History
World War II Left Lasting Economic Imprint in the Region
Harry S. Truman would scarcely recognize today’s technological wizardry and business advancements, 80 years after his instrumental role in the Allies’ victory in World War II. But the former U.S. senator and president from Independence, Missouri, helped lay the groundwork for some of the pillars still fueling the Kansas City-area economy, including components of a…
Winning the War: Recalling the ‘Instrument of Deliverance,’ Pondering the Future of Democracy
Second of two installments About 16.4 million Americans served during World War II, according to the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. Just 66,000 — fewer than one out of every 250 who served – were still alive in 2024. Among those, 1,321 lived in Missouri in 2024, while 352 lived in Kansas….
Winning the War: Truman, Eisenhower and the Fight for Democracy
First of two installments Consider it an example of just how small two towering global figures could be. The year: 1961. The event: a high-stakes summit that called for discretion and diplomacy, given that two titans on the world stage — Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower — for years had maintained an often-frosty distance from…
Cultivating History Pt. 2: ‘Potato King’ Thrives Amid Racism
While Kansas would prove friendly to potato growers like Junius Groves, it would not be quite the “free state” envisioned by Exodusters, the African Americans who, following the end of Reconstruction, considered their prospects more promising in the North. “It was about the same time when the Exodusters arrived in Kansas that the state Legislature…
Cultivating History Pt. 1: ‘Potato King’ Earning New Renown
Junius G. Groves is having a moment. Community knowledge of the African American potato farmer, who died 100 years ago this August, is growing after largely having vanished from the collective memory of Kansas, where he arrived carrying 90 cents in 1879. A new documentary, “The Potato King,” directed by filmmaker Jacob Handy, premiers Thursday…