curiousKC | What Was Kansas City’s First City Park?

Archival image shows cliff drive.

Picnics, birthday parties, ball games and exceptionally nice days are all elements that might bring someone to one of Kansas City’s 200-and-some parks.  The peaceful greenspaces might seem ubiquitous in the city of fountains, but the acres of parks Kansas Citians know today weren’t always there.  Lisa, a Flatland reader, asked, “What was Kansas City’s…

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KC Filmmakers Tee Up Documentary on Black Golfers

George and Sylvester “Pat” Johnson, Reuben Benton and Leroy Doty came to be known as “The Foursome.”

In March 1950, four Black men placed their fees on the counter of the whites-only Swope Memorial Golf Course and left to tee off. Slashed tires, broken windows and a decade-long battle to assert the right for equal play on Kansas City’s golf courses ensued.

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