For over a century the Veiled Prophet Ball served as the definitive ritual of St. Louis high society, right near this spot. The Veiled Prophet Organization was founded in 1878 by a group of white business leaders — partly, historians believe, as a response to a major labor strike that year and a desire to reinforce social hierarchy. Each year, a secret 'Veiled Prophet' — always a prominent businessman or civic leader, never revealed publicly — presided over an elaborate ball and parade.
A young debutante from an elite family was crowned 'Queen of Love and Beauty.' The event was explicitly exclusionary: invitations were extended only to the city's social elite, virtually all of whom were white. It was, at its core, a ceremony of class and racial dominance dressed in pageantry. In 1972, a young activist named Percy Green scaled the chandelier at the ball and unmasked the Veiled Prophet live, in front of hundreds of guests and television cameras.
The resulting publicity was a turning point. The organization gradually opened its membership and eventually merged its activities into Fair St. Louis, the city's Fourth of July celebration on the riverfront. The parade continues.
The queen is still crowned. But the story of the Veiled Prophet is a reminder that civic traditions often serve purposes their surfaces don't reveal.