These biographical and historical sketches are highlights of Missouri history. Many sketches are from Missouri, Day by Day , published by the State Historical Society of Missouri in 1942. Links are to related primary sources at the Western Historical Manuscript Collection on the four campuses of the University of Missouri system.
Previous sketches are also available.
The following sketch is excerpted from Dictionary of Missouri Biography , published in 1999 by the University of Missouri Press. Elected A politician, labor organizer, and civil rights advocate, Theodore D. McNeal had the distinction of being the first African American elected to the Missouri Senate. He also served as the first black member on the University of Missouri Board of Curators, and was the first black president of the St. Louis Board of Police Commissioners. After graduating from high school in his hometown, he moved to St. Louis and obtained a job at a ceramics and brick plant. A few years later, while on vacation from his regular job, he took a temporary position working on a Pullman car.