African American neighborhoods

Interview with Adolf Ridgway. Ridgway, born in 1890, discusses his family and early life in Arkansas, dropping out of school at the age of 6 to help his mother, picking cotton, coming to Kansas City in his late 1920s to work on the Santa Fe Railroad, and his memories of the two world wars and the Great Depression. He also shares his thoughts about past American presidents, the boxer Jack Johnson, leisure time activities, and working at other jobs, including North American Aviation.

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 Dr. Billy James Taylor. Taylor discusses his family and early life in Chattanooga, Tennessee, enlisting in the Army Special Forces, attending Tennessee State University and the University of Minnesota, returning to Tennessee to enroll in Meharry Medical College, working as a restaurant inspector, and coming to Kansas City in 1972. He also discusses seeing Black and white patients, race-based assumptions in medical care, varying economic conditions and neighborhoods in Kansas City and throughout the country,

Interview with businessman and former city councilman G. Lawrence Blankinship. Blankinship discusses his childhood in Louisiana, his family's work in the logging industry, moving to Kansas City as a teenager, his work in management at Crown Drug stores, and later starting his Blankinship Distributing, a supplier of Black beauty products. He also discusses his local community and political work, including serving on Kansas City's city council, his involvement with Freedom, Inc., and his relationships with other local leaders.

Interview with Larry Hancks, writer and former planner for the city of Kansas City, Kansas. Hancks discusses the history of the Quindaro townsite, stories about its role in the Underground Railroad, the current state of the town ruins, and proposals for restoration and commemoration.

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 Kansas City, Kansas resident Luther Smith about growing up in the Quindaro area and in Welborn, Kansas. Smith discusses his family and experience as a young student and athlete in the 1940s and '50s, the changing retail landscape of Minnesota Avenue, being drafted into the army in 1960, encountering segregation and discrimination, and shares information about the earlier history of Quindaro.

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 former Jackson County legislator and community leader Mamie Hughes. Hughes recalls her family history, her upbringing in Florida, and her move to Kansas City in 1949. She also discusses the founding of Freedom, Inc., the culture and preservation of the 18th and Vine neighborhood and the Mutual Musicians Foundation, being a founder of the women's professional organization Central Exchange, and her memories of Dr. Samuel Rodgers.

Interview with funeral director Marion Watkins. Watkins discusses her childhood, visiting family members in Parkville, Missouri, attending Catholic schools, her family's focus on community service, and getting involved in the family's funeral business from an early age.