The Veiled Prophet: Secret Societies, White Supremacy, and the Struggle for St. Louis

by Devin Thomas O'Shea

Every December in downtown St. Louis, the city’s upper crust gathers for a garish costume party that doubles as a debutante’s ball, a ceremony in which the daughters of high society are paraded toward a cloaked figure in the center of the room who will select one young woman as the “Queen.” Known as the Veiled Prophet’s Ball, at first glance the event is easy to dismiss as outdated and clownish. But the truth is that the Veiled Prophet Society has functioned as a space of solidarity for the city’s “fathers,” the wealthy men at the head of businesses, banks, and whole industries who come together to break strikes, quash protests, and enforce racial hierarchies.



Devin Thomas O’Shea’s The Veiled Prophet is the definitive history of the Veiled Prophet Society in all its violence and pageantry, offering a colorful alternate history of this Midwestern city through the lens of labor politics, racial inequality, and capital accumulation. O’Shea follows the Veiled Prophet Society from its origins in the wake of the 1877 railroad workers’ strike, the height of its, and St. Louis’s, influence during the 1904 World’s Fair, and the unexpected places its members exerted influence across the globe, from Rhodesia and Vietnam to the halls of power in Washington, DC.



Yet the power wielded by the Veiled Prophet has not gone uncontested. Orphans armed with simple pea-shooters rose up against the secret society in the late 19th century. Communists organized against them in the 1930s. And civil rights icons and renegade debutantes defied this shadowy band of ruling class elites in the 1960s. The most recent challenge to the Veiled Prophet’s influence was The Ferguson uprising of 2014. Now, as the fight for the soul and streets of St. Louis is as charged as ever, it’s critical that we understand and expose the long sordid history of this powerful masked society, and its ongoing impact on the ordinary people living in the city.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, The United States Of America, American History, Conspiracy Theories

472 pages, ebook

First published June 23, 2026

Reviews

[Nathan Shuherk]

This books is in one part a fun read about a group of losers playing dress up, but also a look at capital flight and how the story of America is unfolding all around us. At the core, the VP stands for elite capture and their attempt to popularize their own importance. I couldn’t help but think about Elon Musk a lot while reading this, a person with the deepest desire to be love and adored but ultimately a flailing despot subsumed by his (their) own narcissism and insanity derived from wealth.

[Lauren K]

I had SUCH high hopes for this book. He's the first guy to dive into this when we have many more digitized records where you can even search images for specific text. I’ve done quite a bit of research on the VP myself in the past two years too and was hoping for something great. Honestly, I’m flabbergasted by 1) how much he gets wrong and 2) doesn’t make a lot of connections that are right there under his nose that would’ve bolstered his argument. He’s all over the place and it’s hard to follow. Why is so much information on Dr. America not in the chapter literally called Dr. America but in the Civic Progress chapter?? I keep coming back to the same question: How much time did this guy actually spend researching and not just reworking others’ research?

Neglects to mention Truman was the one to integrate the military. And that Symington oversaw the newly formed Air Force branch, which was the first branch to fully integrate. It had just been split from the Army, one of the branches that would go on to fight integration for years. I thought Symington was also a part of integrating Emerson’s workforce back in the early 1940s.

Was really hoping he’d have some insight on why the Veiled Prophets were at the 1882 Baltimore Oriole Festival along with other Mardi Gras like people. Seems like they might’ve visited other cities or maybe people wanted them to? Or how we saw multiple cities wanting to put on Mardi Gras like parades and orgs after reconstruction and implications there? KC had Priests of Pallas(this one is mentioned in the book). Apparently Baltimore had the Order of the Oriole? Omaha had Ak-Sar-Ben. Lincoln, Nebraska briefly had the Tartarrax Pageant with its own mythical creation story.

No mention of how many of the founders were also masons (a few seemed to be Royal Arch ones)—and this was at least a decade before the separate Mystic Order of Veiled Prophets of the Enchanted Realm was founded. Or how these guys were creating so many different clubs all around the same time like the St. Louis Jockey Club, Kinloch Club(where the Kinloch Telephone Company was born), Cuive Club(nicknamed the millionaires club and Symington was a member), Bogey Club, Log Cabin Club, etc.

