Kansas City History

Kansas City is bustling today, but it wasn’t always destined to be that way. Hear how Irish immigrants literally carved the city's first streets.

Bluffs up to 120 feet tall once hugged the Missouri River by Kansas City, making it difficult to traverse the landscape and expand the growing town. So in the mid-1800s, a Catholic priest named Father Bernard Donnelly recruited hundreds of Irish immigrants for a dangerous but critical task: digging streets for the city from rocks and mud.

Quindaro in present-day Kansas City, Kansas, was founded before the Civil War as a diverse community that helped people escaping slavery. Now, Reps. Sharice Davids, Emanuel Cleaver II and Derek Schmidt are trying to pass a law that would give national protections to the ruins.

In Kansas, the name John Brown is shorthand for a violent period of the state’s history in the lead-up to the Civil War. One hundred and seventy years later, how do you teach about the abolitionist as schools face scrutiny over lessons?

Con el nuevo estadio innovador del KC Current, el fútbol soccer femenino se ha consolidado como una parte fundamental de la identidad de Kansas City. Es una de las razones principales por las que esta ciudad patrocinará la Copa Mundial de la FIFA 2026 y por la que Estados Unidos es tomada en serio en el fútbol soccer. Pero tras siglos de prejuicios, financiación desigual y prohibiciones directas, los aficionados no dan por sentado este dominio.

Central High School in Kansas City went from an all-white student population to all-Black after Brown v. Board. UMKC professor Dr. Bradley Poos tells the story in his new book, "Urban Education: Kansas City’s Central High School and the Enduring Legacy of Racism."

With the trailblazing Current stadium, women's soccer staked its claim as a vital part of Kansas City’s identity. It's a central reason why this city will host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and why the United States gets taken seriously in soccer at all. But after centuries of prejudice, unequal funding and outright bans, fans don't take this dominance for granted.

In Katy Schamberger's book, "Oldest Kansas City," readers can learn about the history behind the city's oldest barbecue restaurants, oldest brick house, oldest neighborhood and so much more.

Kansas City, Missouri, became the first major city in the U.S. to repeal its anti-jaywalking ordinance, after research found that tickets were being disproportionately issued to Black men. It’s a full-circle moment, because Kansas City was also the first city to criminalize jaywalking more than a century earlier.

Richardson founded an association aimed at advancing the media careers of people of color at a time when diverse voices were not prioritized. ‘His life’s work stands as a testament to the power of representation,’ his family wrote.

Watkins was a founder of the political organization Freedom, Inc. and one of the Kansas City Council’s first two Black members. He was a vocal opponent of Highway 71 — although parts of the parkway were eventually named after him. An event at the Kansas City Public Library on Sunday, Feb. 15, will remember his full life and legacy.

In 1912, Kansas City, Missouri, became the first city in the U.S. to arrest people for jaywalking. Fueled by auto industry propaganda, this decision set off a nationwide trend to redesign our roads for the car — at the expense of everyone else.