Segregation

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 Adolph Wilson, owner of the Fireplace Lounge and Northwest Junior High assistant principal. Wilson discusses his family and early life in Oklahoma, attending segregated schools in Kansas City, Kansas, working as a teacher and administrator in Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools, and how he got involved in the nightclub business. He also discusses the business of running a nightclub in Kansas, including taxation and zoning, his plans for the future, and also discusses school integration efforts.

Interview with retired Army Lieutenant Albert Bly. He discusses his father's and his own experiences as Black soldiers in the Army, the history of military segregation and integration, the limitations on advancement for Black officers, and shared stories about fellow soldiers Jackie Robinson and Joe Lewis.

Interview with civic leader Alvin Brooks. Brooks discusses his family's move from Little Rock, Arkansas to Kansas City during the Depression, growing up in the Dunbar/Leeds area, his experience working for the Kansas City Police Department during the 1950s and 1960s under Police Chief Clarence Kelley, protesting segregation and displacement for urban renewal projects, city and Kansas City Public Schools leadership, and his hope to remain involved in city goverment or to work at a small Black college or university.

Interview with Asencion Hernandez about his life, work, and involvement with numerous organizations. He recalls growing up as the son of immigrants in the Topeka Mexican-American community, attending segregated Catholic schools, memories of church-centered community activities, and World War II. He also discusses attending college at Washburn in the early 1960s, earning a graduate degree in social work at University of Southern California, working for the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and his involvement in organizations including LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens), IMAGE (Incorporated Mexican American Government Employees) and Trabajadores de la Raza, a Hispanic social worker organization.

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 Bill Wehmeyer about growing up in the Quindaro area. He was born in 1928 and recalls playing among the ruins of the original Quindaro town site, the daily life of his family, and describes the city limits of Kansas City, Kansas, expanding to include the area. He also discusses his experiences as a student; working for Katz drugstores and the General Motors plant; later moving to rural Missouri and to Waco, Texas, where he worked as a pastor and chaplain; and recalls segregation and discrimination within the community.

Interview with Kansas City educator and community leader Carl Boyd. Boyd discusses his early life in Chicago, segregation and discrimination against Black communities in Chicago and Kansas City, his work as an educator in Kansas City Public Schools during the desegregation era, and his work as a radio broadcaster on station KPRS.

Interview with Gladstone Elementary School principal Charles Dwight. Dwight recalls his childhood and early education in Kansas City, Kansas, his work teaching in Kansas City, Missouri at the elementary and high school levels and in special education, his work with the Northeast Optimist Club and Kansas City, Kansas's Neighborhood Youth Corps, and his work as a funeral director. He also shares his memories of the community reaction to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his experiences of racism and segregation and thoughts about busing and school integration.

Interview with Chuck Moore. Moore discusses his family and early life in Topeka, moving to Kansas City and beginning his radio career at KPRS, the history and operations of the Black-owned station, his move to KCMO and WHB radio stations, the programming he hosted, segregation in broadcasting, and more thoughts about the business of radio. He also discusses his memories of Jackie Robinson playing in Major League Baseball, his work with the United Minority Media Association, and his thoughts about the role of the media in the civil rights movement.