Building Character and Distinction Community Features in the

Community features can and should be the means of giving character and distinction to your property; the things that create enthusiasm and a liking for the property by its residents; the things that cause your cli- ents and your owners in your property to enjoy living there. Community features … include the activities that bring residents … to- gether in any united purpose of pleasant or serious effort. On the other hand, it includes the character of the physical development of your property, its adornment, its characteristics — the very creation of an individual and an appealing personality in all or various parts of your property … These features may be the inspiration that causes a better Mary Rockwell Hook was City’s and more intensive development of every private lawn; an inspiration first significant female architect. Here for better architecture … the cause of the development of a greater in- she is pictured heading off to France in terest and love of one’s home … the cause for closer friendships, and a 1920 to work for the American Com- greater neighborhood and community spirit. They directly improve life mittee for Devastated France. Her work is in its noblest sense and lead to higher aspirations to obtain the things important but little known. See story on worthwhile in life — and in the end, from it all comes a greater love page 9. and respect for one’s city, a greater civic interest and pride, a better public spirit, and a greater patriotism for city and nation in the hearts of both young and old. Table of Contents J.C. Nichols, Address to the 1924 Convention of the National The Country Club District: Giving character to KC ...... 1 Association of Real Estate Boards, Washington, D.C. Mary Rockwell Hook: KC’s By LaDene Morton First Female Architect ...... 9 J.C. Nichols made these remarks to his colleagues at a pivotal time in Lincoln High School— real estate development. America was in the midst of the greatest hous- A 150 years of success ...... 13 ing boom it had yet seen, and the industry at this convention was adopt- The Neff brothers and The ing its first set of professional standards. Daily Drovers Telegram ...... 20 It was the perfect time and platform for Nichols to share the lessons he Kansas City Christmas had learned from nearly two decades of experience. Nichols was a rec- Miracle: A Child’s Story ...... 25 ognized leader of the industry, and his comments would be taken seri- Washington Irving’s 1832 ously. After all, the Nichols Company’s Country Club District in Kan- visit to Independence ...... 29 sas City had national bragging rights in many measures of success — at News and Updates ...... 32 some 6,000 acres, it was the country’s largest contiguous residential development completed by a single firm. Last chapters ...... 34 (Continued on page 3) 2 JCHS Journal — Summer 2016

Jackson County The future of this city Historical Society The first Sunday in 1950, two intrepid Kansas City Star reporters em- barked on an ambitious project to tell the history of Kansas City, Mo.’s OFFICERS first 100 years unfolding the serialized story in a new chapter published Sharon Williams, President each week. Brent Schondelmeyer, President-Elect J. Bradley Pace, Vice President Henry Haskell Jr. and Richard Fowler wrote about the European settle- Benjamin Mann, Treasurer ment, winning of the west, agriculture, railroads, real estate, political corruption, floods, and the civic accomplishments of leading lights – DIRECTORS mostly men – later published in a book unabashedly titled City of the A. Scott Cauger Future. Kent Dicus The view of the city’s future was optimistic. Mark Eubank The boosters, the Babbits, and their like had Angie Felarca reason to gloat and image a promising fu- Karen Graves ture. Gary Jenkins George B. Lopez The authors, in their prologue, observed: Michael Manners “Kansas City has exhibited during the last Ralph A. Monaco II hundred years certain well-defined charac- Barbara Potts teristics. Because it was constantly having Diane Reuter to deal with new problems, for example, the Charlotte Ronan community early acquired its habit of for- David Ross getting the past, ignoring the present, and Gloria J. Smith living almost altogether in the future.” Shirley Wurth Fast forward to 2016. A new kind of civic STAFF enthusiasm is evident. Steve Noll, Executive Director Kansas City no longer apologies for being a “cow town” – the livestock Caitlin Eckard, Archives heydays are over. Instead, with obvious pride we point to the redevelop- Don Andes, Operations ment of downtown, the Sprint Arena, the Kauffman Performing Arts All surface-mail correspondence must be Center, Google Fiber, and establishment of a starter light rail line. delivered to PO Box 4241, Independence, And if this were not enough to swell with pride, there is the resurgence Mo. 64051-4241. of our professional sports teams – the world champion Kansas City JCHS History Center and Archives Royals, the Kansas City Chiefs and Sporting KC. 112 W. Lexington, Room 249 Independence, Mo. 64050 In short, the city seems alive – perhaps a larger metropolitan region more confident about its future because of recent accomplishments 1859 Jail Museum We face significant challenges – urban education, segregated neighbor- 217 N. Main St. hoods, income inequality, and the potential to withdraw from larger Independence, Mo. 64050 matters to pursue individual endeavors. The connections and social bonds in our “virtual” communities compete with interest and attention Vol. 54, No. 1, Summer 2016. The Jack- son County Historical Society Journal to our physical. (ISSN 0888-4978) is published semi- Place matters. History matters. annually by the Jackson County (Mo.) Historical Society, a non-profit We again share with you stories which we believe matter – discovering educational corporation. Back issues are the west, the excellence of African-American education at Lincoln High available on the JCHS website School, the remarkable story of development of the , www.jchs.org. remarkable houses in a nearby neighborhood by our first female archi- All rights reserved. Contents, when fully tect, along with a child welfare story. credited, may be used with written permis- What the future holds is unclear, but this much is certain – it will be dif- sion. ferent if we are involved, care about where we live, better understand our collective story and open to tackling the new problems – those past, present and ones yet in our future.

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(Continued from page 1) mong his peers, Nichols was city’s southern boundary (47th A particularly esteemed for his Street/Brush Creek), and well be- The beauty of the District, and the keen insights into the wants and yond the reach of any public regu- impressive list of other communi- needs of the home buyers to lations on development. ties for which it served as a model whom he was appealing. And The consequences of that lack of (Beverly Hills in Los Angeles and while Nichols did have a sales- order were readily apparent: litter- Shaker Heights in Cleveland, to man’s sense of the market, his ing the banks of Brush Creek and name but two), had made the greater contribution was the vision its nearby feeder streams were Nichols Company project the fo- of the broader plan, and the under- small factories, mills, and live- cus of much media attention, al- standing that it was a complex, stock operations — businesses lowing Nichols to proclaim his long-term effort. that were hardly conducive to the Country Club District to be Ultimately, Nichols would come “garden homes” the Nichols Com- “America’s best residential sec- to refer to his approach as pany was building. tion.” “planning for permanence,” the The deed restriction became one simple idea that residents would vehicle for regulating property use stay invested in their homes if the prior to 1920s zoning laws. Deed community in which they lived restrictions defined the limits of responded to their needs, tastes any number of development con- and interests. siderations — lot size, easements, Nichols started development of and construction values were the Country Club District in 1905 among the most detailed in the with an existing subdivision documents. To ensure these re- known as Bismark Place near 51st quirements continued once the and Main streets. By the time development phase was complet- Nichols died in 1950, the District ed, for each subdivision the Nich- stretched roughly between four ols Company established a homes corners — on the Missouri side, association which assumed legal the Country Club Plaza (47th and responsibility for oversight of Broadway) on the northeast and covenants and restrictions. Brookside/Waldo (71st Street and hile the mechanism was the Wornall Road) on the southeast; W same, there were often sig- on the Kansas side, Prairie Village nificant differences in the specific (Tomahawk and Mission roads) restrictions enacted from subdivi- and Fairway (Mission Road and sion to subdivision. But from the Shawnee Mission Parkway), Jesse Clyde Nichols began the develop- beginning, each contained a racial ment of the Country Club District projects southwest and northwest respec- restriction. in 1905 when he was only 25, and spent tively. Aside from subtle changes of the rest of his life refining his vision, until Within these boundaries nearly his death in 1950. phrase, the restriction generally every feature Nichols recited in stated, as in one example, that that 1924 speech, as well as subse- none of the lots “shall be con- Today, more than a century since quent papers and presentations, veyed to, used, owned, nor occu- still remains. Nichols built his first home, Kan- pied by Negroes as owners or ten- sas City’s Country Club District is Homes Associations ants.” Part of property law since typically viewed as either a solid the Civil War, the racial clause in foundation of quality housing in The first of Nichols’ community 1905 was still common, legal the heart of the city, or, in con- features to appear was the use of practice both locally and national- trast, a major contributing force to homes associations and deed re- ly. It had been included in the re- the racial division that continues strictions for each subdivision. strictions Nichols inherited when to this day. But there is another Today the Country Club District he took over the Bismark Place legacy, one that remains present lies almost exactly at the heart of properties from the original devel- among those “community fea- the Kansas City metropolitan area, oper, and the Nichols Company tures” in Nichols’ address to the but in its infancy the property lay carried it forward into future re- realtors. just beyond what was then the strictions. As such, it was likely

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ishes to follow their members to School and Sunset Hill School the Country Club District. Many that are today’s Pembroke Hill of the District’s current churches School. are located at sites the Nichols St. Teresa’s Academy came to the Company reserved in its planning District in 1908, because J.C. for just such a use. He offered Nichols was willing to serve the space in Brookside’s Community long-term needs of the District Hall as a place for temporary wor- over his own short-term interests ship while new sanctuaries were in housing development. under construction. Katherine Simpson Yeomans mong those churches Nichols owned a large tract of land near A helped to find a new home in modern-day 55th and Main the District were his own Country streets, in the middle of acreage Club Christian Church, Wornall J.C. Nichols was already develop- Road Baptist Church, St. An- ing. Yeomans wanted cash, and drew’s Episcopal Church, Sixth Nichols couldn’t meet the asking Church of Christ Scientist, Coun- price. But he knew who could: St. try Club Methodist Church, and Teresa’s Academy, one of the “1,500 acres restricted” referred to a long Second Presbyterian Church. city’s oldest Catholic girls’ list of rules embedded in the deeds of the Nichols was also committed to schools. Country Club District homes that regulat- making the District a home to ed the nature of development. St. Teresa’s had been located at quality schools. Nichols ran for a 12th and Washington in the Quali- seat on the Kansas City school ty Hill area since 1866. Now it also one of many conditions that board (his only foray into elected was looking for a larger site. The Nichols’ lenders would have re- office) in order to shape the school school’s cash payment of $40,000 quired to mitigate risk on their district’s expansion into his devel- for the 20-acre property allowed investment. opments. He also worked with Nichols to close the transaction, Mrs. Vassie Ward Hill, Hugh keeping any future competitor As the Country Club District ex- Ward’s widow, to assemble prop- from developing the land while at panded south, non-Nichols Com- erty for the original Country Day pany developments adjacent to the the same time giving the Country District solicited Nichols to adapt the District’s restrictions to theirs. The restrictions were what buyers of Nichols’ new housing demand- ed. Institutions J.C. Nichols was a shrewd busi- nessman who kept the bottom line in mind, but he also understood that the success of the District re- quired investments of time and resources aimed at social returns. To that end, the second communi- ty feature Nichols focused on — and arguably the one about which he was most passionate — was securing community institutions for his District. First on his list of such institutions were churches and schools. Nich- ols made it a personal mission to The Country Club District took its name from its proximity to the Kansas City Country encourage local churches and par- Club, located at the site of today’s .

