Target: St. Louis, Vol. 1 Film Viewing and
Discussion with the Director

February 6th, 2026 - 6:45 pm

Damien D. Smith's award-winning film Target: St. Louis, Vol 1 documenting the military's experiments on an unknowing population at the Pruitt-Igoe Complex will be shown in Fellowship Hall of First Unitarian Church on Feb. 6th at 6:45 pm.

The film will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Smith, Ben Phillips and Chester Deanes, plaintiffs in a class action suit seeking damages from Stanford University for the experimentation. Also participating virtually will be Lisa Martino Taylor, a researcher who uncovered key details about the tests.

Phillips and Deanes are leading an effort to introduce a bill in the Missouri Legislature that would demand access to records that will help the community better understand the impact the experiments had on the residents' health. They also will be calling for action from the region's congressional delegation, including Sens. Josh Hawley and Eric Schmidt and U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell.

To date Taylor's research shows the government sprayed zinc cadmium sulfide, a potential carcinogen, into the air as part of a Cold-War era experiment. Residents were unaware of what the government and its contractor, Stanford University, were up to and had no say in how the work was done. Many families say that in subsequent years their loved ones suffered from cancer and other maladies that caused deformities. 

Sponsored by the Environmental Justice Task Force