Robert S. Brookings

The St. Louis Walk of Fame will hold the induction ceremony for Robert Brookings on Thursday, June 23, 2011.  The ceremony will take place at 6197 Delmar Boulevard (at Skinker) in the City of St. Louis part of The Loop.  The ceremony will begin at 11:30 AM and a four-piece ragtime band will play. Former Washington University Chancellor William Danforth will accept on behalf of Robert Brookings.

Robert S. Brookings moved from Maryland to St. Louis in 1867 to take a job as a clerk and became one of the city’s most successful businessmen.  In 1895 he crowned his business career with the construction of the historic Cupples Station warehouse complex in downtown St. Louis.   That same year he became president of the board of Washington University, a position he held for 33 years.  Brookings oversaw the university’s relocation to its present location and the development of its medical school.  In 1927 he founded the Brookings Institution, a leader in public policy research to this day.   Robert S. Brookings devoted the latter half of his life and nearly all of his personal fortune to advance humanity through higher education.

 

Mel Bay

The St. Louis Walk of Fame will hold the induction ceremony for Mel Bay on Thursday, June 30, 2011.  The ceremony will take place at 6178 Delmar Boulevard in the City of St. Louis part of The Loop.  The ceremony will begin at 11:30 AM and a four-piece ragtime band will play.  William Bay and Mrs. Susan Bay Banks, Mel Bay's son and daughter, will attend the ceremony accept on behalf of Mel Bay.

Mel Bay bought his first guitar at age thirteen, taught himself to play and was performing publicly within a few months.  He moved to St. Louis in 1933, where he fronted his own trio and taught up to 100 students per week.  In 1947 Bay published his landmark instruction manual The Orchestral Chord System for Guitar, soon followed by Modern Guitar Method.   Marvels of simple yet thorough instruction, Bay’s various guitar manuals sold over 25 million copies.  Called “the George Washington of the guitar” by Guitar Player magazine, Mel Bay promoted guitar popularity worldwide by making the instrument easily accessible to novice players while helping expert musicians improve their technique.