No, 70% of STL's population were not German immigrants in 1850. Missouri also wasn't exactly poised to join the confederacy like O'Shea claims (look into how the Missouri State Convention of 1861 came to be and what happened)-- a decent chunk of conditional unionists; they wanted to stay in the union but also weren't against slavery. During the 1877 General Strike, 3k federal troops and 5k special police did not break up the crowd outside Schuler Hall. Nor was anyone trampled by police. Even his own citations don’t support that claim. It was 50 mounted police, 50 cops on foot, 500 of the citizens guard and 2 companies of the National Guard. Charles Chouteau was never part of the strike exec committee he speaks of(although he was on a committee of safety that wanted to protect businesses).

He gives off the impression that Missouri didn’t have a lot of St. Louisians in high up positions in Wash DC prior to Truman’s presidency. And that’s just not exactly true. Dwight Davis, founder of the Davis Cup, served as Sec of War under Coolidge and as Gov of the Philippines under Hoover. He’s got a star on the STL walk of fame. We had quite a few political connections during Grant’s presidency…as he lived here for a while and his wife was a born and raised St. Louisian. Whiskey Ring and Gold Ring scandals. Grant was the one that prevented the capital from being moved to STL(which was an initiative pushed by some of the same men that went on to found the VP). Grant’s son Frederick lived in St. Louis; society pages show his wife entertained quite a few high up federal government people in STL. Newspapers had articles about Missourians attending Washington social affairs in the 1920s. David Francis briefly served as Cleveland’s Sec of the Interior in the 1890s. We also had multiple Democratic and Republican National conventions here. Just a small sampling of connections.

No mention of how the 1876 Great Divorce might’ve been pushed through illegally by the businessmen that might've wanted to keep the tax base in the city(where they’d go on to build their mansions) and not the people living out in the boonies.

He claims that Bixby was a “big fish” that survived the Pacific Railroad scandal. Bixby was 15-16 during that scandal…so another wtaf claim. He did end up getting his first gig through an introduction letter from Jefferson Davis, who was a family friend, to the Gov of TX. He ended up working as a railroad baggage guy for a branch ran by Herbert Hoxie—who apparently created a stop on the Underground Railroad in Iowa and attended the 1885 VP Ball. Bixby moved to STL in 1881 because he got a promotion in Gould’s company. He also became “astronomically loaded” way before the World Wars, unlike what O’Shea claims. His citation doesn’t even mention American Car and its steel production during the WWs.

A reported missing 3k worth of jewelry in a newspaper somehow becomes “tens of thousands of dollars" in O'Shea's eyes. That's his main argument for why he thinks Alonzo was part of the 1%. In reality, that's just not true. Based on the probate and estate info available, he left an estate valued at roughly 50k(1.6 mil today). When you take out the 20k that was a life insurance policy, he was worth about 1 mil in today's cash. In today's world, Alonzo would've been 1% of the way to billionaire status. Even the newspapers mention he still 12k left on the mortgage. Alonzo didn't challenge a judge to a duel as O’Shea claims—he called the judge a crazy man. Looks like one of the newspapers was ridiculing Alonzo so they said that he actually shot at the judge in court. O’Shea didn’t even reference the ridiculing correctly.

Also seems to have convinced himself it's always been called the Veiled Prophet Society up until 2021, which again just isn't true if you're actually looking through coverage and records. Maybe that's why he misses a lot.

He references quite a bit from Spencer’s book on the VP. So if you’re referencing that book, you have to acknowledge Spencer’s pulling numbers based on the information he was able to find back in the 90s. No way he had access to searchable digitized records like we have today. O'Shea references that 26% of the VP were in the financial sector in 1960...without mentioning Spencer could only identify 43 guys for 1960. And if you do any sort of research, the VP has always been much larger than that. 200 total members originally. In the early 1900s, it wasn't uncommon for an obit to mention if they were part of the VP too--not as mysterious as O'Shea leads you to believe. Anywhere between 900 to 1k in the 1970s. It's literally in the newspapers.

In 1978, a St. Louis Post Dispatch article mentions that the VP has 1k members with an initiation fee of $300 and then $300 in annual dues. To put it into perspective, they also say from St. Louis Country Club’s 1976 bylaws, STCC’s initiation fee is 5.5k and annual dues are 1.5k. And no mention of the claim that businesses were the ones that paid the VP dues?!

