The Veiled Prophet Parade and Ball was a parade and debutante ball in St. Louis, Missouri presided over by a mythical figure called the Grand Oracle or Veiled Prophet. The first parade and ball were held in 1878, organized and funded by the Veiled Prophet Organization (VPO), an anonymous society founded in 1878 by all-white and male only civic leaders. Its Veiled Prophet ball became a nation-wide popular event. In 2022, after much attention to its racist origins, traditions and customs, VPO, now VP St. Louis, removed any mention of the Veiled Prophet in relation to the ball or itself.
Introduction With the United States' centennial celebrations in the rear view mirror, business owners continued to turn to carnivals and expositions as a way to boost growth and ensure their businesses' success in the latter part of the nineteenth century. The parade and ball were organized and funded by the Veiled Prophet Organization, an all-male, anonymous societyPatricia Rice, "The Veiled Prophet Ball," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 22, 1985, image 31 founded in 1878 by prominent St. Louisans, a highly select group culled from the area's business, civic and governmental leaders. The organization chooses a member to be a Veiled Prophet who conducts meetings and oversees activities. Originally, the Veiled Prophet parade was a nighttime event.
St. Louis' Veiled Prophets had a short-lived competing krewe, the Mystic Order of Funny Fellows, which was replaced by the Earls of Electra. Historian Thomas Spencer argues that the St. Louis elite founded the organization that would put on the parade for three reasons:
As a way for the elite to exert dominance and to "reclaim the streets of St. Louis from the working class" after the General Strike of 1877. Boost St. Louis Agricultural and Mechanical Fair attendance and entice more farmers to sell their crops at said fair. Create an exclusive organization to be utilized for business connections and to boost their influence.
The pomp and circumstance of the VP parade generally revealed rather than soothed class conflicts.Spencer, pp. 45–46 However, the Veiled Prophet parade was not the only parade to occur during the fall fair. By 1886, the seven-week-long Grand Autumnal Festivities included nine separate parades. At times, it was referred to as "Veiled Prophet Week". Occasionally, unions would stage events intended to mock the pretensions of the VP Ball.[http://www3.niu.edu/~td0raf1/radicalunionism/movement_unionism.htm District 8 and Movement Unionism, Northern Illinois University The leading socialist and working-class newspaper, St. Louis Labor, "wrote negatively" about the VP event and its organizers between the early 1900s and 1930.Spencer, pp. 77–78
In 1878, the first ball was referred to as a bal masque but only the Veiled Prophets themselves could attend en masque. The Veiled Prophets would continue to attend the ball en masque for the first few years. Other venues hosted spin off balls for those that weren't invited to the actual VP ball. In 1894, after the St. Louis Autumnal Festival Association disbanded, they switched from having a Belle of the Ball to a Queen of Love and Beauty. At first, the parade and ball were held on the same night until 1924. From 1925 to 1949, the ball was held the night after the parade. In the ceremony, each Special Maid of Honor in the Queen's court is paired with a Veiled Prophet, in full veiled headdress. The Queen of Love and Beauty is paired with the Grand Oracle of the Veiled Prophets.
In 1967, the Queen and Special Maids were removed from the parade. The next year, the parade was moved from downtown to the Central West End. That was also the last year the Veiled Prophet parade occurred at night due to increasing animosity and protests. In 1969, the parade was shifted to daylight hours, also marking the first in which the Prophet did not appear in the parade."Mystic Ruler Absent From First Daytime Veiled Prophet Parade," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 27, 1969, image 1"Blacks Attempt to Halt Parade in St. Louis," Decatur (Illinois) Sunday Herald and Review, September 28, 1969, image 4"Galluping Away," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 28, 1970, image 18
In 1995, the name of the riverfront celebration was changed to Fair Saint Louis, though the street procession was still called Veiled Prophet Parade. The date was fixed for Independence Day.Bill Smith, "Fireworks, Concerts Highlight St. Louis's 15th Annual Festival," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 1, 1995, image 22 It continued to be funded by the Veiled Prophet Organization.Amy Pray, "Fall Fair the Fourth," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 25, 1995, image 33
In 2003, the organization created a Community Service Initiative, through which members participate in a wide variety of projects in and around the city of St. Louis. In 2016, it secured a trademark for the name America's Birthday Parade.Valerie Schremp Hahn, "VP Parade Known as 'America's Birthday Parade' in More Homes Nationwide," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 29, 2017
More recently, the event was protested by Black Lives Matter supporters, as well as the St. Louis-based group Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment, which linked St. Louis's wealthiest one percent to the VP organization.
In 2021, the "Veiled Prophet Parade" was replaced by the "American Birthday Parade". "
In early 2024, St. Louis Public Radio reported that the VP organization removed the Veiled Prophet figurehead in an effort to move away from its troubled history. At the December 2024 debutante ball, the main prophet figurehead was still there but referred to as the Grand Oracle. Instead of a veil, the GO had a golden mask and long beard. However, the main Veiled Prophet figure has been called the Grand Oracle within the organization since its inception.
Over the past nearly 150 years, it has been referred to as the Veiled Prophet(s), Order of the Veiled Prophets, the Veiled Prophet Order, Veiled Prophet organization, and more recently the Veiled Prophet Society, VP St. Louis etc. However, it should not be confused with the masonic Mystic Order of the Veiled Prophets of the Enchanted Realm. At times, it has been mistakenly considered the same organization.
