It is 1790. Jeanette Fourchet, a Creole slave freed by the French Catholic Church at the end of the French and Indian War, fled poverty in what is now Southern Illinois and made the dangerous river crossing to became a founding mother of the Black community of St. Louis, Missouri. She applied for and was granted lot #57 in the heart of the new city. There, she built her log cabin, bore three children, survived two husbands, worked and watched as the fortunes of her family rose, fell, and rose again. During her life, kings, emperors and finally, a president ruled the destinies of her city and...