43rd Terrace

Interview with former Steptoe resident Beverly Avery Hill. Hill discusses her family moving to Kansas City in the early 1930s, attending the segregated Penn School, attending St. James Baptist Church, and social life and business within and outside of the neighborhood. She also discusses meeting her husband, attending college, and becoming a teacher in the Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri school distrusts, and shares memories of playing in city parks and other memories of her family and the neighborhood. 

Interview with Leah Russell, former resident of the Steptoe neighborhood. She discusses her family's history and their roots in the Steptoe/Westport area from the late 1800s, the families and places in the community, the social life she shared with neighborhood kids, and the role of the local churches, schools, and St. Luke's Hospital in the area.  She also discusses her education and career, leaving Kansas City for other opportunities, 

Interview with Mary Louise Hinton, resident of the Steptoe neighborhood. Hinton discusses her family and early life in Deer River, Minnesota, moving to Kansas City, briefly attending Penn School, relationships with neighbors and involvement in the church, getting married to her husband Carl in 1938, and having two children. She also discusses attending and later working at Lincoln High School, having to take public transit to get to a school that was much further away than Westport High School due to segregation, and making a deal with St. Luke's Hospital in which she could maintain lifetime occupancy in her home while receiving an annuity. She also shares memories of social clubs and writing letters to the Kansas City Star.

Interview with former Steptoe resident Mary Stone. Stone shares memories of growing up in the Steptoe area of Westport, attending Penn School and St. Luke's AME Church, her friends and neighbors, and recreation opportunities in other parts of the city. She also discusses her parents' jobs, including her mother's work supervising staff at the Riviera Apartments, changes in Westport due to demographic shifts and St. Luke's Hospital expansion projects, and holding Westport reunions with friends and former neighbors at Loose Park. 

Interview with Joe Avery, former resident of the Steptoe neighborhood in Kansas City, Missouri. Avery discusses his childhood and family history, including growing up at the corner of 43rd Terrance & Washington, attending Penn School, his father's work at Manor Bakery, the Steptoe community and St. James Baptist Church, recreational options in the rest of the city, and encountering segregation. He also discusses living in Flint, Michigan and working in the automotive industry before moving back to Kansas City, and shares memories of St. Luke's Hospital.