This is still just scratching the surface. Your credibility takes a nose dive once you start missing so many things. And then a lot of the newer claims are just like "lol trust me bro". Take everything in this book with a grain of salt if you do end up reading it.

[Cloglover]

Might be the best nonfic of the year? Incredibly compelling, well researched, and wildly fascinating book about my beloved failing city. A secret racist society of the capitalist class in St. Louis has a mighty long arm that reaches right into your home, all across the globe. It is truly shocking how much power is borne out of this little secret KKKlub.
A great beach read for your summer vacation, if you like getting all worked up about racism and classism.

[Andie]

What a disappointment! I was expecting some juicy stories about St Louis' notorious Veiled Prophet Society and instead got a disorganized rehash events that have largely already been better told in The Broken Heart of America. The author really has an axe to grind and grabs onto any nugget that he feels will make his point and just beats it to death. Don't waste your time.

[Nate]

As a member of the St. Louis diaspora, I’ve always had this itch about the VP being more than meets the eye, and it absolutely is. Although I’ve been a part of the trend in st. Louis flight, I wanted to learn more about my hometown. I’ve only ever given half-baked explanations as to why I left STL, but this book brings to light answers to questions I’ve held deep in my subconscious for years. A lot of people looking in from the outside will gloss over the city and not give it a fair chance for reasons as glib as “Chicago’s right there, why would I go to St. Louis?”.

There is so much St. Louis has to offer — it’s unfortunate the positives are left to merely a couple paragraphs in the last chapter. Some of the passages in the book can tilt a bit heavy in editorializing, and if we’re being honest, there are a few typos. Focus is often shifted mid-paragraph, like the book is interrupting itself, especially when it comes to chronological events.

All this to be said, I love St. Louis; you have to love it to hate it. It has so much more character than the monolithic cultures of big cities that makes it have an actual identity and therefore, something to be proud of and own. This book caused me to reflect on my preconceived notions of why it’s difficult to talk about St. Louis while also being proud to have my roots there.

[Allie Toombs]

3.5 stars
I wanted very badly to like this book, but it just got worse as I kept reading. The narrative structure of the book was interesting, and I learned a few new events in St Louis history, like the Great Strike of 1877. However, there were at least two factual inaccuracies that I, a college student, were able to find, which makes me wary of the overall factual accuracy of the book.
1) When talking about the Funsten Nut pickers strike, he claims that Carrie Smith, one of the leaders, was 18 years old, and compares her to the VP debutante of that year. This is untrue, as any cursory research reports Smith as being an 18 year veteran of the Funsten Nut Company, in her 40s. This inaccuracy then undermines his comparison of the 1930s working and upper classes.
2) He also misdates the year of when Percy Green was fired from McDonnell Douglass for his civil rights involvement. He claims it was 1967, but it was really 1964 shortly after he climbed the gateway arch. This doesn’t change his argument, I just found it mildly annoying.
In addition, some of the chapters are disorganized, and jump between topics ver quickly, which is disorienting. While the book has some very nice poetic lines in it, the argument seems to be lost about halfway though, and fizzles out at the end. It feels like O’Shea bit off more than he could chew, and tried to focus on too many aspects of St. Louis history, sacrificing some accuracy and cohesion.

[Nick]

Did you know there is a (not-so-secret) secret society of ultra-wealthy St. Louisans that throw an annual parade and ball, with the use of overt Klan imagery and Orientalist pastiche? I didn’t! The reader does not need any familiarity with St. Louis and its layered history in the development of the US to follow O’Shea in learning about everything from railroad strikes of the late 1800s, to multi-racial coalitions for labor rights during the Great Depression, to the unmasking of the Veiled Prophet by activists in the 1970s. The story of the VP Society portrays a microcosm of America over the last hundred-fifty years.

While at first there seems to be nothing comparable to the midwestern oddness of the Veiled Prophet Society, it quickly becomes clear that it has all of the all-too familiar hallmarks of corporate interests, white nationalism, and fervent anti-communism that can be found in so many other stories of American politics and history.

