will require the backing of the state of Illinois.

Vera Glasper-Banks is Brooklyn's outgoing Mayor.

- That's a proposal that we have on Governor JB Pritzker's desk as we speak.

We are trying to take waste and make it renewable energy.

What is it called?

A trash to cash facility.

And also a solar farm to supply energy to a database that we'd like to have over there for AI or you know, so we are trying to be a hub to take sustainable, renewable, economic-driven energy, a project to Brooklyn, to save Brooklyn and maybe all of the state of Illinois.

- [Ruth] And it would provide jobs.

- Provide at least 500 jobs, training.

It's a good thing.

Hopefully the governor will see things my way.

- [Ruth] Glasper-Banks had a 40 year career with Boeing in Seattle, Washington before moving back to Brooklyn in the year 2000 to care for her mother.

The Glaspers have deep roots here.

How far back do you go?

- [Vera] My family showed up in the census, the 1930 census.

My grandfather came with a traveling carnival, found out Brooklyn was an all Black town that was incorporated.

Went back to the south, told my father and uncle about it.

The whole family came and we've been there ever since.

- [Ruth] And you'll find her father's name on the cornerstone of a village facility because he too once served his community.

Sounds like you want to give back to Brooklyn.

- Yes.

Yeah, we deserve it.

- Shopping for clothes can be frustrating.

Right size, wrong style.

Right style, wrong size.

Veronica Mohesky's story is about a couple of local businesses that have emerged to right some wrongs for their target clientele.

(upbeat music) - I've always loved thrifting and I've always loved the hunt.

I think my favorite part about, besides connecting with people, is like actually finding the item.

So for me- - Yeah.

- It's the dig, it's the hunt.

- [Veronica] Maura Hampton is the owner and curator of Ethical Bodies, a plus-sized fashion brand.

And though she and her brand manager, Tricia Stoecklin, love thrifting, they say it's not always accessible for plus-sized people.

- In general.

- Shopping in general as a plus size person, especially in store, is hard.

We are very limited even in the size ranges.

Most stores, unfortunately, go up to a 3X.

So anything above that is hard in, you know, day to day shopping in store.

But then especially when thrifting, you may or may not find anything over a size extra large.

- [Veronica] And Ethical Bodies isn't the only business working to make plus-sized fashion more available in St. Louis.

- The Good-ish is a size inclusive, queer-centered, vintage and home goods brand, and we also do styling services.

- [Veronica] That's Erica Hallman with their partner and co-owner of The Good-ish, K Scott.

Hallman says they first met the Ethical Bodies duo a few years ago when both brands were doing popups and online sales.

- It was the first time I'd really seen somebody doing something similar and being size inclusive in St. Louis.

- [Veronica] The Good-ish and Ethical Bodies partnered to host the first Big Body Bash together in 2023.

- Which is a vendor market exclusively for plus-sized bodies.

And it was so successful.

- [Veronica] So when the Ethical Bodies team began looking for a brick and mortar store, a partnership with The Good-ish made sense.

- I was just browsing storefronts and saw one on Jefferson and texted Erica and was like, "Would you be interested in maybe splitting a space?"

Because we're doing the same thing.

Why not do it together?

- [Veronica] The two businesses moved into a store on Jefferson Avenue in March, 2024.

And on February 15th, they hosted the grand opening of Ethical Bodies and The Good-ish on Cherokee Street, their second location together.

Both brands cater to different styles.

Ethical Bodies leans more feminine, while The Good-ish is more unisex.

Together, they offer plus-sized modern and vintage clothing options with an emphasis on sustainability.

- There's just pounds and pounds and mountains of clothes that people just toss away, like every single moment of every single day.

So I think it's important to figure out how to breathe new life into clothes and not just toss them aside.

- [Veronica] They also avoid fast fashion items, which are garments that are produced rapidly and cheaply, often in third world countries.

- You may get a low cost for an item, but we don't know how that was, if it was ethically sourced, the labor that went into it.

All of that behind fast fashion.

Like yes, the price point is there, but unfortunately, the ethics behind it all may not be.

- [Veronica] Erica Hallman says it's important for their customers to have options.