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Club District the right to claim sas City’s lauded parks and boule- The smaller pieces found homes at one of the city’s most prestigious vard system, Nichols employed the gateways to neighborhoods or schools as its own. Kansas City’s nationally famous on traffic islands scattered landscape architecture firm of throughout the District. The Design Hare and Hare to design all as- grander pieces were integrated Aesthetics is the collective catego- pects of the Country Club District into public areas; many of the ry of several District community home sites, right down to the very original sculptures, reflecting features which took on special im- contours of the land. pools, and statues along Ward portance early in the Country Club he Nichols Company went so Parkway were donated or funded District’s development. Nichols T far as to create an auto touring by the Nichols Company. repeatedly emphasized the im- map to encourage prospective From 1922 to Nichols’ death in portance of good architecture, en- buyers to drive through the Dis- 1950, the Nichols Company do- couraging those who were build- trict’s tree-lined, winding streets nated some 200 pieces valued in ing homes in the District to hire and enjoy the vistas that had been excess of $500,000. professional architects who could specifically fashioned as entice- The addition of new statuary is produce the required level of qual- ments to buy a Country Club Dis- ity. one of the few Country Club Dis- trict home. trict traditions that continued gen- The architecture of the District’s Then, too, there was the statuary. erally unchanged after Nichols’ heyday, from the early 1910s During his lifetime, J.C. Nichols death. By the late 1960s, the value through the 1930s, was known as was personally responsible for had grown to more than $1 mil- Eclectic, an apt name given that importing the statuary and foun- lion. Colonial, Tudor, French and tains placed throughout the Coun- Greek Revival, Arts and Crafts, try Club District. A few pieces Shops Italianate, and others were repre- were genuine antiquities, and Commercial development was a sented. some were new works by contem- community feature of the Bismark But the aesthetic in the neighbor- porary craftsmen. Place development, but it would hoods extended beyond house de- But most were high-end reproduc- be more than a decade before sign. Inspired by the designs of tions of minor European and whole planned shopping districts George Kessler, the noted land- Asian classics produced, as they were evident in the Country Club scape architect who planned Kan- say, “for the trade.” District landscape. In 1922 Nichols built the Colonial Shops on 51st Street just east of Brookside Boulevard as a conven- ience for those earliest residents of the District, still outside the city limits at this time. Today the Co- lonial Shops remain an active re- tail center serving UMKC and the neighborhoods. The Brookside Shops were the Nichols Company’s first true shopping district, and although they did not open until 1919, the company spent the previous dec- ade planning it. Nichols was deter- mined that the shopping centers would supply residents with eve- rything they needed for home and family. At least five years before the first The Verona Columns in Mission Hills were among the first pieces of statuary the Nichols commercial and retail building was built, Nichols had donated Company installed throughout the District.

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Nichols also wanted to reach the residents directly. The shopping centers, schools, and churches provided physical places for residents to gather for special events, but that wasn’t an effective way to communicate with the Dis- trict’s rapidly growing population. In 1919 the Nichols Company published the first edition of the Country Club District Bulletin, distributed monthly to every house in the District and any other per- son with an interest. Within its pages, Nichols managed to make the District experience personal. The Bulletin was packed with snippets of poetry, household tips, and gardening advice. It covered club activities, school events, and flower shows. It reminded readers Evidence that the Nichols Company built the Plaza as the world’s first auto-centered when the trash would be collected shopping district. I was also important that the gas station’s architecture fit in with its and the snow plowed. setting. Above all, the stories in the Bulle- property for a police and fire sta- came to dominate the company’s tin were a way to draw residents tion and built the first of his focus. into being involved in their new “architecturally pleasing” gas sta- community. The November 1921 tions to serve the growing motor- Country Club Newsletter issue featured the following short ing population in the District. The homes associations proved an notice, “Have You Found Your Niche?” nce the Brookside Shops effective means for the company O opened, others followed in to work with the subdivisions, but rapid succession. The Crestwood Shops at 55th and Oak opened in 1922, and in 1923 Nichols opened the first commercial buildings on the Country Club Plaza. The Great Depression and World War II decidedly slowed the pace of the Nichols Company’s housing development, so for the first time the company relied more on com- mercial property income than resi- dential. The Fairway Shops opened in the early 1940s, and the first phase of the Prairie Village Shopping Cen- ter was completed in 1948. Nich- ols often credited the commercial properties with sustaining the Nichols Company through the De- pression, and after his death they One of the few post-WWII developments J.C. Nichols initiated before his death, Fairway was promoted for both its convenience to downtown and for the baby boom-era ideal it represented. JCHS Journal — Summer 2016 7

Two thousand families are living in the Country Club District, where life will be found really worthwhile, according to the measure of neighborliness and community interest shown. Have you found your place in one or more of the various organizations within the District? Write to [the Community Secretary] as to how you would best like to express your activity for the community good. Don’t put it off. Do it today! The Bulletin also might have been the best of the Nichols Company’s many promotional materials. Bul- letin readers were the first to know about the latest addition to the shops, the next subdivision to open The Nichols Company constructed Lake Hiwasee in the early 1920s to add to the pasto- for development, and the names ral character of the Mission Hills area. Maintenance costs prompted it to be drained in and occupations of the new prop- and turned into Hiwasee Park at 63rd Street and Indian Lane in the 1940s. erty owners who would be their neighbors. They were given op- portunities to take classes and at- subdivisions proved a good loca- nic ovens, natural features, and tend lectures, many of which cov- tion for this designed wilderness. camp sites. ered matters having to do with the This was unincorporated Johnson ut all this bucolic beauty did ownership and operation of a fam- County; Mission Hills, Fairway B not last. Hiwassee was ily home. and Prairie Village wouldn’t be- drained and converted to a park in come independent municipalities the late 1940s when maintenance The Country Club District Bulletin until the 1940s. This was also ceased publication in 1930, a casu- costs became excessive. Residents where the District’s two major near the paths complained about alty of the Depression. But it pro- golf courses were located, and so vides an interesting glimpse into noise, litter and the hazards of Nichols tucked in his natural fea- having horses traipsing through daily life in the Country Club Dis- tures near them. trict during this period, as well as their property. evidence of Nichols’ approach to o begin, two man-made lakes The rustic recreations Nichols cre- community building. T were created. Willow Lake, ated were short-lived, but the area on 63rd Street, still exists. The continues to retain much of the Wilderness larger Lake Hiwassee, just east of woodland feel, despite the com- Mission Road, was constructed by manding homes within. One category of Nichols’ commu- damming Brush Creek just north nity features did not stand the test of 63rd Street, and featured islands Conclusion of time. Before the great housing connected by rustic bridges and boom of the 1920s began to fill all dotted with shelter houses and pic- Over his career, Nichols addressed the available acreage Nichols had nic areas. Hiking trails and bridle the annual meeting of realtors stockpiled for development, the paths wound through the undevel- many times, but one of his last Country Club District had a decid- oped acreage. The bridle path be- speeches brought his earlier dis- edly pastoral character, a sort of gan at a riding academy near the cussion of community features full wilderness by design. current Country Club Plaza site circle. Nichols had a personal passion for and ran past the old Shawnee Indi- At the onset of his career, Nichols the outdoors and believed that the an Mission on the northwest edge spoke of a vision and a conviction sort of recreation and reflection of the District. The hiking trails that attention to detail would make offered in nature would be an en- bore quaint names like Rainbow residential development viable nobling influence on Country Club Trail and Sunset Trail, and con- over the long-term. Twenty-four District residents. The Kansas-side nected a variety of features – pic- years later, Nichols’ speech af-

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In 1930, Nichols Company architect Earl Allen created this cartograph of the District and its many features and landmarks. The drawing was recreated in the tile-work of the company’s lobby on the Plaza. firmed the District’s success at fter J.C. Nichols’ death, the ligent effort to ‘plan for perma- achieving permanence, sharing A Nichols Company mantle nence.’ with the realtor audience that by passed to a new generation, and By so doing we create permanent 1948, the district had reached a housing development shifted to a human and financial values, in- population of approximately mass-production model for the crease tax income for our towns 50,000, with four 18-hole golf post-war economy. and cities, and build permanent courses, 15 schools, 17 churches, But through all that, and after- power and strength in our nation. and some 125 miles of beautiful ward, when the idea of a Country Let us make a united drive to end tree-lined streets, boulevards, and Club District faded, as individual fleeting and shifting uses of prop- traffic ways. towns and neighborhoods came to erty — let us build enduring After nearly 50 years of develop- life, the intrinsic values of homes and neighborhoods; per- ing the Country Club District, Nichols’ community features has manent business, commercial and Nichols could claim success with maintained the appeal of a Coun- industrial areas with lasting val- permanence. try Club District home to subse- ues, all planned for a century or quent generations. The Country Club District was more.” firmly established as a neighbor- “I say it is a direct, commanding hood of choice in Kansas City, challenge to our great profession J.C. Nichols, Address to the and as an effective and desirable as realtors to weigh all [the] fac- National Association of Real Es- brand in an industry not previous- tors, study past mistakes in city tate Boards, City, 1948 ly associated with brands. building, and make a united intel-

JCHS Journal — Summer 2016 9 Kansas City’s First Female Architect Mary Rockwell Hook designed amazing homes

By Jan Bentley ary Rockwell Hook was one M of Kansas City’s first fe- male architects. Though she struggled to establish herself in a male-dominated pro- fession which considered women ill-suited to the task, her houses — many of them in the Sunset Hills neighborhood — remain architec- turally important work of a talent- ed architect Mary was born in 1877 and grew up in Junction City, Kan., one of five high-spirited daughters of grain merchant and banker Ber- trand Rockwell and his wife, Julia. The well-to-do family gave their daughter extraordinary experienc- es, including long family trips to Europe and the Orient, and a solid education at finishing schools and college in the East. Mary went to Wellesley College, a top notch women’s college in Massachusetts, where she was on the rowing team. She graduated in 1900. During a 1902 family trip to the Philippines, Japan, and China, Mary was inspired to pursue a ca- reer in architecture after seeing beautiful buildings and public structures. “It was during this trip home from the Philippines that I decided someone needed to improve the design of the buildings used by our government abroad. I made up my mind to go home and study architecture,” she wrote in a late- in-life autobiography. Mary Rockwell traveled to France following World War I to work with Anne Morgan, The following year she enrolled in the architecture department at the daughter of the financier J.P. Morgan who organized the American Committee for Dev- Art Institute of Chicago. This took astated France. The committee helped villages rebuild after the devastation of the courage since it was an era when conflict. Circa 1919. State Historical Society of Missouri-Kansas City Research Center, most women didn’t work and men K0010-05. were often very hostile to women entering their professional fields.

