When Coal Smoke Choked St. Louis, Residents Fought Back
St. Louis, Missouri, was a city in crisis on November 28, 1939, known as "Black Tuesday." Thick, acrid clouds of coal smoke choked the air, causing automobile traffic to crawl and buses, streetcars, and trains to run behind schedule.
The Problem of Coal Smoke
St. Louis was not alone in its struggles with coal smoke. Dozens of American cities were experiencing similar problems due to homes, businesses, and factories burning soft, sulfur-rich coal for heat and power. The cheap and easily burnable coal produced vast amounts of smoke, causing visibility to dwindle.
A Commission is Formed
Days after Black Tuesday, St. Louis Mayor Bernard Dickmann created a commission to investigate and recommend a solution to the continuing air pollution problem. This move marked a turning point in the city's fight against coal smoke.
The Post-Dispatch Takes Action
Joseph Pulitzer II, publisher of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, launched an anti-smoke newspaper campaign on November 13, 1939, declaring "something must be done, or else." The campaign assigned Sam J. Shelton to cover the smoke beat full-time and championed cleaner air and the dangers of toxic pollution.
A Solution Takes Shape
The Smoke Elimination Committee met 13 times over a winter that seemed unrelenting in darkness. After much discussion, the commission issued a report recommending restrictions on smoke emissions in February 1940. Residents and industry should either pay more to buy coal with less sulfur or other fuel, or pay for and install new equipment to burn the sulfur-rich coal more cleanly.
A New Law is Enacted
Implementation and Challenges
The true test of the ordinance would arrive with the winter chill. As winter arrived, legal coal was 10% to 30% more expensive than high-sulfur coal had been, and some families struggled, especially in poorer areas of the city. Bootleg coal shipments arrived, and there were reports of armed inspectors firing at suspect trucks that ignored orders to stop.
A Victory for Cleaner Air
By mid-January 1941, the city's skies were cleaner than ever before. Residents marveled at the change, and visiting journalists wrote letters to their hometown newspapers about St. Louis' remarkable transformation. "A great city has washed its face," Sam Shelton wrote. "St. Louis is no longer the grimy old man of American municipalities."
A Lasting Impact
The St. Louis campaign against coal smoke had a lasting impact on the nation's environmental policies. The newspaper was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for public service in 1941, and the city's example inspired other communities to take action. Even during World War II, when industrial restrictions worsened pollution, the city's skies remained clearer than ever before.
A Lesson in Environmental Action
The events of Black Tuesday serve as a reminder that it often takes time and money for governments and individuals to act on environmental concerns. The St. Louis campaign demonstrates that when people come together, determined by their own interests, they can force change.