The Last Children of Mill Creek - Witnessing White Flight

Student from John Burroughs School in St. Louis, Missouri reads aloud their selected vignette from "The Last Children of Mill Creek." This excerpt reveals young Vivian's observations of white families leaving her new neighborhood. To follow along in the book, view pages 132-134. Written by Vivian Gibson, "The Last Children of Mill Creek" transports readers back to her life before her neighborhood was razed in 1959 in the name of "urban renewal" in the City of St. Louis, displacing 20,000 people. As told from the perspective of herself as a young child, her bestselling memoir chronicles the lived experiences of her family and the individuals who made Mill Creek Valley, a segregated working-class neighborhood of St. Louis into a bustling African American community. "The Last Children of Mill Creek" was chosen by the Missouri Center for the Book as the Library of Congress 2023 Great Reads from Great Places pick for adult readers. To learn more and to download a companion reading guide, visit: mohumanities.org/literature. This project was made possible in collaboration with John Burroughs School, Missouri Humanities (Missouri Affiliate for the Center for the Book), and author Vivian Gibson. Want More from Missouri Humanities? Website: www.mohumanities.org Social Media: @mohumanities