The Last Children of Mill Creek by Vivian Gibson

 

Summary (from the publisher): Vivian Gibson grew up in Mill Creek, a neighborhood of St. Louis razed in 1959 to build a highway. Her family, friends, church community, and neighbors were all displaced by urban renewal. In this moving memoir, Gibson recreates the everyday lived experiences of her family, including her college-educated mother, who moved to St. Louis as part of the Great Migration, her friends, shop owners, teachers, and others who made Mill Creek into a warm, tight-knit, African American community, and reflects upon what it means that Mill Creek was destroyed by racism and “urban renewal.”

Review: This beautiful memoir recounts the author's childhood in Mill Creek, an urban neighborhood in St. Louis that was razed in 1959 in order to build a highway. Raised in a warm and close-knit African American community, Vivian was the next to youngest of eight children. Her father worked multiple jobs and her college-educated mother worked out of the home to support their family. This is an incredibly moving portrait of everyday Americans living their lives and depicts a bygone world that is a result of the Great Migration and that was destroyed by racism and the push for urban renewal. 

Gibson's memoir is written with such vivid detail that truly brings her childhood to life and pays tribute to the love and tenacity of her family and community. I particularly liked how Gibson presented her childhood story through a child's lens, without overexplaining or layering adult meaning to her memories, but instead allowing her reader to fill in the blanks. For instance, a poor classmate describing her parents' movements bed at night, which she innocently relays to her mother when she gets home: "I laughed when I relayed Janice's story to my mother after school. Mama didn't laugh; she just cleared her throat and nodded her head" (91). Gibson is a natural storyteller with a knack for conveying her memories in the most moving way. 

This memoir was such a moving tribute to the author's parents. Her father worked two jobs, with just a short break in between when he would return home for a quick dinner. He used his two weeks' vacation time every year to work season work for the post office. Meanwhile, her mother worked out of the home making beautiful, handcrafted hats, leather handbags, and other crafts. Restrained by the 800 square foot in which their family of 10 lived, their mother worked out of a suitcase that she stored under her bed at night. Her deep regret over never having more meaningful conversations with her mother was poignantly felt, yet she so clearly saw her parents for who they were and how hard they worked to serve their family. 

Stars: 5