I first heard O’Shea in his reporting of the Pruit-Igoe public housing complex and the US Army’s secret experiments of spraying chemicals on low-income residents, which this book does touch on. Fans of various other trendy parapolitical books will find themselves in good company with this one, understandably, as O’Shea is a frequent TrueAnon guest.

Thanks to Mickey for the advanced reader’s copy!! I didn’t get to finishing it until post-release date but here we are!

(Also, after writing this review, I see some other reviews that critique the quality of O’Shea’s research. I haven’t read, but it looks like The Broken Heart of America by Walter Johnson tells a similar history of imperialism, capitalism, white nationalism in America through the lens of St. Louis.

Also, I cannot verify but see that there may be a lot of criticism about his research as pointed out by this review by Lauren: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....
It’s hard not to compare this against an exemplary text like Wendy Painting’s Aberration in the Heartland of the Real, which so exhaustively and expertly examines a difficult and shadowy subject with an abundance of sources and cross-references. I know that O’Shea wasn’t setting out to do the same undertaking as Wendy, but if these issues in the research are true it’s a bit disappointing. That said, I don’t believe it undermines the intent of his work. The premise largely holds true.)

[Lucas]

"... The Veiled Prophet performs a demystifying function, stripping away the ornamental language and conspiratorial fog that so often obscure the workings of power in a capitalist society. What remains is less spectral than solidly material: not hidden hands, but familiar figures grabbing for power—police, businessmen, politicians—operating in plain view even as they labor to preserve the illusion of invisibility."

You can read the rest of my review of 'The Veiled Prophet' on The Arts Fuse.

https://artsfuse.org/330925/book-revi...

[Christie Angleton]

HOLY SHIT. MY MIND IS BLOWN.

[Bob T]

What could have been an objective and useful historical review of a slice of St. Louis is instead a poorly written, incompletely documented, error filled, and thoroughly biased diatribe which attempts to tie everything wrong with region, the United States and the world to a relatively small group of St. Louisans, many of whose motives have admittedly been since shown to be less than altruistic.
Two stars only because there is a bit of history worth passing along to future generations, but the reader must wade through page after page of opinion to find it.

[Marilyn Fontane]

The Veiled Prophet: Secret Societies, White Supremacy, and the Struggle for St. Louis by Devin Thomas O'Shea is a fascinating read for those of us who live or have lived in St. Louis. It covers the historical period from the Great Railroad Strike in 1877 to the racial problems illustrated by Michael Brown's death (1991) in Ferguson. The Veiled Prophet Society, which may appear to have been people acting like children at play on the surface, in fact consisted of the wealthy elite leaders, social and political, that influenced the decisions of the city, people like William Webster, Clark Clifford, and Thomas Dooley. However, not only do the costumes look like those of the Ku Klux Klan, but their beliefs in white racial superiority and economic diversity make the supposed elite show their innate moral inferiority to be exactly that of the Klan.
It is hard to rate the probability of who will enjoy or not enjoy this long large book. There is a lot of dry history mixed with colorful stories of the methods the "elite" used to retain their hold on society. I found it fascinating because I learned much to add to a fair amount of background I had already amassed in the situation. I also know that although O'Shea had to do a lot of research for the book, he could have used a good proofreader as well as an unbiased reader to stop his enthusiasm for his position from exaggerating at times. But I think everyone who lives or is interested in St. Louis could profit from reading this book. And frankly, although most cities probably don't/ didn't have the fascinating group of costumed players to make it interesting, the economic and political events in the background are probably the same all over at least our country--just hidden in different ways.

[Susan Scribner]

I'm not sure how much this book will be of interest to those who are not current or former residents of St. Louis. But as an East Coast girl who has now lived here longer than anywhere else it was fascinating. The Veiled Prophet Society is a secretive group of racist white men that was formed by two former Confederate brothers in the aftermath of a railroad strike in 1878. While it's impossible to know everything about the Veiled Prophet activities, O'Shea has combed through historical archives to uncover plenty of horrible actions that its members took in the name of protecting their considerable wealth. Their influence extended beyond Missouri - members included former FBI and CIA director William Webster, and advisor to four presidents Clark Clifford. The Society's most colorful member may have been Thomas Dooley, a closeted gay psuedo-physician who became a CIA operative after he fabricated stories of Vietnamese brutal atrocities in the bestselling Deliver Us from Evil to drum up support for the war.