- One of the things that I hear most often that is sometimes like overwhelming, but usually in a good way for people, is the fact that they can come in here and they have so many options of things that do fit them, but they have the option to say, "No, actually, I don't love that.

I like it, but I don't love that."

- Yeah.

- Whereas normally, we are forced to just take whatever's available because it's the only thing that fits.

- [Veronica] Ethical Bodies and The Good-ish carry sizes large to 4X and have a universal size chart to help shoppers find the right fit.

- We basically looked at all of the current brands.

- Yes.

- Especially starting with plus sizes and we took those measurements, fused them together to make a size chart that was the best version we could out of like months and months of research.

- So it's important that we try to be as consistent as possible with the size chart.

We do that by making sure we include waist measurements, hip measurements, chest measurements, arms, and like arm openings.

- [Veronica] And besides the size chart, the store has other accommodations to make customers feel more comfortable, like large fitting rooms with fans and seating for all sizes.

Erica Hallman says, being able to try things on in store is crucial.

- I think it's really important for people to be able to see themselves, for people to be able to come in, try something on, which is an experience that like too often, we don't get to have, there's very few places that carry plus size in store any longer.

And most of the time, we're relegated to online options.

- [Veronica] And the group says customers' reaction to the store can be emotional.

- [Maura] It's been so amazing.

We've had laughs and tears, like happy tears.

- Yes.

- And it's just been so lovely because even us growing up, we have the shared experience of not being able to shop with our friends.

So when you're creating that space for people to do that, it's really, really special.

- No apologies for this next story.

We're just going full nostalgia about baseball and the way it used to be played and watched.

We're reaching back a few decades to a program about memories of the old, old stadium, Sportsman's Park.

We heard back then from regular folks, from Stan the Man, and a lot from the late "Post-Dispatch" sports writer and St. Louis, native Bob Broeg.

- Sportsman's Park was like a home away for home for a lot of guys.

To me, a South sider, it was North.

I lived 4500 South.

That was 2700 North.

You couldn't very well walk.

It's a pretty, pretty long haul.

Well, even though the game was at three o'clock, you could hurry down, catch a streetcar, and get to the ballpark.

Half hour later, you might get in the second inning.

- [Reporter] Into the 1930s, the stadium announcer was still on the field shouting out the lineup.

- He would stand behind home plate with a double handed megaphone.

The megaphone was very large, double handed.

And with a booming voice, he would read the batting order to the press at radio level, which meant that people close to home plate got that.

But then he would waddle, and I mean waddle, 'cause he was heavy, down to third base and just get the battery.

When he made a batting change, by the time he got through the change, the inning was over.

(upbeat old timey music) - [Reporter] Players would trot in off the field empty handed, leaving their mitts out on the diamond near their position.

Watch the shortstop after he makes the inning ending play.

You'd think it wouldn't be safe, but nobody remembers anybody ever getting hurt or losing a game because of a mitt on the field.

And if you've ever wondered why some of the old action photos look so good from those days, it's because photographers were on the field, gathered near home for the batter or near first or third if they were expecting a play there.

You didn't need a telephoto lens, not even to get a picture, when Browns owner, Bill Veeck, sent Eddie Gaedel up to bat.

- [Bob] If Bill Veeck hadn't tipped me off the night before when we were drinking, we would've never had a picture, 'cause the photographer would've been long gone and not only he was there, but he was able to get out on the field and he kneeled on what you and I would call the on-deck circle.

- [Reporter] All of this, plus the physical closeness of the fan to the game made a huge difference in the ballpark experience, a difference that was easier to feel than to explain.

Adding public address systems and making rules removing gloves and photographers made sense.

But they removed some of the informality of baseball.

There was a time when kids knew what it was like to share the field with their heroes.

- [Interviewee] Yeah, the kids would run around on the field.

They didn't stop the kids at that time after the games were over.

- [Reporter] Television may have been one of the big things that made regular guys into modern celebrities.

The camera brought their images and their accomplishments into homes around the country, but it left a lot of their humanity back on the field.

