Search results

Title: The First Baptist Church of Westport
Description: Mention of America Alley, "a colored sister, the property of James I. Robinson" and in 1844 a member of the early Baptist church in Kansas City.
Date: 1924-10
Object Type: Magazine Article

Title: Westport to Lose Oldest Church Building
Description: St. Luke's AME Church, at the corner of 43rd and Roanoke, will be demolished because of the widening of 43rd Street and the "general deterioration of the building". Organized soon after the Civil War to serve the surrounding area of ex-slaves, the congregation's current building was constructed in 1891.
Date: 2003
Object Type: Newsletter Article

Title: Historic Westport: Westport's First Negro School
Description: Description of the Penn School for black children in Westport, at 42nd and Pennsylvania Avenues, built after the Civil War.
Date: 1979-08
Object Type: Magazine Article

Title: Taking Steps To Record Steptoe, Westport's Vanishing African American Neighborhood
Description: The African American community of Steptoe was located in Westport, Missouri. This article explores the name of the community and its growth after the Civil War. "The tiny hamlet in Westport known as Steptoe was a collection of neat clapboard houses tucked along narrow streets between Westport Road and the Country Club Plaza. Its center was at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 43rd Terrace. The name Steptoe was spelled out in blue and white ceramic tiles set in the pavement at each corner." Various family names connected with the area are mentioned.
Date: 2004
Object Type: Magazine Article

Title: Penn School: Westport's Historic School for Black Children
Description: Article tells the story of Penn School on Pennsylvania Avenue between 42nd and 43rd Streets. Penn School is less well-known than other African American schools because it was small and served a neighborhood (Westport) not generally associated with the African American community. The school closed in 1955 and was demolished in 1969 following a fire. A plaque commemorates the site.
Date: 2006-01
Object Type: Newsletter Article

Title: The Penn School
Description: History of the Penn School, a school for African Americans in Westport from 1880 to 1955, and in its later years a part of the Kansas City School District.
Date: 1968-02
Object Type: Magazine Article

Title: The Penn School
Description: History of Penn School in Westport, started after the Civil War for African American children with its own structure built in 1880, closed in 1955, and burned in 1967.
Date: 1961
Object Type: Manuscript

Title: Welcoming "Pa" on the Kaw: Kansas's "Colored" Militia and the 1864 Price Raid
Description: Article gives a history of the African American militia units in Kansas raised during the Civil War. It details those "colored" units that fought in the Battle of Westport and the battles in this area leading up to it. Article is illustrated with photographs and includes footnotes.
Date: 2002
Object Type: Magazine Article

Title: War in Kansas: A Rough Trip to the Border among New Homes and a Strange People
Description: Colorful if crude journal entry regarding a stay at "'old man Harris's' most uncomfortable 'hotel,' in Westport."
Date: 1856
Object Type: Book

Title: African American School
Description: The first public school for black people in the city, located in Westport, is mentioned in the abstract under SEMINARY LANDS: 2.71 acres between colored schoolhouse and Main Cross Street in Westport (SW ¼ of Sec. 20, T 49, Range 33) - Jackson County, Mo. - Significant parties involved: James Jennings, John Campbell, Christina McCoy.
Object Type: Archival Material

Title: Journalism: Black Journalism Mugged in Missouri Say Police Reluctant to Help Out
Description: Article about the mugging of four black journalists in the Westport district of Kansas City, attending "the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convention" and only "grudgingly offered help" by Kansas City police officers.
Date: 1991-08-19
Object Type: Magazine Article

Title: SC69-4 Steptoe Oral History Collection
Description: This collection contains the planning documents and footage related to an oral history project to record experiences of people living and working in the Steptoe neighborhood. The collection also includes a film produced by Thompson Productions of Kansas City in conjunction with the oral history project, “A Step above the Plaza: Celebrating Westport’s African-American Community”.
Date: 2006/2007
Object Type: Finding Aid

Title: SC29 Olive L. Hoggins Papers (Centenary History of the Churches) Finding Aid
Description: This collection of the personal files of Olive Hoggins contains correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings, edited versions of congregational histories, ephemera, etc. Most of the denominational history pertains to Kansas City, although some Independence and other area churches are included. Research materials consist primarily of photocopies of newspaper articles; publications from individual churches; as well as programs and other documents. The photos consist of pictures of church buildings, as well as over 100 portraits of clergymen. It appears that the Missouri Valley Historical Society sponsored this work, starting in the early 1920s. Olive Hoggins was the compiler and writer, probably intending to publish a book, but the material seems never to have been issued in book form and was only published in the Saturday church page of the Kansas City Post, appearing between 1927 and 1930.
Date: 1923/1930
Object Type: Finding Aid

Title: Biography of Dorothy Lillard (1908-1995), Teacher and School Administrator
Date: 1999
Object Type: Biography

Title: Mill Creek Boulevard from 42nd Street
Description: View looking north along the Mill Creek Boulevard path from 42nd Street. Houses can be seen in the background. Two individuals standing together and a child can be seen.
Date: 1910-04-26
Object Type: Photograph