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After graduation she moved to Paris to study at the famous École des Beaux-Arts, where Richard Morris Hunt, H.H. Richardson, Louis Sul- livan, and other great American ar- chitects had studied. She was the second female architect to graduate from the Ecole, following Julia Morgan, who in 1919 designed San Simeon for newspaper tycoon Wil- liam Randolph Hearst. In 1906 the Rockwell family moved to Kansas City,and the following year Mary became an unsalaried apprentice (for socially prominent women it was “improper” to accept pay) for the Kansas City firm Howe, Hoit and Cutler (later known as Hoit, Price and Barnes). Henry Hoit had a close association with Mary Rockwell in May 1913 traveling to Pine Mountain the rural settlement with Kansas City lumber baron R.A. Ethel de Long who recruited her for the project. It was a 26-mile horseback ride from Long, designing his 14-story office the train station to the isolated Pine Mountain. Hook Album II, 17, Pine Mountain building (the first steel-framed of- Settlement School Collections. fice building in Kansas City) at 10th and Grand streets in 1906-07, Mary Rockwell and her passion for Pine Mountain Independence Boulevard Christian The young Mary Rockwell had a special fondness for the Pine Moun- Church (606 Gladstone Blvd.) in tain Settlement School which was located in impoverished Harlan 1906, and Long’s residence, Corin- County, Ky.— referred by locals as “back of the Beyond.” thian Hall, (3218 Gladstone Blvd. in 1910. The latter building is now Pine Mountain developed by women who earlier were involved in home to the . Hindman Settlement School established in 1902 in Knott County, Ky. and the first rural settlement school in the U.S. The extent of Mary’s involvement in any of these major Kansas City Hook, in a 1920 talk, recounted how she was contact to help develop projects is unknown because of the a master plan saying “...they had 426 acres of land, no money, dozens limited role female architects were of children begging to come to them and would I give them some ar- allowed. Most firms wouldn’t hire a chitectural assistance.” woman for anything other than sec- She outlined her thinking in development of the master plan. retarial or apprentice work. Other active female architects used only “For the first week we three tramped over their acres, studying the their initials on drawings for different streams for water supply, levels and sites for buildings and presentations (“N.E. Peters” was gradually laying out a comprehensive plan for the complete develop- Nelle Peters, architect of the be- ment of a school of industry for 150 children. Our policy, in general, loved 1929 “The Poets” apartment was to treasure all the lower lands for agriculture as every inch would buildings on the west edge of the be needed to feed the school, to use the steeper places for building, to Country Club Plaza). concentrate all buildings of a public nature toward the center of the property and to use the two flanking ends of our valley for cottages.” oon after moving to Kansas S City, Mary’s father bought lots The young architect looked to used existing materials to construct the in the new Sunset Hills area — one new buildings using boulders and native trees (chestnuts, oaks and of J.C. Nichols’s earliest planned poplars) — a practice she continued in her Kansas City residential communities — giving her the free- designs. dom to draw and build her own Pine Mountain Settlement School still operates and offers environ- buildings, several of which were for mental education and traditional arts and culture to students. Many of family members. the buildings Rockwell designed continued to be used.

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Her first residential project was a large stone classical home she de- signed for her parents at 1004 W. 52nd Street and built in 1908-09. Mary Rockwell Hook This was the first home in the area Sunset Hills residences to have a built-in garage, but it con- flicted with regulations, so she had (Kansas City, Mo) to install a fire-proof steel garage door, which still exists today. The house originally had a large stage for plays on the third floor and large outdoor porches from which the family could watch polo games on a nearby field. The porches are now enclosed. In 1913, Mary received a letter from May Stone, a native of Louis- ville who also had attended Welles- ley, asking Mary to design a settle- ment school for Appalachian chil- dren and a community center for their families. The new school, lo- cated on 600 acres in impoverished Harlan County, Ky., would be called Pine Mountain Settlement School. ary later described Pine M Mountain as a serene “18th century world…of peaceful land- scape, where trains, motors, and chewing gum have not penetrated.” She gave the school rustic buildings of various levels, with open terrac- were ahead of her time, including After World War I, Mary joined the es, balconies, and porches that the use of recycled brick, stone, and American Committee for Devastat- blended well with the natural sur- timber; antique tiles and frescoes; ed France, which had been orga- roundings. She was an active mem- pieces of demolished buildings; and nized by Anne Morgan, the daugh- ber of the school’s Board of Trus- solar heating. ter of financier J. P. Morgan. For a tees, serving until she was over 90 Her houses incorporated European year she worked in Blerancourt, years old. interior details and shifting planes northeast of Paris, helping organize Pine Mountain, listed on the Na- that followed the contours of the hospitals, schools, and assistance tional Register of Historic Places, is neighborhood, which had been laid programs for peasants and farmers. a treasured retreat that hosts week- out by landscape architect George When she returned to Kansas City, end workshops for adults on gar- Kessler, designer of Kansas City’s her personal life changed. At age dening, weaving, photography, dry boulevard system. 44, she married local attorney stonewall construction, and build- Inghram Dickson Hook, who had ing preservation. When building, she adapted to the situation. Initially she planned to been an infantry captain during Mary designed other homes in Sun- use wood for a 1915 house for her World War I. Together they adopt- set Hills for her sisters, her parents sister Emily Love, but site work ed two sons from Pine Mountain and herself. Each home pays tribute churned up so much stone that she School. to the architectural styles she saw decided to build the house out of She also resumed designing houses, during the childhood trips abroad. exactly what it sat on, which was primarily in Sunset Hills. She especially loved Italianate, and coursed rubble fieldstone. practiced “organic” methods that

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The all-stone house at 5011 Sunset mington. “Fortunately, this little stately, in spite of her small stature, Drive was built in 1923 for her par- firm became popular almost at once and came across as finishing-school ents, sister, and nine-year-old niece so that we were able to choose our perfect and very conscious of her Jean. The L-shaped residence has clients instead of vice versa,” she roots. But I soon found her to be six levels of red clay roof tile. Off wrote in her autobiography. warm and friendly underneath that the kitchen was a large screened-in Together they designed the house at pose.” porch containing casement win- Four Gates Farm, located in rural Tom Cooke, a retired UMKC pro- dows and an enormous stone fire- eastern Jackson County on a 40- fessor, remembers the architect. His place and outdoor grill masking a acre site on the crest of a hill with a grandparents purchased her “Pink staircase that led to a sleeping commanding view, and owned by House” at 5012 Sunset Drive, porch. Jean lived in this home for Marvin and Medill Gates, an afflu- across the cul-de-sac from her most of her life and sold it in 2010 ent Kansas City family who were home. Later his parents inherited after her husband’s death. The new Mary’s friends. The design in- the house, and during visits home owners restored the house and add- volved the use of rubble fieldstone Cooke would see Mary, blind by ed a detached stone garage. incorporating the features of exist- that time, swimming in her pool. He n 1925 Mary was asked by the ing structures. A barn, a water tow- became friends with her niece Jean, I Sunset Hills developers to design er, and other outbuildings were re- who still lived in the middle house. the house at 5050 Sunset Drive. All tained. Medill was active in amateur Cooke has taken many photos of the flat lots had been developed, but theater productions, and to accom- Mary’s homes and today gives many steep hillside lots remained modate performances the living presentations to local groups on her vacant. The project was intended to room featured a large elevated stage work. demonstrate residential construction including lighting equipment. ary kept designing after los- on a hillside corner lot where the The Hook family discovered the M ing her sight, if only in her two frontage streets had different beauty of Sarasota, Fla., in 1935 head, and even offered modification elevations. The house is made of and traveled there often. They pur- ideas to the White House. In 1970 coursed rubble and stucco with chased 55 acres on the island of Si- she wrote a short and fascinating brick trim and has a steep hip roof, esta Key for $10,000 and built autobiography, This and That, hipped dormers, and towering Whispering Sands, a tropical resort which is available at the Missouri chimneys. for less affluent artists, writers, and Valley Room of the Kansas City Also in 1925 Mary designed and architects. Central Library. built an Italianate home at 4940 Eleanor Roosevelt once visited it Nine of Mary’s local homes are Summit Street for her family. She while visiting her uncle nearby and listed on the National Historic Reg- employed balconies on many levels mentioned it in her daily newspaper ister, all of them on inclined terrain. and used bricks from demolished column, “My Day.” Mary also de- On her 100th birthday she was hon- buildings (at a cost of $6 per thou- veloped several houses in Whisper- sand). ored with an award from the Ameri- ing Springs including an octagonal- can Institute of Architects, which The interior has stone-carved arch- shaped second home to share with earlier had denied her admission es, a fireplace mantel from the visiting family, friends, and Pine because of her sex. 1500s, and ceiling beams that were Mountain staff. By 1937 she had salvaged from a railroad bridge. even designed a solar system to pro- “Mary Rockwell Hook will be re- This home is regarded as having the vide hot water in her homes and at a membered, not because she was a first residential swimming pool in nearby resort hotel. woman working in a ‘man's field,’ but because she was a successful Kansas City built into an onsite Her daughter-in-law Libby Hook, quarry, which provided much of the designer who made her mark in the who lived on the island, recalled field of architecture,” according to home’s masonry. The family lived “there was never anything pinched in the house until 1972. the International Archive of Women about her designs. They were big in Architecture. Despite all her experience, Mary and open and brought the outdoors couldn’t find work beyond her Sun- in” — which included the tropical Mary spent some of her last months set Hills projects, for firms re- vegetation. As for Mary herself, in an Overland Park nursing home. mained reluctant to hire women ar- Libby offered this description in a On Sept. 8, 1978, she celebrated her chitects. Finally she and architect 1994 interview: “There’s no doubt 101st birthday at her Siesta Key Eric Remington formed their own she was a powerful personality…. home. She died the same day. firm in 1924 named Hook and Re- She was fashionably dressed and

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African-American education in Kansas City A short history of the celebrated Lincoln High School and its 150 years of success

By Michael Sweeney incoln High School is Kansas L City’s historically black pub- lic high school, known today as Lincoln College Preparatory Academy. Lincoln High School is weaved into the history and cul- ture of Kansas City’s African- American community. Its alumni remain leaders through- out the city, the region, and the nation, and the school’s now multi -racial and multi-ethnic faculty and student body continue to con- tribute to the broader community, building on the school’s tradition and history of academic excel- lence and public service. Kansas City should rightfully be proud of what its black communi- Lincoln High School faculty, 1921. Irene Whitley Marcus Collection (K0452); The State ty accomplished at Lincoln High Historical Society of Missouri Research Center – Kansas City. School despite the school dis- trict’s longtime segregated educa- schools would fall under the same he Kansas City, Mo., School tional system and discriminatory jurisdiction as schools serving T District was established in practices. white children, i.e., there would 1867. Missouri state law required not be separate black school boards of education to establish The Lincoln High School story boards. separate schools for black and dates back to the close of the Civil white children if there were more War when, for the first time, Mis- Perhaps the earliest school for Af- rican-Americans in Kansas City, than 15 black children between souri state law allowed for the ed- the ages of 5 and 21 in the district. ucation of African-Americans and Mo., was the Congregational Sab- bath School operated by Rev. Jon- According to the city’s enumera- Kansas City’s first school for tion, there were 250 black chil- blacks was established. athan Copeland and his wife and housed in the African Congrega- dren in the school district. Prior to the Civil War, Missouri tional Church at Chestnut and In creating the school system, the was a slave state that through stat- McGee streets. Board of Education leased exist- ute prohibited teaching blacks to ing facilities and privately operat- read and write. The Copelands arrived in Kansas City in 1864 as missionaries and ed schools. To accommodate the The 1865 Missouri Constitution established their school following city’s African-American children, mandated that local school boards the tradition of other Sabbath the Board of Education turned to establish schools to meet the edu- schools, providing lessons in read- Copeland’s school. cational needs of African- ing and writing throughout the The Board of Education initially American children within their week and serving freedmen of all hired Mrs. Copeland to teach in jurisdiction. To ensure the legal ages. According to the 1865 city August 1867. In September, for requirements were met, the Con- directory, Copeland’s school ac- unexplained reasons, Mrs. stitution called for an enumeration commodated roughly 100 students Copeland was released from her of black children. Finally, the and had five teachers. contract and Rev. Copeland hired Constitution specified that black in her place.

