A provocative look at the secret society that has controlled St. Louis for more than a century, revealing how underground elites organize against the power of the working class.
Every December, downtown St. Louis' upperclassmen attend an extravagant masquerade ball that doubles as a ball for the girls. Daughters of the upper class are paraded before the throne of a masked royal figure, bowing before the masked prophet of Khorasan.At first glance, the event seems archaic and ridiculous, but in fact, the Masked Prophet Society served as an exclusive club for "City Fathers," where solidarity was built between the wealthy men who headed major American corporations and banks and controlled entire industries.The author traces the Society of the Masked Prophet from its inception in the wake of the General Strike of 1877, through the World's Fair of 1904, to the height of the Prophet's—and St. Louis's—influence during the Cold War. The Masked Prophet deals with the unexpected ways in which this secret society shaped the course of history, starting with the CIA, through the Vietnam War, and ending with the assassination of Martin Luther King.The authority held by the Masked Prophet was not unchallenged. Since the Gilded Age, the Prophet has faced resistance from orphans armed with air rifles, Communist Party organizers during the Great Depression, civil rights figures, and rebellious society girls. The Ferguson uprising of 2014 was only the latest challenge to the Prophet's influence.
As the struggle over the soul and streets of St. Louis intensifies, it is more important than ever that we expose the dark history of these powerful, masked figures and their control over our democracy.