White men behaving badly is predictable, but I was unaware that ACTION, a Black protest organization, managed to infiltrate the 1972 Veiled Prophet Ball and - gasp! - unmask the hooded Veiled Prophet himself. While the Michael Brown shooting focused national attention on St. Louis' racism, the city has long been one of the most segregated urban areas in the country, and having a longstanding secret society whose members wore white hoods indicates that situation is a feature, not a bug.

[Brody Taylor]

I lived in St. Louis for 13 years, but only realized what a unique place it is once I left. This book really operates as a history of the city, not just the Veiled Prophet. Having a history of racism that persists to the present day isn't something specific to this city by any means, but there's something distinctly Red-Hot Riplets flavored as it unsubtly leaks in through the cracks. O'Shea details some really overlooked pieces of history, particularly that of organized labor, in a way that casts the persistent segregation and corruption in stark light. I would especially suggest this book to people who have moved to, or been born in, the city post-2000, because (as the writer points out), so much of this institutional racism was hubristically flaunted way past the Civil Rights era, but suddenly and sloppily whitewashed at the turn of the century, mainly for the profit motive. The context added is going to make you wince at things that previously seemed mundane and inoffensive.

My one complaint is that sometimes, you can just call it the Arch. The "parabolic sculpture"-type euphemisms got old, even though I understand the STL native's reluctance to mention it too much.

[abby w]

Essentially, the VPs are like a more evil frat, and these dudes from Missouri ran everything. They have a Forrest Gump level of involvement in US politics, labor movements, and culture. The labor focus is unsurprising and expected from a Haymarket book.

I enjoyed reading something that was not coastally-focused and learning about St. Louis and its labor and civil rights history. O’Shea does a great job of showing how a specific place participates in and contributes to national movements and trends, demonstrating the real-life application of theoretical concepts and applying them in such a way that it does not impede the average reader’s understanding.

Most importantly, as lifelong St. Louisan himself, O’Shea’s writing comes from a place of love and a desire to make his home a better place, which I think is an important mindset to have when writing a book like this.

Thank you NetGalley and Haymarket for the advance copy!

[Christina]

I enjoyed this book for the most part, probably because I have similar politics to the author, but I must concur that it needed some heavy edits. Chapters frequently meander on tangents from the original talking point, and sometimes loop back around in a couple chapters, but not always. It got worse as the book went on. I was also disappointed that so much of the book did not focus on the inner workings of the Veiled Prophet Society itself. So much was left up to the author's speculation, with the excuse that the VP won't make its records publicly accessible.......ok so what are we doing here then? That's just a dead-end from both an investigative journalism and a historical research perspective.

Definitely gonna check out The Broken Heart of America that other reviewers recommended.

[Amanda]

If you're from St Louis, you need to read this one. I am around Ellie Kemper's age, and remember growing up with the VP Fair. Years after Madri Gras was forcibly integrated, the VP Fair changed to Fair St. Louis. I remember that VP stood for Veiled Prophet, and that it was, to use my grandpa's phrasing, "a place for rich people to do weird things." I've learned more since then.

I am decently informed on local history, but this follows so many threads across so many years that I learned plenty. You are likely to learn something. Probably many somethings. I'd love to hear peoples' thoughts!!

Reading some of the reviews, I am worried about the mention of this one lacking research. I am not familiar with the other books mentioned (I have heard of Broken Heart of America, but have not read it) so will follow up once I have read those works.

[Anton Frommelt]

Thoroughly researched and as depressingly interesting as you’d expect. There isn’t so much of a “gotcha” moment for the VP society as you’d maybe think, but it provides important historical context - especially interesting to read as someone who grew up during their major rebrand. I have to say the rebrand worked… it was many years into adulthood before I learned more about the racist VP origins.

All that said, this book, if anything, just provides additional important context for why St. Louis is the city that it is, for better and worse but mostly worse, thanks largely to corporations and powerful few.

I’d still start with Broken Heart of America by Walter Johnson first (which Shea references quite a bit), but I appreciated this and will be recommending it.

[Miranda Remaklus]

This was incredibly well researched. I remember going to STL around July 4th in the late 80s early 90s for Cardinals games and hearing about the VP Fair. Never knew what VP stood, would often make jokes with my Dad about the possibilities. I do remember the air show and how loud it was.