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The Board of Education called for an investigation of Rev. Copeland’s school in January 1868. The investigating committee reported back that there were a sufficient number of black stu- dents to sustain the school and that it was prosperous under Rev. Copeland’s stewardship. The com- mittee, however, warned Rev. Copeland about his willingness to admit students over the school age limit. he Board agreed to pay the T trustees of the Second Con- gregational Church for the previ- ous school term and any following terms in which the school re- mained in the Second Congrega- tional Church building. Rev. Copeland and his wife left for Eu- reka, Kan., in March 1868. As a replacement, the Board of Educa- tion hired James Milton Turner to teach at and administer the colored school. James D. Bowser was hired to teach at the colored school in April 1868 and replaced Turner as principal in September 1868. Bowser’s initial time at the col- ored school was difficult for teacher and students alike. Bowser remarked of his early years at the school, “I taught the entire school Lincoln High School, located at 11th and Campbell, ca. 1890. Native Sons of Kansas attendance of upwards of 120, City Photograph Collection (K0528); The State Historical Society of Missouri Research without assistance, in an old Center - Kansas City. church containing neither desks nor blackboards.” nearby Baptist church. It was in 1867 but was closed to African- In July 1869, the School Board around this time that the school Americans. purchased property at Ninth and took on the name “Lincoln.” A David V. Adolphus Nero was ap- Charlotte streets and erected a new Lincoln School site at 11th pointed Lincoln School principal school building, but according to and Campbell streets was pur- in 1880 and quickly went to work Bowser, the situation was not chased in 1878 and a new building expanding course offerings, in- much improved. Bowser remarked constructed for the school. cluding the institution of a high- that initially he “taught, unassist- In 1880, there was still no option school curriculum. In his 1881 re- ed, the same school of upwards of in Kansas City for African- port to the Board of Education, 200 pupils, in two separate Americans wishing to continue Nero proposed a four-year high- rooms!” their education beyond primary school curriculum with both gen- To make matters worse, flooding school. Central High School, the eral and classical tracks. in late 1871 required teachers and district’s first high school, was He argued to the Board that, at the students located in the basement established with the school district time, only a few wealthy black of the building to be relocated to a citizens could afford to send their

JCHS Journal — Summer 2016 15

roughly 13% of the student body came from areas outside of the school district. In many rural parts of Missouri, the African-American population was so small that towns refused to create black schools and, without the requisite number of students, were not le- gally mandated to do so. Lincoln High School’s early prin- cipals — Gabriel N. Grisham (1890-1915), John R. E. Lee (1915 -1921), and Hugh O. Cook (1921- 1943) — assembled a stellar facul- ty to serve students. The faculty was composed of ex- ceedingly well-educated individu- als, many holding advanced de- grees and denied entry into the faculties of white institutions of higher learning. Their care and concern for students was legend- Lincoln High School, located at 1835 Tracy Avenue, ca. 1920. Williams Photo Studio ary. Additionally, these principals Collection (AC27); Black Archives of Mid-America. helped make Lincoln High School a community center and a source children out of town to receive an Kansas City School District – Lin- of community pride. advanced education, leaving the coln School and Lincoln High ee is credited with introducing mass of African-Americans be- School. When Grisham left Lin- L night classes for adults in hind and educationally unfulfilled. coln School to lead the newly es- reading, trades, and practical More importantly, a high-school tablished high school, he was suc- skills, such as bookkeeping. Lee curriculum would help a person ceeded by William W. Yates. also opened the school for public build character, “accumulating Yates served in this position until events, such as speakers and musi- will-power, gaining insight and his death in 1910. Perhaps recog- cal performances. harmonizing his desires and deeds nizing the confusion of two with what he knows to be true.” schools in the district designated “Our community center work,” “Lincoln,” the Board of Education said Lee, “is an effort to interest The Board of Education allowed Kansas City negroes [sic] in each for some additional high-school sought to change the name of Lin- coln School. Yates’ replacement, other, in the school and in im- courses at Lincoln School in 1882 provement of themselves … We but not the four-year curriculum Joseph E. Herriford, petitioned for the school to be named in Yates’ are showing the people this is their supported by Nero. The Board fi- school for their own interest and nally adopted Nero’s plan in 1887. honor, which the Board agreed to do. uplift.” n annex was built on the Lin- Though expanded twice in previ- coln School site to house the A new Lincoln High School build- A ing was constructed at 1835 Tracy ous years, by the 1920s the high- high school. Once a separate high school facility at 19th Street and school was created in 1890 under Ave. and opened in 1906. The school provided academic and vo- Tracy Avenue was clearly insuffi- the leadership of Gabriel N. Gri- cient for the student population sham, it quickly became a source cational courses, including auto mechanics and domestic science, and the expansive course offer- of community pride, educating ings. future black business, cultural, and as well as ROTC. Many students religious leaders. came from outside of Kansas City A 1920 “Memorial to the Board of and paid tuition. Education” published in the Kan- For a time, two schools with the sas City Sun by leading black or- name “Lincoln” operated in the Historian Charles Coulter notes that between 1904 and 1940, ganizations in Kansas City argued

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Kansas City Star, the “city’s most modern high school building.” Lincoln Junior College also opened for the 1936-37 academic year in the new Lincoln High School building. Kansas City Jun- ior College, which opened in 1915, was closed to black stu- dents. There were at least two pre- vious attempts to establish a junior college department for students at Lincoln High School. In 1923, H. O. Cook submitted a plan to the Board of Education, and the Kansas City Journal re- ported an enrollment of 23 stu- dents. However, no additional mention of the junior college de- partment is mentioned, and it can Lincoln High School, located at 2111 Woodland Avenue, 1936. Native Sons of Kansas be assumed that the department City Photograph Collection (K0528); The State Historical Society of Missouri Research was unable to sustain enrollments. Center – Kansas City. junior college department A also seems to have existed that the current structure, original- merly occupied by Western Bap- during the 1928-29 academic year, ly built to house 250 students and tist College. described in articles in The Call now educating over 600 pupils, The new high-school building was and the Lincoln High School was inadequate and could not be financed in part with Works Pro- newspaper, the Lincolnite. Lincoln made to satisfy present needs. The gress Administration funds. Con- Junior College offered black stu- group called for a “new, modern struction started in May 1935, and dents an additional two years of high school” building to house a the building was ready for the education, paving the way to senior high school, a manual trade 1936-37 academic year. transfer to a four-year college or to school, and junior college. achieve training necessary to enter The new building featured modern an occupation upon completion. ther voices followed, includ- science labs, art and music rooms, O ing those of the school’s own a two-story auditorium, swimming R. T. Coles Vocational and Junior students. In a 1926 editorial in The pool, and an expanded branch of High School, named in honor of Lincolnite, student Lucile H. the Kansas City Public Library, manual education pioneer Richard Bluford wrote, “Everyone knows making it, in the words of the T. Coles, opened for the 1936-37 that the Negroes of Kansas City academic year in the remodeled need better schools … The oppo- “Everyone knows that the former Lincoln High School build- site race has six high schools, in Negroes of Kansas City need ing at 1835 Tracy Ave. Earl D. which to educate its children. The Thomas served as the school’s Negroes, however, have but one better schools … The opposite first principal. inadequate building and that in an race has six high schools, in unsuitable location.” Coles offered three educational which to educate its children. programs. A standard junior high Plans for a new high-school build- The Negroes, however, have but school curriculum of reading, so- ing were announced in October one inadequate building and cial science, mathematics, music, 1927. The location at 21st Street and physical education was open and Woodland Avenue, known as that in an unsuitable location.” to students who had completed “Castle Ridge,” was the former their primary education. The property of Dr. I. M. Ridge, a Lucile Bluford, 1926 editorial in school also provided a junior high Kansas City physician. The man- the Lincoln student newspaper school curriculum with a vocation- sion, torn down in 1930 in prepa- al track that included two hours of ration for construction, was for-

(Continued on page 18) JCHS Journal — Summer 2016 17

Three Influential Lincoln High School Principals

Lincoln High School provided its students the finest education available in the Kansas City, Mo, School District. Its early principals – G. N. Grisham, J. R. E. Lee, and H. O. Cook – set the school on a trajectory for future success.

Gabriel Nelson Grisham (1856-1930) toiler, the artist, people in all walks of life find in him a genial companion, an affable sympathizer and an Grisham was the first and longest serving principal approachable comforter.” of Lincoln High School.

Born a slave near Smyrna, Tenn., Grisham started school at age ten, graduating from Worcester Acade- John Robert Edward Lee (1864-1944) my in Massachusetts in 1874 and Brown University Lee expanded Lincoln High School’s vocational of- in Rhode Island in 1879. ferings and transformed the school into a community Grisham accepted a institution. position at Lincoln He began life enslaved on a ranch in Sequin, . University in Jeffer- He attended Bishop College in Marshall, Texas, and son City, Mo., in joined the faculty of that institution in 1891, where 1880, teaching math- he taught Latin and mathematics. ematics, physics, and astronomy, and in In 1901, Booker T. Washington asked Lee to head 1886 he completed a the mathematics division at Tuskegee Institute. Lee Master’s degree in founded the National Association of Teachers in Col- German at Roger ored Schools in 1904. After serving as director of the Williams College in academics department Nashville, Tenn. at Tuskegee Institute, Lee accepted the posi- Grisham came to tion of principal at Kansas City in 1887 Lincoln High School to serve as principal at Sumner School. Two years in 1915. later, Grisham accepted the position as the first prin- cipal of Lincoln High School. Within his first year at Lincoln High School, At the beginning of his tenure, Lincoln High School Lee moved to increase had an enrollment of 56 students served by two manual and domestic teachers. At the time of his retirement in 1915, the training opportunities, school had an enrollment of approximately 350 stu- introducing a course dents and employed 15 teachers. Grisham actively in automobile me- recruited teachers from the around the country find- chanics and establish- ing individuals of superior scholarship and ability ing a lunch room for and capable of meeting the needs of the community. the school, which also A respected scholar himself, Grisham was a member provided instructional opportunities for students. of the American Negro Academy and, like fellow Following his tenure at Lincoln High School, Lee member W. E. B. DuBois, advocated a role for black served briefly as an extension secretary for the Na- scholars in uplifting the entire race. tional Urban League before accepting the presidency He was said to have the finest library of any African of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College in American west of Washington D.C. 1924. Grisham’s generosity to students and the wider com- Lee spent the remainder of his life at Florida A. and munity were well known. M. and built the college into one of the state’s best At the time of his retirement, William H. Dawley educational institutions. wrote of Grisham: “The smallest child, the humblest

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Hugh Oliver Cook (1873-1949) He actively recruited the best teachers for Lincoln High School ensuring students received the best edu- Cook spent over forty years at Lincoln High School, cation available. dedicating his life to improving the lives of students and the wider African American community in Kan- By the time the new Lincoln High School building at sas City. 2111 Woodland Ave. opened for students in 1936, Cook – as well as the faculty and broader community A native of Washington, – had been actively campaigning for a new school D.C., Cook started at building for over ten years. Lincoln High School in Cook pursed a Master’s degree in school administra- 1901, when the school tion from Cornell University and used his 1925 thesis was still housed in its to lay out a vision for a new Lincoln High School. original building at 11th and Campbell Streets. He argued that the public had a responsibility to “furnish a structure whose architecture will have such Cook taught mathematics beauty in design, in proportion and in finish, as well and psychology and as- as be inspiring to the students who are within its in- sisted with clubs and fluence day after day. That the Negro youth of our sports. Cook served as community need this inspiration, none will gainsay; vice-principal under John that they will respond to its appeal few will doubt.” R. E. Lee and became principal in 1921 follow- Cook retired from Lincoln High School at the end of ing Lee’s departure. 1943 and moved with his wife Myrtle Foster Cook – herself a former Lincoln High School teacher – to Los Angeles, Calif.

