Their forum was the Old Courthouse, already known to the law as the place where Dred Scott filed his first state court action seeking his freedom.

A month and a half later, they filed Articles of Agreement and a petition for incorporation giving form to the Bar Association of St. Louis.

The organization they established, known since 1967 as The Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, now claims a membership of over 6,000 and a vast network of committees and sections.

Yet its key purposes have remained constant: to maintain high standards among practitioners of the law; to be watchful of the fair administration of justice, and to promote social relations among its members.

Five other presidents of The St. Louis Bar Association have headed the ABA: James Hagerman (1903); Fredrick W. Lehman (1908); Guy A. Thompson (1931); Jacob M. Lashly (1940) and John C. Shepherd (1986).