Kansas City History

The project, which goes beyond well-known historical mainstays like baseball, jazz and barbeque, highlights local African Americans who influenced Kansas City, and national, history.

Before becoming dependent on the automobile, Kansas City was once known for its expansive public transit system. At one point, it had one of the largest cable car networks in the country.

One African-American chef from Kansas City is creating a new community around food in the 18th and Vine District. Also, we hear about a Kansas City jazz singer who made waves across the nation 75 years ago for her specific type of blues.

For three decades, Julia Lee reigned over Kansas City jazz clubs singing raunchy songs “her mother taught her not to sing.” But beyond the lyrical wordplay of hits like "Snatch and Grab It," Lee was a trailblazer for Black female musicians, and forged a career on her own terms.

Kansas City played an important role in the early gay rights movement, even predating Stonewall. Here's how you can honor LGBTQ history in Kansas City this Pride Month.

Years before the Stonewall uprising, Drew Shafer started Kansas City's first gay rights organization and published the first LGBTQ magazine in the Midwest. At one point, his Kansas City home was even the “information distribution center” for the entire gay rights movement.

One national alumni group spent two decades collecting, preserving and archiving material from throughout the history of Lincoln College Preparatory Academy. It's finally open to the public.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly signed a bill requiring the Kansas State Historical Society to give the Shawnee Tribe ownership of a cemetery where many of its tribe members are buried.

Kansas City radio pioneer Andrew Skip Carter started the nation’s first Black-owned and operated station west of the Mississippi River, KPRS AM. Now the company he founded, Carter Broadcast Group, is looking back at 72 years of growth and contemplating a robust future.

After the buildings on the corner of 31st and Main streets were threatened with demolition, 4th District council members moved to give those properties historic designation.

Kansas City has taught me that you don’t love a city by seeing only the parts that make you comfortable. Telling stories about this place for two decades allowed me to understand its quirks, its flaws, its strengths and its heartaches.

Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza is turning a century old, a milestone that finds people examining the iconic shopping center’s past and wondering about its future. Plus, Kevin Strickland talks about how the media covers wrongful convictions.