(Continued from page 16) eighth grade students. Finally, the lation on the east side of Kansas vocational training each day. Fi- Board announced that desegrega- City, but it also reflected the dis- tion of its remaining elementary trict’s liberal transfer policy. nally, for students who had com- pleted the seventh grade, the and high schools would be effec- Scholar Peter Moran notes that school offered a high school voca- tive at the beginning of the 1955- when school opened in September 1955, there were almost 300 white tional program. 56 academic year. n the district’s policy statement students living in the attendance In July 1954, in the wake of the area served by Lincoln High Brown v. Board of Education rul- I regarding school desegregation, the Board of Education reaffirmed School and R. T. Coles Junior ing, the Kansas City School Board High School; that fall only two moved quickly to begin formally its student transfer policy and its legal right to reassign teachers and white students enrolled in Lincoln desegregating its school system, and only four enrolled at R. T. starting in the 1954-55 academic other personnel among its facili- ties. Coles. Some African-American year. students, rather than transferring The first phase of the district’s de- The policy statement also ad- to other high schools closer to segregation program involved the dressed the district’s athletic pro- home, chose to remain at Lincoln. closing of Lincoln Junior College gram. Lincoln High School had previously arranged games with Actual integration occurred slow- and a transfer of its students to ly, beginning with the faculty in Kansas City Junior College, with schools outside of Kansas City but would now be admitted to mem- 1973. Lincoln High School be- nursing students being transferred came a magnet school in 1978, to the University of Kansas City. bership in the district’s Interscho- lastic League. bringing more non-black children The vocational division of R. T. into the student body than ever Coles Vocational and Junior High For a time, Lincoln High School before. The school was renamed School was transferred to Manual remained an all-black school. This Lincoln Academy for Accelerated High and Vocational School, leav- was primarily due to the legacy of Study that same year. residential segregation and restric- ing R. T. Coles strictly a junior The school name changed yet high school serving seventh and tive covenants that concentrated the city’s African-American popu- again in 1986 to its current title,

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A 1939 picture of the Lincoln High School student council.

Lincoln College Preparatory Academy. Lincoln High School Alumni In 1995, Lincoln College Prepara- Lucile H. Bluford, class of 1928, tory Academy had one of the editor and publisher of The Call most integrated student bodies in newspaper. the district and ranked as the dis- Samuel Jesse Cornelius, class of trict’s most academically success- 1945, civil rights activist and offi- ful high school. cial in the Nixon, Ford, and Reagan he historical legacy of Lin- Administrations. T coln High School is increas- Harold Holliday, Sr., class of ingly recognized and its future is 1935, lawyer, civil rights activist, promising. and Missouri State Representative. The school building was placed Leon M. Jordan, class of 1926, po- on the National Register of His- lice detective and founder of toric Places in 2014. In 2015, Lin- Freedom, Inc. coln College Preparatory Acade- Florynce R. Kennedy, class of Leon Jordan my was ranked first among Mis- 1934, lawyer and civil and souri high schools. women’s rights activist. The Lincoln / R. T. Coles Nation- Julia Lee, class of 1917, jazz, al Alumni Association promotes rhythm and blues vocalist. the school’s history while invest- ing in its future alumni by award- Melvin B. Tolson, class of 1918, ing scholarships to Lincoln Col- poet and educator. lege Preparatory Academy gradu- Frank White, class of 1968, Major ates. League Baseball player and Today’s students, faculty, and Jackson County Executive. staff can look with pride on Lin- Yvonne Starks Wilson, class of coln’s past as they continue the 1946, educator and Missouri State school’s tradition of academic Senator. achievement and community ser- vice. Julia Lee

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Black and white and read all over: The KC Daily Drovers Telegram and its leading role covering the livestock industry

“The number of men employed at the stock yards, bringing one man to Kansas City, or, in 1913, 165,588 packing houses and kindred interests is estimated to visitors. be about 20,000. Total wages paid these men amount “Many of these visitors are farmers or from small to between fifteen and 18 million annually. Stock is towns and many of them do the family shopping and received from 35 different states. purchase supplies in every line, from furniture to au- “Every state west of the Mississippi except Washing- tomobiles, on their visits here. ton and North Dakota contributed. Stock was shipped “And every one of them spends more or less for hotel to 42 different states, Canada and Mexico. Do you accommodations, restaurants, theatres, so that all realize what it means to your city to have the live lines of business are benefitted by reason of Kansas stock attracted from 35 of the western states to Kansas City being a great livestock market.” City and to have buyers from 43 states, Canada and Mexico coming here to purchase this live stock? George Collett, vice-president and general manager “It is conservatively estimated that every car of stock Kansas City Stock Yards Company shipped in and out of this market is the means of The Kansas Citian, May 1914

By Cathy Callen In 1882, Jay Neff got a job as as- for 1915, the year of Jay’s untime- ollett drew a correlation be- sistant editor of the Daily Live ly death. C tween the success of the Stock Record, one of the early William Rockhill Nelson migrated stockyards and the parallel growth publications to track and advertise to Kansas City the fall before Jay and financial health of Kansas livestock prices in Kansas City. came, and started publishing the City. There is another correlation Editing a newspaper had not been Kansas City Star on Sept. 18, to be made here, and that is be- Jay’s choice of careers, as he had 1880. When Jay arrived in 1881, tween the success of the stock- trained in to be a lawyer the Kansas City Daily Journal — yards and role played by the Daily like his father. dubbed the “official newspaper of Drovers Telegram. However, when he made his way Kansas City” by publishers Robert Since the Daily Drovers Telegram to Kansas City in 1881, he quickly Van Horn and David Abeel — had was a trade journal, the ordinary realized that there was already an a morning circulation of 22,928 citizen of Kansas City might not abundance of lawyers in town and copies. The Kansas City Times have been aware of its existence. that he would need to shift his and the Evening Mail also compet- However, to the large and growing thinking if he wanted to make a ed for newspaper readers. segment of the population associ- decent living. However, there appeared to be ated with various aspects of the Using proceeds from some real es- room for another type of newspa- stockyards or with those business- tate transactions, Jay bought the per, one able to provide the best es that benefitted from the stock- Daily Live Stock Record and market news for individuals and yard market, the Daily Drovers launched his career as a newspa- groups involved with the rapidly Telegram was front and center. It per man. He changed the paper’s growing livestock business. provided readers with the accu- name to the Daily Drovers Tele- The earliest effort to publicize rate, up-to-date agricultural infor- gram, and with the help of his livestock prices in Kansas City mation they needed on a daily ba- brothers George and Walter, and was the Drover, a “folio” (a single sis. later, his son Ward, he turned it in- sheet of paper, folded in half) The newspaper’s importance to to a profitable and popular trade started in 1871 by Frank L. Hise. the growth and development of journal that was read throughout It lasted for about 18 months. Kansas City should not be under- the Midwest, reaching a daily cir- From there, the succession of pa- estimated. culation of 34,500 copies, accord- ing to the N.W. Ayer & Sons pers, and their names and owners, Newspaper Annual and Directory is convoluted. Two early sources

JCHS Journal — Summer 2016 21 detailing the development of Kan- sas City’s agricultural newspapers were written by the same author, Cuthbert Powell. His first book was the 1881 History of Jackson County Missouri. His second, published in 1893, was Twenty Years of Kansas City’s Live Stock Trade and Traders. The two accounts of newspaper development vary to some degree. A later history is provided in the 50th anniversary edition of the Daily Drovers Telegram, pub- lished on March 9, 1931. This ac- count may have been assembled relying on memory rather than the written record, as many details differ from Powell’s reporting. Powell, writing at or near the time these events were occurring, is likely more accurate. Though historical accounts some- The Daily Drovers Telegram Building’s second location at 1710 West 16th, Kansas City, times differed, it appears that Mo. (Photo courtesy of the Kansas City Museum) three competing agricultural newspapers emerged over a 15- interest to Ramsey, Millet and In 1882, F.D. Cobern bought part year period: the Daily Live Stock Hudson. interest in the Commercial Indica- Record, the Commercial Indica- In 1878, Simons withdrew from tor, and was a partner until Etue tor, and the Daily Drovers Tele- the Price Current as well. With bought him out in 1887. The Com- gram. Simons gone, Ramsey, Millet and mercial Indicator was sold to H.C. The Daily Live Stock Record be- Hudson took complete control of Wallace of Des Moines in 1893. gan as the folio Drover that Frank the Price Current. In July 1878, A third agricultural newspaper Hise produced for 18 months be- they brought in Cuthbert Powell took root in 1884, when George ginning in 1871. It was taken over from St. Louis as editor. The Wightman left the Daily Live by Henry Dickson [Dixon] in May name of the paper was changed Stock Record to start his own pa- 1874. Dickson changed the pa- once again, this time to the Daily per, which he named the Daily per’s name to the Cattle Trail, a Live Stock Record. Drovers Telegram. Within a year, weekly farm and livestock news- n 1879, Eugene Rust became however, he ran out of capital, and paper. I the business manager, followed this paper, too, was bought out by By October 1874, Dickson had by George Wightman. In 1882, Marsh, Haydens and Pratt, who sold Cattle Trail to E.W. Perry. Jay Neff was hired as assistant ed- dropped the Daily Drovers Tele- Several names were used for this itor, remaining until 1885, when gram name and merged it with the paper during Perry’s ownership: the paper was sold to Marsh, Hay- Daily Live Stock Record, or the the Price Current and Live Stock dens and Pratt. Daily Record. Reporter, Cattle Trail and Price When A.D. Simons and P.D. Etue According to Powell, the firm of Current, and just Price Current. left the Daily Live Stock Record, Marsh, Haydens, Pratt & Co. “fell He owned the paper for about a they started a new, competing to pieces through internal dissen- year before selling half interest in newspaper, the Commercial Indi- tions, and in June of 1886 sold the it to P.D. Etue and A.D. Simons. cator, with Robert Holmes. paper to their editor, Mr. Neff, the Later that same year, Perry sold Holmes retired at the end of 1878, only practical newspaper man his remaining interest to the firm leaving Simons and Etue as pro- among them. January 1st, 1887, of Ramsey, Millet and Hudson. prietors. Geo. N. Neff, his brother, joined By 1876, Etue had also sold his him in the enterprise, and between

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Jay Holcomb Neff (1854 —1915) George North Neff (1861 —1933) Walter Prescott Neff (1866 —1950) them, through hard work and given the date of the partnership Bell, on the same site as horse sta- good management, brought suc- as Jan. 1, 1887 bles and across the street to the cess out of failure, and placed up- The anniversary edition of the east of the stockyards. The Kansas on a firm foundation a paper that Daily Drovers Telegram says the City Livestock Exchange, a brick stands as a credit to themselves name of the paper, Live Stock building constructed in 1876, sat on the Kansas side of State Line at and the live stock trade, and is Record, was changed to the Daily 16th Street, but by 1878 its prop- recognized as an authority on live Drovers Telegram on March 22, erty extended into Missouri, from stock matters throughout the 1887. It would have been more State Line to Bell, and from 12th West.” precise to indicate that the paper Street to 17th Street. A neighbor Once Jay Neff became a newspa- reverted to a former name, as the of both the Exchange and the per owner, he began working 16 Daily Drovers Telegram had been newspaper was the Conway to 18 hours a day as reporter, edi- the name used in 1884 by George Brothers Horse and Mule Compa- tor and businessman in order to Wightman for his paper. ny. make it a success. Shortly after Regardless of names and dates, purchasing the paper, Jay called the two Neff brothers had a news- y 1899, the paper was listed upon his brother George to help paper. Five years later, in 1902, B at 1710 W. 16th Street, next to the Transit Hotel and just him. Until that time, George had incorporation papers were taken around the corner and across the been in Maryville, Tenn., helping out and a younger brother, Walter his father Andrew publish the street from its previous location. P. Neff, was included as one of On Nov. 15, 1909, the Kansas Maryville Times. the three owners of the Daily City Daily Drovers Telegram eorge left his father and Drovers Telegram. moved to a third location, a new joined Jay in Kansas City. G The progression of spaces utilized building at 1505 Genesee St. On July 21, 1886, the partnership by the Daily Drovers Telegram This description of the building firm of J.H. Neff & Co. was orga- was reconstructed by referencing nized, consisting of Jay H. Neff addresses collected from city di- was in the March 9, 1931, anni- and George N. Neff, according to rectories and consulting Sanborn versary edition: a history provided in the 50th an- Insurance maps. “The present home of the Drovers niversary edition of the Daily Telegram is its own. The house Drovers Telegram. Powell had The City Directory lists the first offices housing the paper at 1609 was built on land acquired for that purpose two years ago at

