A statue of rock ‘n roll star Chuck Berry sparked controversy regarding its instillation in St. Louis, as a former city official called Berry “a felon and not a friend of women.” She claims to have dozens of supporters.
The eight-foot statue of Berry is due to be installed next week in a public plaza near the University City club where the 84-year-old Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Famer still performs every month. Unless Elsie Glickert has her way, that is.
Glickert, 86, wants the city council to delay the statue’s instillation “until it can be reviewed.” Glickert has lived in the St. Louis suburb all her life and spent 11 years on the University City council. She opposes Berry’s statue based on his 1962 conviction under the Mann Act, which makes transportation of a woman across state lines for immoral purposes illegal.
“I’m dumbfounded how it got this far,” Glickert said. “This man is a felon and not a friend of women. It is a misuse of tax dollars to honor him on public property.”
According to Reuters, the woman in question in Berry’s conviction was a young Native American woman who came to work at his St. Louis club. She had been fired and arrested on a prostitution charge. Berry met her at one of his shows in Texas and 1959. He was subsequently convicted and imprisoned for violating the Mann Act. During his three-year sentence, he wrote several hit songs like “No Particular Place to Go.”
Glickert has collected over 100 signatures on a city-wide petition to stop the statue’s installation. While the city confirmed that the item was placed on the agenda for Monday’s meeting, city manager Lehman Walker told Reuters that plans for a July 29 dedication will still go ahead.
