Newspapers

Interview with Colonel Robert L. Sweeney. Sweeney discusses his family and early life in Highland, Kansas, his military service in World War I, experiencing little discrimination in Highland and France, working as a chauffeur in St. Joseph and Kansas City, visiting New York City, his friendship with the Pendergasts, Harry Truman, and police chief Clarence Kelley, and his hopes for development in downtown Kansas City. He also shares thoughts about World War II, Black political alignments over time, numerous politicians, Black activists and intellectuals, and prominent black Kansas Citians, among other topics.

Interview with Kansas City (Kansas) Globe newspaper reporter Eddie Reese. Reese discusses his family and early life in Mississippi, attending school and church, enlisting in the Marine Corps and his service in Vietnam, returning to study journalism at Kansas City Kansas Community College and the University of Kansas, and working for the Kansas City Globe, a weekly newspaper focused on the Black community. He also discusses Black culture and activism at KU and his thoughts about various politicians and activists.

Interview with activist and community leader Elvis Gibson. Gibson discusses his early life in Texas, his experience in college and the air force, starting a newspaper called the Monarch Register to serve as a voice for the poor in the 1960s, founding the Black United Appeal, and his work with Model Cities and other programs promoting education, employment, and economic security. He also recalls racist encounters and heightened anxiety after the murder of Emmett Till.

Interview with Dos Mundos newspaper founder Clara Reyes about her life and her experience with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City. She recalls immigrating to the Kansas City area from Guadalajara, Mexico, to join family, her work in dentistry and real estate, being the niece of Hector Barreto, founder of the local and national Hispanic chambers of commerce. She discusses Barreto's interest in advocating for the Hispanic business community, early members of the chamber, covering chamber activities in Dos Mundos, and Rockhurst and Penn Valley colleges working with the chamber to offer scholarships to minority students. She also discusses Barreto's role in the founding of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, originally located in Kansas City, and its move to Washington, DC, the local chamber's role in helping small businesses access bank loans and encouraging entrepreneurship, and lists the Kansas City chamber's presidents from its founding to the present.

Interview with Lucy Lopez about her life and work as a preschool teacher and with the Dos Mundos newspaper. She recalls growing up in the Armourdale neighborhood of Kansas City, Kansas, where her parents worked for the railroad and packinghouses. She shares memories of the 1951 flood, including the family moving in with relatives in the Westside where the family ultimately remained. She also recounts working at the Muehlebach Hotel's Terrace Grill where she met many celebrities, her school experience, encountering discrimination when seeking employment, and giving birth to two of her children while living in Chicago; and discusses motherhood, and her work and further schooling in early childhood education, the establishment of Dos Mundos bilingual newspaper, and her own experience maintaining fluency in Spanish and English.

Interview with retired newspaper proofreader and typesetter Agustin Rocha about his life. Born in 1912, Rocha recalls his early life in Texas and Illinois, his father's railroad work, moving to Iowa to work beet harvests, his education, and working for the Belmond (Iowa) Independent newspaper setting linotype. He also discusses moving to Kansas City circa 1940, working as a linotype operator as a drafted soldier in World War II, suffering a concussion at D-Day, and returning home to work for the Kansas City Star and Kansas City Kansan. He also shares memories of the 1951 Flood, participating in organizations including the American Legion, and his marriage and family.