And you've got to see them, hear them, and maybe even exchange a word with them to really see that they are regular guys.

And maybe to remind them of that, as well.

- [Interviewee] Back in those days, you knew players, something like personal.

Could walk up to any ball player, shake his hand, and get a autograph if necessary.

But back in those days, you know, you could brush shoulders with baseball players all the time.

- [Interviewee] Babe Ruth used to carry a bunch of balls pre-game and throw 'em up to the kids in the bleachers.

(fans chattering) - [Reporter] The '50s brought a whole new era, and not just television.

The Browns moved off to Baltimore and the brewery took over the Cardinals and the stadium.

- They bought it in '53 but in '54, they spent about two and a half million dollars, which was a lot of money then to enhance it.

But before that, Gussy, on his first trip east with the Cardinals, I said, "Gus, you're gonna see something most unusual."

I said, "Our ballpark is cluttered with a lot of junky stuff on the walls, but Brooklyn's Ebbets Field is worse."

It looked like a circus.

"On the other hand," I said, "you're gonna see the Polo Grounds."

It was completely green, beautiful green, no sign, but one big Chesterfield sign.

I said, "You know, like one big Budweiser sign would be."

He said, "Let me see it, pal."

Well, when he came back, he said, "You're right."

- [Reporter] But there was the lack of a central location, lack of good parking and easy highway, not streetcar access.

And there were bad seats behind the screen and right field and behind any of the posts throughout the stadium.

- It was an interesting part because for a left hand hitter, we all liked it because it had a short right field.

(laughs) And yes, it was a good ballpark.

The fans were close enough.

You can see the game.

Every seat was a pretty, pretty good seat, so, our Sportsman's Park was a good ball park except, you know, the infield in St. Louis in the summer was really hard.

And with me playing first base, sometime my feet would get awful hot.

(laughs) (fans cheer) - [Reporter] There was great excitement in the 1960s about the dramatic changes taking place downtown.

And plenty of good reasons for the enthusiasm for the brand new ballpark.

- [Interviewee] Going to the new stadium, people were just anxious to get in this modern facility.

Better conveniences for the fans, you know, more concessions and more out in the sun and no posts, no pillars, structural pillars and posts.

It was a showcase.

It really was.

- [Reporter] The old stadium, once the home of two major league baseball teams, the neighborhood park came down.

People will say, "Oh, you know, the neighborhood changed," but it's a lot more than that.

It's the whole city that changed in so many ways.

And so did the business of professional sports.

And of course, the people who were kids back then, they changed too.

- [Interviewee] Going to Sportsman's Park was just a, we took the Delmar Streetcar down to Grand and then over and it was just, the trip going there was almost as exciting as just being there, 'cause it was building up to like Christmas almost.

And once you got into the stadium, it was like unwrapping the package on Christmas day.

(fans cheer) - The hometown team is out.

We're not talking baseball, but the "Amazing Race" reality show.

In a recent episode, the father and son team from St. Louis just missed a train and were eliminated when they came in last place.

But before that episode was broadcast, we found them back home doing what they do.

(machine whirring) Jeff "Pops" Bailey and his son Jeff run tree services in the St. Louis area.

They were very busy after the March severe weather clearing damage.

The taping of "The Amazing Race" was far behind them, but it was still airing at the time, so we had no idea how they did in the competition and they couldn't tell us.

What they could talk about, though, is how they managed to be chosen as one of this season's teams.

Leah Gullet got that story earlier this year when the show was about to kick off.

- We're attending a watch party downtown because the father and son duo from St. Louis, who are also lumberjacks, are part of this season's cast.

- [Group] Get ready to race!

- There's certain challenges that we watch and we're like, "Oh, that's perfect," because we're lumberjacks, we climb trees.

- [Leah] Meet Pops and Jeff Bailey.

They're both lumberjacks who own their own business, cutting trees and selling firewood and lumber.

- Woo!

- When I was younger, my dad used to be cutting lines.

I cut lines with him and one day he asked me to climb a tree.

I climbed that tree.

After that, I just fell in love.

So I've been climbing trees and doing lumberjack stuff all my life.

- He's been in business about 40 years.

