ST. LOUIS — For nearly fifty years, the bronze likeness of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood as a silent sentry in Fountain Park, its right hand outstretched in a permanent gesture of peace. But just months ago, that silence was replaced by the roar of an EF-3 tornado.
On May 16, 2025, a historic storm carved a 20-mile path of destruction through St. Louis, claiming five lives and causing $1.6 billion in damage. In the heart of North St. Louis, the 2,000-pound monument—the only public statue of Dr. King in the state of Missouri—was sheared from its pedestal.
“The lasting image in my mind is seeing the statue obviously toppled from the mound and seeing a hand, just one hand in the place where the statue stood,” said Jerome Carroll of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity…