Tag: Kansas City

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Mo-Curious

Mo’ Curious: Black Stories Matter

Lucille H. Douglass (at left) and Oralee McKinzy at the Parkville, Missouri Public Library in March 2023

Missouri history happened here. Right here. On this same ground on which we live today. That includes the history of slavery and racial segregation. When we tell the story of our state’s history, often the narrative is that of white and male Missourians. The family and personal stories of women and people of color are too often neglected when the narrative is told about the making of Missouri.

In this episode of Mo’ Curious meet two Kansas City women who are teaching themselves and others about local black history, which is, of course, Missouri history.

This episode’s guests are Oralee McKinzy who traces her family back to enslaved Missourians in Platte County, Missouri, and Lucille Douglass who recalls attending Parkville’s Missouri’s segregated black school as a girl in the 1950s.

As heard in this episode of the podcast:

Agriculture and Slavery in Missouri’s Little Dixie by R. Douglas Hurt

On Slavery’s Border by Diane Mutti Burke

Banneker School Foundation and Historic Site

Life 360 on Facebook

Dr. Jimmy Johnson in ‘History of Kansas City International Airport Land and Its People’ produced by the Kansas City Museum

Thanks for listening to Mo’ Curious. Stay curious, Missouri.

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Field Notes

Field Notes: ‘Charity, like in faith and hope.’

We’ve lost a lot in the pandemic to date. Many Americans have lost their jobs, their health, their loved ones. When the rent came due and her fellow Kansas Citians faced eviction, Diane Charity helped organize tenants to fight from losing their homes, too.

In this Field Notes, Ms. Charity talks about her mother’s influence on her activism, the culture of sharing at Parade Park and why she still fights the good fight.

We talked on March 26, 2021 at Kansas City, Missouri’s Black Archives of Mid-America.

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Field Notes

Field Notes: ‘I wanted my children to know what real food tasted like.’

Mike B. Rollen grows food in the center of Kansas City. His culinary herbs fill a formerly vacant lot. Here, he shares his vision and some of the challenges to providing comestibles for urban residents.

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Field Notes

Field Notes: Creating a More Perfect Union

Chuck and Toni Wurth operate the Troost 39 Thrift Store in Kansas City, Missouri.

For 20 years, the Troost 39 Thrift Store has provided low-cost clothes, dishes, books and the occasional guillotine to shoppers. When the building was up for sale three years ago, Chuck and Toni Wurth bought it. Today, the couple maintains the space as thrift store with a mission.

Field Notes is an occasional series from the Recollection Agency. Contact us to learn more about the process of preserving your memories and creating shareable content.