I'm 36.

So ever since I can remember, as a little kid, I would be out there with him on job sites.

Before I could even help, I probably was just in the way, and then maybe I was about seven or eight years old, he taught me how to use a chainsaw.

I was cutting up wood.

- [Leah] Pops and Jeff described themselves as competitive and skilled physical laborers.

So this competition seemed to be a breeze, especially with $1 million up for grabs.

Whose idea was it to go on this show?

- It was my idea to go on the show.

It was a couple years ago when I told Pops, "We're going on 'The Amazing Race.'"

I knew that we would have to make a video where we could stand out in front of these people.

And then I started realizing, just telling our story and just being ourselves, that stands out.

We have the personalities for it because, you know, we like to, we like meeting new people and we have to deal with different customers every day.

You know what I mean?

So, and then we have, I have my business and he has his, we have to manage staffs of people.

- [Leah] Though Pops and Jeff must stay in pretty good shape for their career, they still had to do some preparation for the show.

- There are a lot of different types of challenges and I think we're built for it because of where we come from.

- We just had a ball to travel all over the world and play games.

- But I would say that I learned a lot about Pops.

It's a lot of skill sets I haven't had to see him apply for real.

I mean, I've just grown up watching him climb trees, monstrous sized trees.

You know, I've always looked at him like Superman, physically, but I did not know what he would be able to bring to the table mentally to these challenges.

And I can't wait for everybody to see it.

I was super proud of it.

- [Leah] They can't give any spoilers, but it has been said that this year's show has been dubbed the season of surprises.

And the father and son duo gives contestants a run for their money as natives from the Show Me state.

(keys clacking) (upbeat music) - This week, 257 years ago, April 20th of 1769, one of the most powerful Indian chiefs of his day was murdered in or near the village of Cahokia.

Chief Pontiac of the Ottawa tribe was an ally of the colonial French at a time when the French and British were vying for dominance over North America.

In 1763, Pontiac led several tribes in a siege of British forces at Fort Detroit.

The uprising spread into what would be called Pontiac's War, ending with negotiations and new British policy towards the Indigenous tribes.

By 1769, Pontiac was out of power and he had a lot of enemies.

And what happened that day here in Cahokia, well, the details are sketchy.

There were a lot of rumors and theories about the killing.

In fact, still are.

But it's likely that he was killed by a member of the rival Peoria tribe, maybe to avenge an earlier incident of some sort, some kind of payback.

Tradition says his body was then taken across the river and buried on what was then the outskirts of the young French Village of St. Louis.

And in 1900, the St. Louis chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution commissioned a marble and bronze plaque honoring Pontiac, the Great Chief of the Ottawas, because of his friendship with the French and early St. Louis settlers.

By then, it was believed his burial site lay under the Southern Hotel at the corner of 4th and Walnut.

And the DAR plaque was put on display in the hotel lobby, and it was one of the stops on a historic walking tour of downtown.

But in 1933, the Southern Hotel was torn down and the plaque lost.

Although the DAR chapter says it's still trying to find it.

There are towns in Illinois, Michigan, and Canada named for him.

And there are a lot of statues, plaques, and books telling Pontiac's complicated story.

But other times, his name has been attached to nothing more than versions of a cigar store Indian.

And of course, there was a line of Pontiac cars made by General Motors.

The car company used his image in ads, and at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, displayed a mechanical talking, breathing Pontiac, who a year later was on display in downtown St. Louis at Famous Bar.

Chief Pontiac still does have a presence here in downtown St. Louis at the Stadium East Parking Garage, where the old Southern Hotel used to be.

There's a newer plaque telling the story of the chief who was killed just across the river and very possibly buried here in 1769.

This week in St. Louis history.

- And that's "Living St.

Louis."

You can reach us at NinePBS.org/LSL.

We'd love to hear from you.

I'm Ruth Ezell.

Thanks for joining us.

(bluesy upbeat music) (bluesy upbeat music continues) (bluesy upbeat music continues) - [Announcer] "Living St. Louis" is funded in part by the Betsy and Thomas Patterson Foundation and the members of Nine PBS.