Mid-Mod Mayor: How Raymond Tucker Shaped St. Louis

The Postwar Years were bursting with new ideas and new energy. The Baby Boom was underway and it was an unprecedented time of change, vision, and growth: downtown, suburbs, desegregation, monuments, highways, civil rights. St. Louis voters chose an engineer to be mayor in 1953. Raymond Tucker proved to be one of the most consequential city leaders ever. He led St. Louis through the Mid-Century Modern era.

He was a very different kind of leader. He broke gender and color barriers with his appointments. He did community engagement before it was common practice. He was persistent, pragmatic, and professional. The problem with being steady and consistent, though, is that changing times will pass right by. Tucker was a reluctant politician, and old political forces constantly nipped at his heels. When he died, the street on which city hall stands was renamed in his honor. This is his story, defining the point where the city's past turned into its future.