Elementary schools

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. 

Two-part interview with Esther Rocha about her life and experience in Kansas City's Westside neighborhood. She recalls migrant agricultural and railroad work as motivations for her parents' immigration to the United States, Westside businesses and events, and her family life growing up. She also discusses the history of the Westside prior to it becoming a majority Mexican neighborhood, attending an "open air" elementary school, Guadalupe Center serving as housing for Rockhurst students, limitations on education and housing opportunities for the Mexican community, and not having proof of American citizenship despite being born in Texas. In part two of the interview, Rocha discusses her work with Catholic Charities and Model Cities program, attending college at Penn Valley and Avila, and her plans to retire.

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 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 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 William Shelby about the history of Westport and the Steptoe neighborhood. Shelby discusses his family's history in Westport dating back to 1870, their founding of the St. James Baptist Church, and his father's work as an educator at Penn and other schools, as well as his personal history growing up near 27th & Tracy, family, and work.  He also discusses St. Luke's Hospital's expansion and relationship with the neighborhood.