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The paper itself, printed in large format with several sections, cov- ered agricultural news but also some local, state and national news. On Sept. 2, 1929, Walter initiated “Kernels and Cobs,” a daily col- umn with jokes, wisecracks and short, funny poems, original or otherwise, contributed by readers from across the Midwest. alter himself was Colonel W Cob, although he also de- veloped an alter-ego, Hank Potts, who provided advice and dis- pensed “wisdom.” The column was to be a clearing house for fun. “Farmers and farmeresses,” wrote Walter, “whether in Ohio, Dakota, Texas or Kansas, and the interven- ing states, this is your department, do with it as you will. Send in Kansas City was a major livestock center taking advantage of its proximity to cattle your favorite jokes. Thus the good ranchers and its easy access to rail lines and shipping. Circa 1929. Missouri Valley old joke related to the East will be Special Collections, General Collection (P1), Stockyards, Number 18 swapped for the good old joke re- lated in the West and we will all 1505 Genesee Street from the room and the rear portion for ste- be happy together.” Genesee Street Building company reotyping. … The four-story effect is caused Each week the best poem and the In order to insure plenty of light best joke would earn the submitter by the unusual height of the first and ingress and egress, the build- story, which was made necessary $2 in cash and be published in the ing covers only 39 ½ feet of the Saturday edition. Readers were through raising the press room 59’ lot. This allows ample margin five feet above the level of the admonished not to send religious, on the two sides for light and an political or war poems or jokes. street. Thus, there are two sets of alley way. Both north and south windows in the front of the first The column was aptly named, as walls of the building are a network most of the contributions were story. Encircling the business of- of windows. The roof, also, is fice is a gallery midway between pretty corny. mostly skylight. The building is the first floor and the ceiling heated by hot water and is lighted Jay Holcomb Neff served as presi- which will also be used for busi- by electricity from the Telegram’s dent, senior editor and publisher of ness purposes. newly installed electric plant. All the Kansas City Daily Drovers The business room is 30 feet by 36 machinery will be driven by elec- Telegram his entire career. Over feet, but the gallery almost dou- tricity also. Communication from time, he also became part owner bles the amount of desk room. room to room and department to of the South Omaha Drovers Jour- There are two vaults built of con- department will be by telephone, nal and the National Stock Yards crete, one for books and one for arranged through a central Reporter in St. Louis. the mailing list. The front half of switchboard …. After Jay’s death in 1915, his son, the second floor proper is set The floor space in the new struc- Ward Andrew Neff, joined his un- apart sacred to the editorial de- ture is twice as large as in the cles George and Walter in running partment, the sanctum sanctorum, building just vacated, and there is the family newspaper in Kansas the Holy of Holies around a news- ample room for any development City. Eventually, though, Ward paper office. This room is 30 by 36 or enlargement that may result in moved to Chicago and purchased feet. The mechanical department the effort to print the ideal farm a paper similar to the Daily Drov- is on the top floor, the front half paper.” ers Telegram, the Chicago Daily being used for the composing

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Drovers Journal. He then consoli- seen at the British Agricultural Walter’s great-niece Margaret dated Chicago, Omaha, St. Louis Royal in England. Bosse received a 1993 letter from and Kansas City papers into the fter the term “American Roy- Kathryn Boutros of the Missouri Corn Belt Farm Dailies, serving A al” appeared in the paper a Valley Special Collections at the as president and director. second time “the name was fixed.” Kansas City Public Library sug- gesting the connection between These publications continued until Because of its role in that naming, the national prominent livestock Ward’s death in 1959, when they the Drovers Telegram could claim were eventually sold to Vance indirect credit for the naming of show and the new baseball team. Publishing and revamped into a the Kansas City Royals baseball Boutros wrote: weekly publication known as the team. In 1968, 17,000 fans participated Drovers Journal. in a contest to name the newly ap- The stockyards are now proved American League fran- gone, as is the Kansas chise. A six person committee se- City Daily Drovers Tel- lected ‘Royals’ in a 5-1 vote, egram. The paper does which after discussion, was have a continuing con- changed to a 6-0 decision. nection to present-day quoted the Kansas City, however, winning entry, ‘Kansas City’s new through the American baseball team should be called the Royal Livestock and Royals because of Missouri’s bil- Horse Show, formerly lion-dollar livestock income, Kan- called the Kansas City sas City’s position as the nation’s Livestock Show. leading stocker and feeder market Walter Neff wrote an and the nationally known America editorial for the Jan. 1, Royal parade and pageant. 1901, issue titled, “Call From livestock to baseball, the it the American Royal” Kansas City Daily Drovers Tele- after hearing Dean C.F. gram — an integral part of Kansas Curtiss of State City’s vibrant history. College say that he thought the Kansas City Final home of the Kansas City Daily Drovers Telegram at 1505 Genesee Drawing taken from March 9, 1931, Daily livestock show was bet- Drovers Telegram. ter than what he had

and all that is in it, but thou standest where I am about to shoot.” The burglar didn’t linger. Nov. 22, 1949 Sept. 11, 1929 The new minister always had a scripture quotation ready College graduate: for any question asked him. One day, a bug flew in his mouth and he swallowed it. A little boy stepped up and Will you pay me what I’m worth? asked, “Do you have a scripture text for that?” Employer: “Yes,” said the minister, “He was a stranger and I took him in.” I’ll do better than that; I’ll give you a small salary to start with. Sept. 7, 1930 They say a drop of printer’s ink Feb. 13, 1950 Will make a million people think. A gentle Quaker heard a strange noise in his house at But thinking’s work, so on our staff night. He found a burglar busily at work. In plain sight of Let’s just use ink that makes folks laugh. the intruder he walked quietly to the door with his gun and said, “Friend, I would do thee no harm for the world

JCHS Journal — Summer 2016 25

A case of child abuse in 1915 A Kansas City Christmas Miracle

By John Arthur Horner parents. With these services avail- her. The Kansas City Star reported able, the brothers may have re- that when Dr. Hunt arrived, he his is not a happy Christmas mained with Charles. “found the case so much more T story. After three months a probation dangerous than he had anticipated It’s the story of Helen Keller — officer told Charles to make dif- and the conditions in which she but not that Helen Keller. ferent arrangements for Ruby and was living so bad he took the child immediately in his car to Mercy In December 1915, Kansas City’s Helen. Charles briefly placed Hel- Hospital,” at 414 Highland. Helen Keller, not quite two years en with Union Mission, in Inde- old, was the youngest daughter of pendence, and then Mrs. Nelson Mrs. Larkin went with him. a family that had fallen apart. suggested her acquaintance, Mrs. One official called Helen’s condi- Her father, identified in the 1910 tion “the worst case of abuse we census as Charles, had emigrated ever received at Mercy Hospital.” from Germany. Her mother, Han- The story came to public attention nah Erickson, had emigrated from on Dec. 21, with the Star’s page- Sweden. The census tells us they two article, “A Baby Girl of 2 had been married 10 years. Beaten?” Hannah had given birth to seven ccording to the article, the offspring. Of those who survived A doctors concluded that the to the end of 1914, the oldest, Ma- child was healthy before receiving bel, was born in 1902, Herman in vicious beatings. Her legs and 1904, and Roy in 1906. The mid- bowels were paralyzed, she was dle daughter, Ruby or Elma badly bruised over most of her (newspaper stories used both body, and “in many places the names), was born in 1911 or 1912, skin was torn off.” and Helen came on New Year’s Eve, 1913. The family lived at 570 This last was stated by Anna A. Holmes. Anderson, investigator for Mercy Hospital. She swore out a warrant Hannah had been plagued with Elizabeth Larkin, who lived with on Dec. 23, and police arrested increasing alcoholism. Sometime her husband, Benjamin, at 504 S. Mrs. Larkin. Anderson brought during the summer of 1915 she Topping, foster Helen. Charles several neighbors as witnesses for abandoned her family. asked and Mrs. Larkin agreed. Deputy Prosecutor James Kilroy Charles quickly realized he could- The timeline of the story’s early to question. The witnesses shared n’t care for five children alone. He events is vague, with different stories of seeing Larkin beating placed Mabel with a friend, Mrs. newspapers, as well as the princi- Helen on numerous occasions for Gus Nelson, who lived at 4429 pals, disagreeing on facts. Charles disobedience. Gertrude Burns said Highland. He initially kept the said he visited Helen often, but she had seen Larkin whip Helen others, but finally moved Ruby Larkin gave a very different ac- with a razor strop simply for ask- and Helen to the Institutional count, saying he visited once ing for water. Church, at Admiral Blvd and shortly after she accepted Helen, Pearl Peck told of seeing Larkin Holmes, which offered free day- in mid-autumn, not returning until striking Helen’s bare skin with an care, some medical care, and other the week before Christmas. 18 x 2 x 1½” board after stripping services. On Dec. 20 Charles tracked Helen off the girl’s undergarments. Peck Herman and Roy attended Karnes and Larkin to the latter’s in-laws, said Larkin had used the board on School, at Pacific and Charlotte who lived at 1403 Denver. Find- Helen the week before, when Lar- streets, which provided a free ing Helen paralyzed, covered with kin had come to Peck’s home to lunch and shower facilities to stu- bruised and broken skin, he ran to do her wash and, while she was dents — 98% of whom were from the Institutional Church and there, the child begged for a drink immigrant families — and their begged Dr. J.E. Hunt to look at of water.

