History
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 II
Editor’s note: This is the second installment of a three-part series on the restoration of the Big Blue Battlefield in Kansas City, Missouri. In the mid-19th century, overland trail teamsters driving wagons west sometimes followed a branch of the Santa Fe Trail out of Independence, using the shortcut to reach fields where the animals used…
A Better Big Blue Battlefield | Part I
Editor’s note: This is the first installment of a three-part series on the restoration of the Big Blue Battlefield in Kansas City, Missouri. It was cold for late October in Kansas City. In 1864 Lt. Patrick Henry Minor, then leading an artillery battery against Confederate forces, would die the following March, from what likely had…
Historic Earthquakes Accounts Guide Modern First Responders
On December 16, 1811, a U.S. Army officer stationed in the soon-to-be-established Missouri Territory woke just after 2 a.m. reacting to what he described as a “great agitation”, an earthquake. Several of the officer’s guards, he soon wrote to a friend, “could scarcely keep their feet” during the shaking, which he said lasted about eight…
David and Beulah Bulkley and the Creation of City Union Mission
David and Beulah Mulkey turned their lives upside down to create the City Union Mission, which marks its centennial serving the downtrodden in September.
Amelia Earhart Event Sparks Hope for Finding Lost Plane
Experts recently gathered in Atchison to share theories and research as part of efforts to find the lost plane piloted by groundbreaking aviator Amelia Earhart.
Kansas City Shopping Malls at an Economic Crossroads
While new owners plan to revive the Country Club Plaza, Oak Park Mall and Independence Center – the area’s last enclosed malls – face different futures.
Honoring Womontown: Kansas City’s Intentional Lesbian Community
The Gay and Lesbian Archive of Mid-America will install a historic marker honoring Womontown on Thursday, June 13, at 27th Terrace and Charlotte Street.
Overland Park Man Recalls Surprise Joyride with Patty Hearst
Tom Matthews was about to graduate from high school. Then Patty Hearst and the Symbionese Liberation Army abducted him. The Overland Park man recalls a joyride.
For Negro Leagues Museum President, Stat Recognition is Bigger Than Baseball
The addition of Negro Leagues baseball players’ statistics to MLB’s record books is bigger than baseball. It’s a part of American history.