Interview with artist and former Steptoe/Westport resident Sonie Ruffin. Ruffin discusses her family, moving to Kansas City from Joplin around 1970, neighbors who worked for St. Luke's Hospital, the social and cultural life in the area, working at a variety of Plaza shops, and notes that Westport was an integrated community when she moved there in the '70s. She also discusses her work as a fiber artist and her book, The Soulful Art of African American Quilts, and the relationship that St. Luke's Hospital had with the neighborhood and neighbors who were employed by the hospital. 

Interview with former Penn School teacher Mai Gray. She recalls her early life and education in Tennessee, attending college and meeting her husband in Atlanta, Georgia, and moving to Kansas City with him as he became pastor of Centennial Methodist Church. She discusses his work there in the 1960s and '70s, her teaching career which began at Penn School, and the Steptoe community surrounding Penn. 

Interview with Kansas City Public School District board member Dr. A. Odell Thurman. Thurman discusses his family and early life in Mississippi and St. Louis, his father's work as a minister, attending (and later teaching at) Dunbar School, attending high school in Liberty and St. Joseph, attending Western University and later graduating from Lincoln University, getting a masters degree, and working as an educator in Kansas City, Missouri. He shares his thoughts about segregated schools in Kansas City, earning his PhD, and becoming an assistant superintendent for the school district.

Interview with Kansas City Public Schools psychologist Isaac Gardner, Jr. Gardner discusses his early life and education in the Wendell Phillips neighborhood, his different experiences attending the University of Michigan and Howard University, joining the Air Force as a research psychologist, and a racist encounter with the Kansas City Police Department and subsequent public attention and interaction with police chief Clarence Kelley. He also discusses his memories of social and commercial segregation in Kansas City, teaching at Lincoln High School and Avila College, his work providing assessments and therapy to students, and his involvement with the district's desegregation task force.

Interview with Margaret Anne Cummings about her experience as a military wife during World War II, and post-war life with her husband Franklin. Cummings discusses moving to "the country" while her husband served (she does not specify which branch of service) out of state and overseas, the birth of their daughter, and Franklin's service as a cook during the war in Europe. She also discusses the service of other friends and family, and the finances of the family during wartime. Cummings went on to teach in the Kansas City, MO, school district from 1958-1981.

Interview with Kansas City school board member John Rodriguez about his life in Dodge City, Kansas, and later Kansas City, Missouri. Born in 1941, he recalls growing up in a predominantly Mexican area of Dodge City where his father worked in packing houses and for the railroads, educational discrimination faced by Mexican-American students, being unable to get haircuts in Dodge City barbershops, and enlisting in the army. He also discusses visiting Kansas City and being able to see Mexican movies, attend fiestas, and buy Mexican groceries and, while discrimination existed, having access to Mexican barbers and public swimming pools. After studying Spanish and French in college, he began his teaching career in Kansas towns including Elkhart and Hutchinson, and came to Kansas City as Director of Outreach Programs for University of Missouri-Kansas City. He later worked in roles furthering educational opportunity and was elected to the Kansas City School Board in 1975.

Interview with Dr. Salomon Flores about his life in Kansas City, Kansas, during the Great Depression and his career. He discusses his parents' immigration to Kansas from Mexico in 1918 and growing up in La Colonia, an area of Kansas City, Kansas made up of Mexican immigrant families near Rosedale from 1928 to the 1950s. He recalls attending a segregated school, going on to attend Ottawa University, and being drafted to serve in Japan during the Korean War before returning to work as a teacher in Humboldt, Kansas, Kansas City, Missouri, and later moving into higher education. He also shares his recollections of the 1951 Flood, as well as thoughts about discrimination, his academic work and community activism, and his hopes for his children.

Interview with Richard Estevez, principal of Douglass Elementary school, about his life and career. He discusses his childhood in the West Side neighborhood, moving to Washington, D.C. and Germany for his father's work with the government, his education, and participating in activities such as playing piano, debating, sports, and student government. He recalls attending college at Rockhurst while working a variety of part time jobs, and changing career ambitions from medicine to education. He discusses his career as a history teacher in the Kansas City School District, being drafted into army service during the Vietnam War, and returning to teaching in the early 1970s before rising into administration.

Interview with Judge Howard Sachs about his life, work, and experience as part of the Kansas City Jewish community. He discusses his legal education and evolution on racial issues, He calls cases dealing with the desegregation of the Swope Park and Parade Park pools, the integration of the Kansas City Bar Association, his experience with the Urban League, and working to enact desegregation laws in Kansas City prior to the passage of the Civil Rights Act. He also discusses the support for civil rights issues from area rabbis, his work on the Kansas City School District desegregation committee, and his support for the Equal Rights Amendment.

Interview with Alfonso Lopez about his life and his work as an educator. Born in 1950, he discusses his family's immigration from Mexico, his early life on the Mexico/US border near El Paso, Texas, his early experiences with education, farm work, and sports, and attending college during the Vietnam War draft era. After receiving bachelors and masters degrees from the University of North Texas, he worked in establishing bilingual education programs in Garden City, Kansas, and later with the Kansas City (Missouri) School District.