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Larkin became enraged when she Dr. Katherine Berry Richardson, against it, feeling her condition heard Peck’s account, screaming founder of the hospital with her was so grave that an operation that she was a liar, and that Larkin sister, Dr. Alice Berry Graham, would do no good, and she would had a notion to kill her neighbor. seemed taken with Helen. “The probably die on the operating ta- She claimed the baby was dis- baby is just as bright as she can ble. be,” she said. “But she hardly can eased, that this was the reason for The Journal quoted Dr. Richard- the bruises and blotches, that she live. The treatment we are giving son as saying, “It was a had never whipped it, though she her is prolonging her life … but ‘neighborhood murder.’ Every- had accidentally stepped on it body waited for somebody else to once when she was backing up. notify the authorities. Nobody did. She said the baby fell a lot, which All are equally culpable, but it is caused the torn skin. an old story, often told in Kansas Bessie Armstrong, Mr. and Mrs. City and elsewhere.” Hospital in- Larkin’s landlady, reported giving spectors were convinced at least the couple a month’s notice in No- 30 people were “willing to swear vember, telling them they had to — now —” that Larkin had brutal- vacate because the constant wail- ly beaten Helen “on every possible ing had become unendurable. pretext.” At Mr. Keller’s behest, Deputy Prosecutor Kilroy instruct- udge Charles H. Clark presided ed police to arrest Larkin’s hus- J at the arraignment in the Juve- band on a charge of assault with nile Court of Jackson County, in intent to kill. the basement of the Jackson Coun- ty Courthouse, at Missouri Ave- Mrs. Larkin had read some news nue and Oak Street. He ordered articles and refused to meet with Larkin held without bail, saying, any reporters, screaming at a pho- “If the child dies, a charge of mur- tographer, “You can’t take my pic- der will be placed against Mrs. the chance for her recovery is so ture! I won’t have it. Get out of Larkin.” very slight it hardly can be called here!” a chance.” Larkin objected that she had “a That evening Dr. Robert Schauf- mother’s feeling,” would never Reporters discovered Helen’s sis- fler said Helen’s condition had hurt a child, and had a son from ter Ruby was also at Mercy, also improved. her first husband, though they had- because of physical abuse by her n Christmas morning, Helen foster mother, though nothing as n’t seen each other for three years. O smiled. She also pointed out that she had harsh as what Helen had gone through. The hospital ward had Christmas ridden with the doctor when he decorations — holly, mistletoe, had taken Helen to Mercy Hospi- Christmas approached, and Lar- paper bells, a tiny branch of a tal — why would she do that if she kin, according to the Star, spent Christmas tree in the center of the had treated Helen as charged? her time sewing doll’s clothes as ward. Some presents sat beside She was jailed. There she com- gifts. The Kansas City Journal Helen — a rubber dog, a small plained to fellow prisoners of be- said she was also making baby doll, and a “kitty book.” ing framed by welfare workers. clothes for a Christmas charity. The Journal reporter who inter- Though with paralyzed legs, Hel- Most people thought the charge viewed her for the Christmas Eve en propped herself on one elbow would soon be murder. edition described Larkin as sewing and gave forth what one nurse Helen’s chances were grave. “rapidly with skilled fingers on called “such an awakening gurgle While apparently feeling safer dainty muslins and knitted hoods.” from that sad little heart that I nev- with the white-capped nurses, Hel- The Star reported, “She continues er heard anything that made me so en became terrified when a wom- to deny the statement of neighbors sad and yet so happy.” an wearing regular clothes stopped that she mistreated the child.” Within the next few days Mr. Lar- beside her bed. Nurses thought The doctors at Mercy Hospital kin was arrested. He acknowl- Helen must have perceived the planned to decide on Christmas edged often questioning his wife woman as Elizabeth Larkin. Eve whether or not to operate on about spots and bruises on Helen’s Helen. Eventually they decided face and body, and that she admit-

JCHS Journal — Summer 2016 27 ted to whipping the child. The Mrs. Larkin’s preliminary hearing Jacobs called the prosecution’s Kansas City Times reported he was also held on Dec. 31. A large first witnesses. Charles Keller re- admitted seeing Elizabeth punish crowd entered the courthouse counted placing Helen in Mrs. Helen about six times, but had hours beforehand, filling the halls Larkin’s care and discovering the never seen her beaten. The Jour- and stairways. When she arrived, abuse. Mrs. Peck described Larkin nal, on the other hand, quoted him deputies surrounding Mrs. Larkin continually striking Helen for re- as telling Chief of Detectives Lar- had to make a path through the fusing to sleep and for asking for ry Ghent, “During the four months crowd to get her into the court- water. Dr. Richardson described that we have had the baby, I have room. Helen’s condition when she first not seen my wife whip her more Larkin’s attorney, R.B. Kirwan, arrived at Mercy Hospital — than half a dozen times.” requested a continuance, saying he heavy with paralysis, one eye X-rays taken by Dr. Martha Bacon had only been hired two days be- “blackened clear to the cheek,” on Dec. 27 showed a blood clot fore. The prosecuting attorney, massive bruising on the neck, the size of a pea on Helen’s spinal Virgil Yates, argued against this, arms, thighs, and ankles, as well cord, which pathologist Dr. but Judge Clark granted it, an- as “noticeably heavy discolora- tions” along Helen’s spine. She Charles C. Dennie said had been nouncing her preliminary hearing caused by the beatings. Drs. Ba- would take place the next Friday said Helen’s legs “hung like rags.” con and Dennie agreed there was arkin’s lawyers, George Bir- “no hope of complete recovery,” L mingham and Francis O’Sulli- and that the clot might cause com- van, questioned whether heredi- plications and even death. tary disease might have caused the lizabeth Larkin continued to paralysis. Dr. Richardson respond- E deny she had ever done more ed strongly that all tests showed than spank Helen with her hand, Helen had absolutely no disease. though she also referred to the In this Dr. Dennie supported Dr. spanking as “whipping.” She often Richardson, saying they had con- gave way to sobbing during a Star ducted many tests, ruling out any disease or cause other than the interview, though the unnamed physical abuse to which Helen had reporter pointedly states the sobs been subjected. were for herself and not for the baby. Mrs. Nelson, the neighbor who The reporter also shared that Mrs. had recommended Mrs. Larkin as Larkin never had “a real father and a caregiver, testified Helen had mother; never a real home; never a been healthy when the Larkins relative on earth.” took her into their care. On Dec. 29 the Star reported The first witness of June 13 was Helen’s condition had improved. Emma Anderson, a nurse from Her facial bruising faded, and she Mercy Hospital. She carried Helen to the witness stand, holding the was “rapidly emerging from the without fail. child so the jury could see her. cloud of apprehension that has After the New Year, Judge Clark Helen’s body and face were ema- dimmed her little mind.” The pa- severed Mr. Larkin’s case from his ciated, with pale, tight skin. She ralysis remained, but a “gurgling, wife’s. struggled to smile. Her hands happy, sweet-tempered child” had emerged, and she had become When the trial arrived, on June 12, looked like bird claws. Anderson “beloved” by the nurses. 1916, Judge Ralph Latshaw pre- described Helen’s condition when sided. she arrived, the extent of the bruis- Hope increased that an operation ing, her continuing weight loss. might be possible. Elizabeth Larkin sat stone-faced as Prosecutor Floyd Jacobs began to No, none of this could have been On New Year’s Eve, Mr. Larkin tell the state’s version of what caused by a fall. was arraigned before Judge Clark. happened to Helen Keller. But as A Larkin attorney suggested that Clark set the preliminary hearing he continued, his words began to Helen’s condition was caused by for the next Friday and set bail at have an impact, causing her to hemophilia. Prosecutors called Dr. $5,000, which Larkin couldn’t lower her head and finally cover Richardson for rebuttal. She said pay. her face. she and Dr. Dennie had tested

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Helen’s blood the night before. It trigger? The newspaper accounts children who came to her home for clotted within two minutes. Dr. do not explore it, giving no reason operations, facing many challeng- Dennie corroborated this. for animosity, but also giving no es. She became a skilled, compas- One of the chief prosecution wit- reason for the witnesses to testify sionate listener, giving them some- nesses, Mrs. R. Woodbine, super- for the defense. one with whom they could talk intendent of the Independence Un- With witness testimony complet- and share their fears. ion Mission, testified that when ed, Latshaw ruled the evidence did o, as those children came and Helen stayed at the mission during not warrant the charge of assault S went from Mercy Hospital, summer 1915, sores covered her with intent to kill, and instructed Kansas City’s Helen Keller stayed, body and her walking was imped- the jury to consider felonious as- making that place even safer with ed. However, Charles Lavelle, sault, carrying a maximum sen- her presence. She lived seven probation officer for eastern Jack- tence of five years. years and two months after arriv- son County, testified he had seen The jury reached a guilty verdict ing at Mercy, dying of pneumonia no sores during that time. in just over half an hour. on Feb. 15, 1923, at nine years old. lizabeth Larkin, wearing a Had Helen died as expected, this E gray and black silk dress she might have ended the story. But The nurses came to love Helen for had sewn in jail, testified in the her warm, caring spirit, for her she lived for another seven years late afternoon, often giving way to — in Mercy Hospital. She got bravery. When she died the hospi- crying. The prosecutor referred to stronger, but was always physical- tal administration adjusted the “these false tears” when speaking ly fragile. Her great strength, work schedule, running a skeleton to the jury. though, was emotional; it was her crew, so all nurses who wished to Under direct examination Larkin empathy. could attend her funeral. said she had never refused to give Like the famous Helen Keller, Many, many did. Helen water, but under cross- Kansas City’s Helen rose above Helen was buried in Forest Hill examination she admitted refusing what life had dealt her. Through Cemetery. several times. She denied every- the years this broken little girl thing the prosecution witnesses She was a little girl who overcame healed — not her physical self. enormous challenges and made a had said. No, she healed others. difference in the lives of others. The defense, in its conclusion, She became an important presence That was the miracle. went on the offensive, saying the in her adopted home, Mercy Hos- Mercy Hospital building fund pital, where she lived the rest of committee had used Helen and her her life. She reached out to those injuries to raise money. This caused vehement and clamorous applause from Mrs. Woodbine and Short History of Children’s Mercy Hospital two other witnesses from the mis- In 1897, two sisters who were female physicians — Dr. Alice Berry sion. Graham and Dr. Katharine Berry Richardson — opened The Free Judge Latshaw had them arrested. Bed Fund Association for Crippled, Deformed and Ruptured Chil- dren consisting of a single bed in a The antipathy of the three women women’s hospital at 15th Street and is intriguing and puzzling. The Cleveland Avenue. reputation of Mercy Hospital makes it difficult to give credence Four years later, the effort took on to the charge they applauded. The the name Mercy Hospital and start- defense claimed that the doctors ing a nurse training program. had exaggerated the extent of In 1904, Mercy opened a five-bed Helen’s injuries in order to secure hospital at 414 Highland Ave. and donations. But the doctors were all eventually expanded to 90 beds. highly regarded. The jury mem- bers saw Helen’s condition when A new hospital opened in 1917 at she was brought into court. Was 1710 Independence Ave. (currently the Kansas City College of Oste- corporate jealousy behind the an- opathic Medicine) and continued there until the new hospital at 2401 tipathy, or was there some other Gillham Rd. opened in 1970.

