History

Tony Quiroga is a Kansas City veteran and former ice plant worker. His family's story is one of a handful about a small Mexican community nestled between the 42nd Street bridge and main rail line. (Ji Stribling | Flatland)

curiousKC | How Mexican Communities Kept KC Boxcars Cold

This is the story of “La Hielera” aka “The Ice Plant,” the tiny Mexican community nestled behind the 42nd Street Bridge and Santa Fe Railroad main line.

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A boy in a laundromat stares at the camera in a scene for the movie "Vie."

Art House | KC Filmmaker Vies to Share Black Perspective

More diverse representation in local cinema comes through strongly in two compelling short films by DeVonte Brown, “Vie” and “Now What?”

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Visitors to Elmwood Cemetery can examine thousands of grave markers and monuments.

Historic Elmwood Cemetery Honors Those Above and Below the Sod

Kansas City’s historic Elmwood Cemetery’s 150th anniversary will be celebrated from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1, at the cemetery at 4900 E. Truman Road.

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This “land acknowledgment” sign at Second Presbyterian Church in Kansas City names the Indigenous tribes that consider the land on which the church sits as ancestral territory.

A Belated Lesson in the History of Indigenous People

People of faith are belatedly coming to grips with their troubled history with Indigenous People.

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The exterior of the historic Central United Methodist Church.

Historic Central United Methodist Church Reflects on its Complex Past as it Prepares to Close

The historic Central United Methodist Church is reflecting on its complex past as it prepares to close. The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection will reopen the church in December.

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David McCullough (at right), when not in the Truman Library research room, would seek out then-living Harry Truman contemporaries across the Kansas City area for interviews.

Inside David McCullough’s Relationship with the Truman Library

Here’s the inside story of how Pulitzer Prize winner David McCullough helped raise the profile of the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum.

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A dust storm approaches the southwest Kansas town of Elkhart during the Dust Bowl in 1937.

Here Are 7 Ways 2022 Stacks Up Against the Worst Droughts in Kansas History

How bad is the Kansas drought? Among the worst droughts in recorded history. But some other years were more extreme. Here are the numbers.

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Archival image shows cliff drive.

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

The story of George Kessler and the first city park in Kansas City.

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A small theater showcasing Harry Truman's experience as a World War I artillery battery captain displays a field gun used by American troops.

Harry Truman’s Remarkably Fraught First Political Campaign

Harry Truman almost was the president who never was. His first campaign, waged a century ago, was fraught with missteps that could have ended his political career.

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Horseman and children's book author Trae Q. L. Venerable.

Black Cowboys: Then and Now

Horseman and children’s author Trae Venerable is a living legacy of underappreciated Black cowboys.

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