Advancing the Kingdom

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Advancing T he Kingdom: Kingdom House
outreach to the neighborhood’s older
residents. Senior citizens’ programs
were initiated in 1944, “when the folks
at Kingdom House noticed here and
there a lonely old person with nothing
to do, and invited them over for the
afternoon.”27 Called the Golden Age
Club, this group by 1955 boasted
ninety-one members ranging in age
from 65 to 89. The group met weekly,
and engaged in craft work and table
games. The highlight of the club was the
annual picnic to Forest Park, and one
memorable year, one bus was lost for
several hours before meeting back up
with the rest of the group.
Less important than the physical
structure of Kingdom House were the
services provided to the neighbors
nearby, including nursery care, social
activities and clinics for specific client
need. Kingdom House became the
third clinic in St. Louis to open under
the auspices of the Maternal Health
Association (MHA) in 1933. The MHA
grew out of a meeting held the previous
year at the Coronado Hotel in which
nearly forty women and men gathered
to discuss the organization of forming
a local birth control association. The
group’s objectives included providing
birth control information to married
women of moderate means whom had
been referred by doctors, social agencies
or social workers. Fees for services were
set from one to three dollars.28 The MHA
neighborhood branch clinic at Kingdom
House operated until 1943, about the
time when the Association changed its
name to Planned Parenthood.
Kingdom House continued to
offer health clinic facilities at the
new Morrison location, and given
the changes brought about by the
Depression and the Dust Bowl
migrations, its services were strained
to meet the needs of these newest
neighbors. A 1941 St. Louis Post-
Dispatch article told of how critical the
situation was and how Kingdom House,
because of its proximity to these newest
40
A B
P hotos:
A: Kingdom House was a
popular place for teenagers to
hang out and to meet friends.
Chatting, playing table tennis...
B: ...and checkers. Teen Town
– 1946”