Yesterday, I was invited to visit the Arch Grounds and Old Courthouse in downtown St. Louis. Thank you Christopher Casey, Tasha, & Gateway Arch Park Foundation for a powerful afternoon.
I told them from the beginning: this is a building Iโve always had mixed feelings about.
Itโs undeniably beautiful. From 1864-1894, it was the tallest structure in Missouri, inspired by St. Peterโs Basilica. From certain angles, it lines up perfectly with the Gateway Arch, connecting our cityโs skyline to its complex past.
But itโs not just the architecture I see
Itโs the site where Dred and Harriet Scott filed their lawsuit for freedom. Itโs where Virginia Minor sued for womenโs right to vote and lost. Itโs where people were auctioned, lynched, and where decisions that shaped (and scarred) our country were made
Itโs not history I enjoy thinking about. But that doesnโt mean I shouldnโt
Yesterday I realized: The Old Courthouse is not a symbol of injustice. Itโs a monument to the power of people who stood up and said no more, often at great cost
We have seen flavors of this countless time in the business world, people standing up for what’s right (๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ: ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ท๐ช๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ญ๐บ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ต ๐๐ค๐ฐ๐ต๐ต ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ)
๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ด๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ (๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ ๐ฒ๐๐ฎ): She blew the whistle on how internal research showed harm to users, especially teens, even as the company downplayed it publicly. Her testimony changed the global conversation around tech and ethics โ at major personal risk.
๐ฆ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ ๐จ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ: Her blog post in 2017 exposed a culture of sexual harassment and retaliation, eventually leading to a CEO resignation and a broader reckoning in Silicon Valley.
๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ป๐ณ๐ฒ๐น๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ ๐จ๐๐ฆ: A private banker who exposed illegal tax shelters for the ultra-wealthy โ even though it cost him prison time.
๐๐๐ป๐ถ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ๐น๐๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ who speak up about toxic cultures, accounting red flags, or unethical deal practices, often without headlines, but with real consequences for their careers.
In a sense, in each of our tiny lives, this is our individual civic duty: to do the uncomfortable, to confront history we aren’t proud of, to make a decision that in the short-term may be a risk, because in the long-term, we won’t be able to live with ourselves.
For the future of the old courthouse, it made me wonder: Whatโs the next legacy of this place?
Should it always remain a museum? Could it become a center for civic learning? For reconciliation? For forward-looking leadership?
Maybe thatโs a crazy idea.
Or maybe thatโs what history asks of us: ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐๐, ๐๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ณ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป.
