4595 Dr Martin Luther King Drive

Brothers William and Joseph Everett (J.E.) Mitchell, founded the St. Louis Argus in 1912. Nannie Mitchell, would step in when her husband, William died in 1945 and became the driving force behind her son, Frank Mitchell, who became publisher of the Argus, and later, Dr. Mitchell, the son of Frank and Zelma. Frank, who once managed the heavyweight champion Sonny Liston, died in 1970. His obituary was picked up by the Associated Press and ran in the New York Times.

While still practicing medicine, Dr. Mitchell took the helm of the venerable newspaper his grandfather co-founded in 1912 and led it during the civil rights era. Dr. Mitchell helped the Argus achieve greatness, and become "the best African-American newspaper in the U.S.” During the ‘70s, ad revenues sometimes hit $100,000 for just one issue.

Dr. Mitchell was the second African-American to receive a four-year medical degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia Medical School, where he graduated with honors. He was the first black elected to the board of directors of Mercantile Trust Company N.A., an achievement worthy of mention in the April 13, 1978, issue of Jet Magazine. In 1979, Dr. Mitchell and two other African-American physicians – Dr. William C. Banton II and Dr. Jerome Williams – became Veiled Prophet members.

Dr. Mitchell led two of the most powerful African-American institutions in St. Louis, Homer G. Phillips Hospital and the St. Louis Argus. “Gene was a very talented and gifted surgeon and the Argus was once the dominant African-American newspaper,” said his longtime friend, Dr. Donald M. Suggs, a dentist and publisher of the St. Louis American. The two met when both were young doctors at Homer G. Phillips Hospital. Dr. Eugene N. Mitchell died in 2012.