St Louis has a sad, disappointing history. This was all just mind blowing. The connection of St Louis’s transgressions go nationally and internationally. And the names. Wow!

It’s said that history should be studied or we’re doomed to repeat it. Much like we are nationally. St Louis and the nation are both late to the party to learn from the past.

Here’s to some hope for a better future.

[Jibraun]

I stopped at page 100, almost precisely 25% into the book. It's just not good. It's poorly organized. The prose is mediocre. Tangents and extrapolations are taken to absurd degrees. And most unforgivably, not enough time is actually spent on The Veiled Prophet. O'Shea tried turning The Veiled Prophet as a minor touching off point for St. Louis and US history, instead of flipping it on its head and trying to examine The Veiled Prophet closely and drawing conclusions to broader regional and national history. Another reviewer said that The Broken Heart of America by Walter Johnson provides all the same information in a better written from I agree.

[Audrey]

As a St. Louisan, this book grabbed my attention and didn't let it go. You hear things about the Veiled Prophets but this book is comprehensive in its documentation of the organization and I learned a lot about the origins of the VPs. O'Shea's writing is pointed and especially scathing when juxtaposed with some of the words the VPs have written about themselves.

Highly recommend for anyone from STL, or those interested in secret societies or learning just how deep racism is embedded with wealth.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

[Bryce]

real life pynchon B-plot at home in St. Louis....

"the [Veiled Prophets] held a rolodex linking fifty different economic sectors together. . .Prophets could push for federal funding, cancel debts, get their guy in office, or sink someone's career with a comment muttered while waiting for a car outside the auditorium. prophets gathered collective intelligence, both foreign and domestic, and shared it over stiff drinks"

Basically a historical study of the christmas adventurers club from OBAA..Also real funny Ellie Kemper was crowned the queen of love and beauty..rip kimmy schmidt.

[Theresa DePaepe]

Extremely interesting reading for all St. Louisans about the mostly sordid history of the Veiled Prophet. White supremacy, KKK connections, Guilded Age behavior - it’s all in there.

So much similarity to today’s political climate where those in power pit all others against each other and demonize the poor particularly POC.

Made my stomach turn. Downgraded a star due to editor(s) not correcting a significant number of typos and grammatical errors.

[Lynn Carroll]

This was a real mammoth of a book to read. Dense and jam packed with people and information and events that were difficult to keep track of. The information was important and I love St. Louis so I had to see it through, and I did learn a lot. Will definitely have me side eyeing my every day life as I see all of these powerful names out in the wild. Also going through I had an intense amount of connections to the VP society through growing up here. Crazy how everything is fueled by evil tbh

[Tim]

A winding and well researched tale about an unfortunately influential secret society. What really strikes me is how often they sold out STL for short term gains, fucking the city and their klan in the long run.

3.5, needs better editing. It’s a huge story that sprawls, but certain chapters just went wherever, but that’s non-fiction I guess that’s non-fiction for you.

[C]

I don't think this guy even knows that one of "the originals" was a German radical...Preetorius was a 48er. First prez of the Jewish Federation of STL was also a founder. O'Shea seems to have spent too much time creating conspiracy theories instead of actually looking into the people

[Venneh]

This is a thorough, incisive history of one of the elite secret societies in St Louis, its connection to white supremacy and segregation on both a local and national scale, and how that in turn has effected city politics, and the environment in suburbs like Ferguson. Highly recommended read.

[Ray Taddeo]

Phenomenal nonfiction,I truly loved this book. As a St. Louis transplant, this gave me the history of the city I needed, especially the inequity, those who stood against oppression, and how the city came to be what it is today. Well written, incredibly well researched. Absolutely must read!

[Corey]

Terrifying that people like this exist. This was well researched and written. It boggles my mind that societies like this are allowed to continue unchecked. It also boggles the mind how much societies like this are behind a lot of American history.

[Marci Mayer Eisen]

Disappointing

There is a lot of research that went into this book, but it was hard to get through. So much research that the author lost his focus and what seemed to be the purpose of the book.

[Nadeen]

An account of the Veiled Prophet Society, white supremacy, and the demarcation of class in St. Louis, Missouri.