Kansas City History
Two Documentaries In The Works About KC’s Historic Northeast
Those seeking to find Kansas City’s Italian-American community can start at Holy Rosary Catholic Church. Inside, at 526 Campbell St., stand statues of canonized historical figures — Frances Xavier Cabrini and Francis of Assisi among them — venerated by the immigrants who worshipped on this very spot upon their late-19th-century arrival. Inscribed on the walls…
Kansas City Looks to Build On History of Philanthropy
It started with a conversation on a Lake of the Ozarks dock. Comedian Rob Riggle was describing his recent visit to Kansas City’s Children’s Mercy Hospital. “He had hosted the hospital’s annual Red Hot Night fundraiser [in 2009] and they had taken him on a tour,” Julie Riggle McKee, Riggle’s sister, said recently. Like anyone…
Kansas City Bears Racial Scars of Interstate System
Political power, civic influence, and blatant racism shaped the construction of the federal highway system crisscrossing the U.S. today. Kansas City was an extraordinarily adept player in the post-WW II effort. As a result, interstates slice and encircle the metropolitan area, U.S. 71 Highway runs along the east side of town, and many other connecting…
A Black Friday Romp Through the Metro’s Shoplifting History
Not long ago a woman walked into an Oak Park Mall bath and body store carrying two shopping bags. She lingered for two hours, examining the scented candles. Then the phone of Detective Byron Pierce of the Overland Park Police Department buzzed. The caller was an employee of the store. “Everything okay?” Pierce asked. No….
A Better Big Blue Battlefield in Kansas City | Part III
Editor’s note: This is the final installment of a three-part series on the restoration of the Big Blue Battlefield in Kansas City, Missouri. The engagement on the Big Blue Battlefield was pivotal in the larger Battle of Westport, an October 1864 clash that effectively ended organized Confederate military operations in Missouri. As the years receded,…