History

Shoppers at Oak Park Mall on a recent Saturday morning.

Kansas City Shopping Malls at an Economic Crossroads

By Joyce Smith | July 10, 2024

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.

The womyn of the newly formed Womontown march in the 1989 Kansas City Pride Parade.

Honoring Womontown: Kansas City’s Intentional Lesbian Community

By Haines Eason | June 12, 2024

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.

Tom and Susan Matthews stand next to memorabilia from 1974, when Tom was abducted by Patty Hurst and other members of the Symbionese Liberation Army.

Overland Park Man Recalls Surprise Joyride with Patty Hearst

By Ruth Baum Bigus | May 31, 2024

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.

Negro Leagues Baseball Museum President Bob Kendrick speaks to members of the media May 29, 2024, about Major League Baseball’s decision to include Negro Leagues stats in official MLB record books.

For Negro Leagues Museum President, Stat Recognition is Bigger Than Baseball

By Cuyler Dunn | May 29, 2024

The addition of Negro Leagues baseball players’ statistics to MLB’s record books is bigger than baseball. It’s a part of American history.

People gathered around the new historic marker at the former site of The Willows Maternity Sanitarium on Union Hill.

Remembering The Willows: KC’s Adoption Hub of the Nation

By Diana Reese | May 10, 2024

The Willows Maternity Sanitarium, on the hill south of Union Station, helped make Kansas City the nation’s hub for adoption in the early 20th century.

A large white tent is covered with banners reading things like "stop the genocide" "Ceasefire now" "Let Gaza Live". Around the tent sit students wearing keffiyehs.

Campus Protests Over War in Gaza Echo Anti-Apartheid Era

By Mary Sanchez | May 9, 2024

Campus protests at the University of Missouri and University of Kansas over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza echo anti-apartheid protests decades ago.

Kansas City Royals and Chiefs Flirt With ‘Options’

By Brian Burnes | March 28, 2024

It’s not hard to find examples of big-time professional sports franchises leaving Kansas City for greener pastures. Could the Royals and Chiefs be next?

A 1960s rendering of a proposed domed downtown stadium in the Crossroads District of Kansas City.

When it Comes to Stadiums in Kansas City, History Repeats

By Brian Burnes | March 20, 2024

Before Truman Sports Complex was built, a domed stadium was considered in the Crossroads. Decades later, the Kansas City Royals want to build in the Crossroads.

Before being assigned to combat duty, members of the 369th Infantry Regiment served largely as laborers after arriving in France in 1918.

U.S. Army Base Renamed to Honor Black World War I Hero

By Brian Burnes | February 22, 2024

A Louisiana U.S. Army base once named for a Confederate general today bears the name of Henry Johnson, a Black World War I U.S. Army hero with Kansas City ties.