Founding of the Veiled Prophets
The organization had its roots in the St. Louis Agricultural and Mechanical Fair, an annual festival and exposition beginning in 1856. Featuring agricultural crops, mechanical innovations, arists, crafts, merchants, inventors and demonstrations, it grew to be an Exposition that was popular nation wide. Spencer wrote that city boosters devised the Veiled Prophet organization and parade in an attempt to reclaim the fading pre-eminence for St. Louis as a manufacturing center and agricultural shipping point from the rapidly growing city of Chicago. The first visit of the Prophet was thus in 1878, after the Great Panic of 1875, when business needed reviving and St. Louis needed development."Veiled Prophet Times His Visit This Year to Centennial Week," The St. Louis Star, July 30, 1921, image 11
Similar Mardi Gras like organizations would continue to pop up in the decades after the Veiled Prophet's creation to boost their city's economical growth, however short lived they were. Some hosted balls as well. They include Omaha's Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben, Lincoln's Tartarrax Pageant, Kansas City's Priests of Pallas, Baltimore's Order of the Oriole, Des Moines' Seni Om Sed, Cincinnati's Order of Cincinnatus, and Louisville's Satellites of Mercury.
In a 1956 promotional book by Vincent H. Sanders and Theodore D. Drury Jr., the Prophet was a world traveler who chose to bless St. Louis; reporter Walter E. Orthwein of the Globe-Democrat wrote in 1958 that the VP was conceived as "a kind of Santa Claus for grownups.""Initial Event Designed to Give St. Louis Fair a Big Shot in the Arm," St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 7, 1958, image 35
Founding meeting On March 20, 1878, Charles Slayback, a grain broker who had spent several years during Reconstruction in New Orleans and was a member of the Mystic Krewe of Comus, called a meeting of local business leaders at the Lindell Hotel. The letter was signed by John B. Maude, John A. Scudder, George Bain, John G. Priest, and David P. Rowland."The Exposition Opening: Plans Under Consideration for an Imposing Pageant," St. Louis Times, March 22, 1878, cited in Spencer, page 173 Dear sir:—
You are cordially invited to attend a meeting of prominent gentlemen on the 20th inst. at 8 p. m., sharp, parlor 22, Lindell Hotel. The object is one that will promote the interests of St. Louis, and will be fully explained at the meeting. By presenting this invitation at the door it will admit you. The first meeting's minutes were leaked to the press. Among those present besides the committee were Charles E. Slayback, George H. Morgan, Leigh O. Knapp, Henry Paschall, H. T. Kent, W. H. H. Russell, J. C. Normile, Dr. Preetorius, A. W. Slayback and others. George Bain said the purpose of the meeting was to decide what kind of event would kick off the Exposition that year. They thought a Mardi Gras like event may be better kick off to the Fair than the Trade Procession.“Mr. Charles E. Slayback gave some interesting information as to how these affairs are conducted successfully in New Orleans, and said he had received offers from the Mystic Krewe of assistance, if desired, in the way of costumes and paraphernalia." The first 14 members, later called The Originals, met a week later to establish rules and a hierarchy for their new organization.Thomas Spencer, The St. Louis Veiled Prophet Celebration: Power on Parade, , page 9 There was to be the Grand Oracle and two High Priests. The Originals were George Bain, Henry T. Kent, Leigh O. Knapp, John B. Maude, George Morgan, J.C. Normille, Henry Paschall, Emil Preetorius, John G. Priest, D. P. Roland, William H. H. Russel, John A. Scudder, Alonzo Slayback and Charles Slayback.
Alonzo Slayback and Col. J. C. Normile were on the committee in charge of naming the organization. The first mention of the Veiled Prophets appeared in newspapers in early July 1878. Charles used his Mystic Krewe connections to purchase twenty floats(which were worth approximately $20,000 then) for $8,000.
In the summer of 1878, about 200 members were initiated into the Veiled Prophet organization. Eligible members in part had to be a resident of St. Louis, at least 25 years old, of good character, and willing to assist with any project if asked. Spencer notes that out of the 73 identifiable founding members, six were foreign-born immigrants and one was Jewish.
In addition to the 14 originals, other founding members included Edward Adreon, Stephen Bemis, Rolla Billingsley, Shepard Barclay, Bill Belt, John Bonnet, Myron Buck, John Crangle, Gideon Chadbourne, Frank Capitan, John Carroll, George Capen, Daniel Catlin, Charles Chouteau, Pierre Chouteau, Jacob Ewald, John Davis, Wallace Delafield, Samuel Dodd, Charles Donaldson, John Finn, John Finney, E. T. Farish, Moses Fraley, Frank Gaiennie, Alexander Garesche, David Gould, Jacob Goldman, John Glikeson, John Grady, Edward Hoppe, William Hyer, Henry Haarstick, William Hargadine, John Homes, George A. Madil, David Nichelson, Acuter Jennings, John Kaiser, L. D. Kingsland, Leigh Knapp, Chester Krum, Shauncey F. Schultz, Henry Loudermann, Henry Paschall, Henry Overstolz, Gus Priest, Myer Rosenblatt, Frank Shapleigh, Edward Simmons, Arthur Soper, Alexander Smith, Robert Tansey, William H. Thompson, Charles Vogel, Julius Walsh, Ellis Wainright and Erastus Wells.
Mythology