Early Days of Firefighting - from 1776

Join us to learn about firemen and how their jobs have changed since 1776. For this meetup we have a special guest speaker to help us learn more about the evolution of firefighting. We'll learn about the contributions Ben Franklin made to the effort and hear stories about the tragic fires in our city and heroic St Louis firemen. Please bring $5 to help cover the cost of our meetup group as well as this special guest speaker. Our Guest Speaker: Mike Tsichlis (pronounced TISH-liss): Dr. Mike Tsichlis is an independent researcher and author based in St. Louis, Missouri. He holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy with an emphasis in Urban Affairs from Saint Louis University, where he also received his B.A. in Political Science and his M.A. in Public Administration. His Ph.D. dissertation was on housing segregation patterns and discrimination in St. Louis during the 1980s. His research interests include St. Louis urban history and built landscape development, immigration, racial and ethnic demographic change, urban firefighting, and popular culture with an emphasis on the history of cinematic arts and exhibition. He has spent 25 years documenting the historical development and life cycle of the Greek immigrant community in the St. Louis region, including amassing a related archival collection as well as a large oral history collection of many first and second generation Greek-Americans from the area. Dr. Tsichlis’ research and publications on urban firefighting include academic research and commentary on the Great St. Louis Fire of 1849 and the Southern Hotel Fire of 1877, one of the deadliest fires in St. Louis history. He has published articles, reviews, and commentary in *Gateway Heritage*, the *Missouri Historical Review*, the *St. Louis Post-Dispatch*, and *Suburban Journals*, and the *St. Louis Call*. He is currently completing a book manuscript on the lives of the Skouras brothers, three Greek immigrant siblings who came to St. Louis in 1910 and who rose to…