JCHS Journal — Summer 2016 29 Washington Irving’s 1832 Independence Visit

By R. James Stilley Jr. family members who had emigrat- eorge Washington Irving was ed to the U.S. His uncle Benjamin G the first American writer to Henry LaTrobe was the principal gain enormous popularity and re- architect involved in rebuilding spect throughout not only Ameri- the U.S. Capitol and the White ca, but also Europe. Today he is House after they were damaged by best remembered as the author of fire during the War of 1812. The the short stories Rip Van Winkle Count’s family agreed the older and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. LaTrobe would be a suitable chap- erone for the Count’s trip to Irving was not only a supremely America. creative fiction writer, but also an important historian with prodi- By the time the Havre arrived in gious research abilities. In 1828, New York City in late May, the published the Life and Voyages of passengers – Irving, LaTrobe and Christopher Columbus. In 1859, the Count – had agreed to travel to just before his death, he complet- the western plains together. They ed a five-volume biography of reassembled in late August in Sa- George Washington, his name- ratoga Springs, N.Y. before em- barking west. sake. This is an 1832 George Washington Irving Irving’s older brothers owned an Their first stop was Niagara Falls engraving done by Hatch and Smillie. Na- and then a steamboat trip on Lake import business with offices in tional Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC. New York City and Liverpool, Erie where they met Henry L. England. Already a successful to any change.” While climbing in Ellsworth, a 40-year-old attorney writer, Irving went to England in the Swiss Alps, LaTrobe became who was a well-traveled and well- 1815 initially to work in the fami- friends with the 19-year-old Count connected president of Aetna In- ly business. But after it went and his family. surance Co. in Hartford, Conn. bankrupt in 1818, he remained During the early 1800s it was When they met, Ellsworth was abroad and traveled throughout fashionable among adventurous one of three U.S. Commissioners England and Europe serving as a young male members of the Euro- of Indian Affairs appointed by member of the U.S. diplomatic pean nobility to take extended president Andrew Jackson to corps to England and Spain. trips to the United States to visit serve on the Stoke Commission. By 1832, the 49-year-old Irving growing cities on the east coast The Commissioners were investi- had not been home for 17 years. and to embark on grand hunting gating lands where American In- He longed to reacquaint himself expeditions west of the Mississip- dian tribes in the East could be with his vastly changing home- pi River. relocated. land. On April 11, 1832, Irving During the summer of 1827, the On behalf of the U.S. government, boarded the ship Havre in Le Ha- Count had seen in France six Ellsworth was on his way to Fort vre, France. While on board he Osage American Indians who Gibson in Indian Territory in what became friends with fellow pas- were paraded around Europe, is now Oklahoma. He invited his sengers Charles Joseph LaTrobe arousing much curiosity and fan- new friends to accompany him. and Count Albert-Alexandre de fare. With charm and charisma, he The three were thrilled to accept Pourtales, who were traveling to- literally became one of the most his invitation. gether. famous persons alive. His large After crossing Ohio, the foursome LaTrobe, a 31-years-old British circle of friends and acquaintances traveled by steamboats on the citizen of French Huguenot de- was a virtual list of the who’s who Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Two scent, was an accomplished moun- of the day. hours before reaching St. Louis, taineer, travel book writer, ama- The young Count dreamt of seeing their steamboat was hit by teur botanist and artist, whom Ir- the Osage in their natural habitat the steamboat Yellowstone. Fortu- ving described as “. . . a citizen of in the western frontier of the Unit- nately no one was hurt. the world, easily adapting himself ed States. LaTrobe wanted to visit

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The Yellowstone had recently re- the Sauk tribal warrior who had Northwest where they had attend- turned after carrying George Cat- led a rebellion that year in Illinois. ed the trappers’ Rendezvous in lin, the painter of Indians, and oth- Other Indian warriors, including July 1832, at Pierre’s Hole, in ers 2,000 miles up the Missouri Chief White Cloud, were also held what is now Idaho. Sublette was River to the mouth of the Yellow- as prisoners at the military bar- wounded in a battle with the stone River. racks. Blackfeet and had his arm in a sling. On Sept. 12, 1832, the Illinois In the meantime, Ellsworth hired docked at St. Louis which by then Pierre Chouteau as the expedi- On Sept. 24th, the Irving party had a population of approximately tion’s guide. Ellsworth also need- arrived in Independence. 6,900 predominately French- ed Chouteau’s assistance negotiat- Chouteau and his entourage ar- speaking residents. The town had ing with the Indians. The parties rived later in the evening. Inde- been founded in 1764 by Peter agreed to divide up and rendez- pendence was pretty much the last Laclede and his stepson Auguste vous in Independence. Ellsworth European settlement on the west- Chouteau. and a friend of his, Dr. O’Dwyer, ern frontier. A little beyond it, all When the travelers arrived, the took a steamboat up the Missouri carriage roads ceased to exist. Old Cathedral — still standing River; Irving, LaTrobe and the Irving described Independence as Count went by horseback; and today near the present-day Arch “a straggling little frontier vil- Chouteau and his entourage went — was under construction. There lage.” Independence had been were other churches, a theater, a overland, but not with the Irving platted and organized in 1827 and court house, numerous cafes, and party. was the county seat. A new two- two newspapers. St. Louis College Irving’s party hired a French Cre- story brick courthouse, located in (now St. Louis University) was ole named Antoine Deshetres the center of Independence established in 1818 and was the from Florissant to drive their wag- Square, had been completed in oldest institution west of the Mis- on of supplies across Missouri and October 1831. sissippi River. to act as a guide, cook and jack-of n 1832, Independence was ex- t. Louis was the major outfit- -all-trades. The three friends left I periencing substantial changes S ting point for fur traders and St. Louis on Sept. 15th. and tumultuous times. In 1831, explorers of the American West. They spent their first night in a members of the Church of Jesus The largest commercial business small French inn across the Mis- Christ Latter-Day Saints (the Mor- was the American Fur Company, souri River from St. Charles. The mon Church) began moving to founded by John Jacob Astor, next morning they crossed the riv- Independence in large numbers which included Pierre Chouteau er to St. Charles. They traveled and began buying property. and other members of his family. west along carriage roads and In- Church founder, Joseph Smith, Jr., Later, Irving would become a dian paths. had recently shared his revelation close friend of Astor and would On Sept. 19th, they arrived in Co- that Independence was the City of write the book Astoria, a history lumbia, then a small settlement of Zion and would be the site of the of the American Fur Company. about 20 houses. Irving was inter- Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The travelers called on Gen. Wil- viewed by a reporter from “The Non-Mormons regarded the new Missouri Intelligencer.” On Sept. believers with disdain and worried liam Clark – one of the co-leaders 20th, they made a side trip to about their motives. There was of the 1804-06 Lewis and Clark Boone’s Lick. In New Franklin, trouble and local conflicts. expedition – who was then Super- intendent of Indian Affairs having they bought some goods to use for W.W. Phelps began publishing previously served as the Governor trade with the Indians. The Evening and Morning Star – a of the Missouri Territory. Clark On Sept. 21st, they crossed the Mormon tabloid – in June 1832 treated them to a sumptuous din- Missouri River using the ferry at and shared this account of Irving’s ner. Irving would later describe Arrow Rock and thereafter trav- visit in the October edition: their 62-year-old dinner host as eled on the south side of the Mis- “Washington Irving (and a couple jovial and a “fine healthy robust souri River. of foreign gentlemen) upon a liter- man.” On Sept. 22nd, the Irving party ary expedition, and H.L. Ellsworth On Sept. 14, Irving, LaTrobe, and met William L. Sublette, the fa- and others, as commissioners to the Count visited the Jefferson mous mountain man and fur trap- settle the location of the western Barracks outside St. Louis. They per. His party of about 70 men Indians, were in this town the last went primarily to see Black Hawk, were just returning from the of September, on their way to

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Containment [Fort] Gibson, Ar- kansas Territory.” So what did Irving and party do while in Independence? Apparently they all spent the first day unsuccessfully deer hunting with local settlers believed to in- Washington Irving’s Independence visit was noted in the Mormon monthly newspaper clude Cole Younger’s father, Hen- The Evening and Morning Star in its October 1832 edition. An angry mob, who opposed ry Washington Younger. On the second day, LaTrobe went by the Mormons, destroyed the newspaper printing office was destroyed in July 1833. horse to the nearest Missouri Riv- from Independence merchants for The travelers lived off the land, er ferry to check on Ellsworth’s the next leg of the trip. enjoying bear, bison, deer, wolf steamboat which had yet to arrive. Ellsworth and O’Dwyer arrived in and wild turkey. They had gener- There was no word on the steam- Independence on September 27th ally good encounters with the In- dians. boat, however LaTrobe met a man having had to hitch a wagon ride who offered to take him six or for the last 100 miles after their Amazingly, the Count saw one of seven miles downstream on the steamboat had run aground on the the Osage men (nicknamed “Gros Missouri to visit a friend’s farm. Missouri River. Ellsworth was in Soldat” by the French) who he had Upon arriving, they discovered no mood to linger in Independ- seen five years before in Europe. several women involved in a ence. He and LaTrobe left almost Irving, LaTrobe and the Count all “quilting frolic” while the men immediately for the “Shawnee were able to hunt buffalo with the visited. He joined the group for an Agency” to find Isaac McCoy to Osages, a thrilling experience. outdoor dinner. LaTrobe noted pick up surveys done by McCoy. After several weeks of one adven- cows, pigs and crops of corn and The rest of the party, led by Pierre ture after another, Irving left Indi- pumpkins being raised or grown Chouteau, headed south toward an Territory and headed East. on the farm. There were also Ne- Fort Gibson. Ellsworth and LaTrobe and the Count continued gro slaves. LaTrobe caught up with them the their North American travels for next day. On the third day, LaTrobe bought another year and visited not only horses and additional supplies From Independence they all ar- other parts of the U.S., but also rived safely at Fort Gibson on the Canada and Mexico. Grand River in Indian Territory.

The primary members of the Irving/Ellsworth party LaTrobe – He wrote two books on his travels to achieved much after their western adventures. North America and Mexico, i.e. The Rambler in Here’s a short summary. North America and The Rambler in Mexico. In 1836 Irving – The author built his residence, known as he was appointed as a British diplomat to the British “Sunnyside,” along the Hudson River in Tarrytown, NY. West Indies. After impressing his superiors, he was Irving subsequently returned to Europe and served as the then offered an appointment in Australia as Superin- U.S. Ambassador to Spain. Irving continued to write nu- tendant of the newly settled Port Phillip District of merous books, including A Tour on the Prairies, about his New South Wales. He later became the first Gover- nor of Victoria (Australia). Today there are statues 1832 trip to Independence and Indian Territory. His actual journal from the trip was lost so mentions of Independence of LaTrobe in Australia and a large university in are found in letters from the trip. He died at Sunnyside on Melbourne is named after him. Nov. 28, 1859. de Pourtales - The Count returned to Switzerland Ellsworth - He was appointed the first Commis- and served in the Prussian diplomatic corps. He kept sioner of the U.S. Patent Office and served from a journal of his North American trip. It remained 1835-1845. Upon his death on Dec. 27, 1858, he unpublished until an American tourist, George F. bequeathed the sum of $700,000 and substantial Spaulding, learned about them in 1965 while staying tracts of Ohio land to his alma mater, Yale Universi- at a German inn owned by the Count’s great- ty. granddaughter. The journals were published in 1968 as On the Western Tour with Washington Irving: The Journal and Letters of Count de Pourtales.

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News and updates from JCHS By Caitlin Eckard JCHS Operations Manager My first year at the Jackson County Historical Socie- ty has flown by. Thank you to all those who welcomed me with open arms. It makes the job a lot easier. As I settle into my position as archivist, I have many goals to achieve for the Jackson County Historical Society. First and foremost is to make the archives and re- search library more accessible to researchers. They are our lifeblood. To start, we added four finding aids to our website, with more to be added each month. I also want to increase our online visibility and have been working hard to include interesting images and facts through our social media outlets ,which allow us Two examples of the Kimport Dolls in the Jackson County His- to reach more people. torical Society Archives collection. Thank you to all who visited us these past few months. ment of Kansas City, and this photo album contains roughly 100 portraits of the family, 1860s-1900s. Current Archives Projects Schutte Lumber Co. Documents. Here are some of our current archives projects: The Schutte Lumber Co. is a longtime Kansas City  Scanning photos to ensure we have electronic fixture off Southwest Boulevard, and has been in copies of our photo collection business since the late 1800s.  Creating finding aids to showcase our collections La Sertoma Collection.  Processing large collections, specifically those of This organization was the women’s side of the Serto- Rufus Burris, an Independence attorney and ma Club (Service to all Mankind). The Kansas City friend of Harry Truman and Roger T. Sermon, the branch records are from the 1960s-2010s. son of a prominent Independence mayor and a civic leader Kimport Doll Collection. We continue to add to this growing collection of  Organizing our newspaper collections Kimport Dolls, an Independence business.  Digitizing Jackson County Circuit Court records New Acquisitions Property Abstracts We continue to receive abstracts (documents that Here’s a list of significant recent acquisitions re- trace land ownership), which are a great resource for ceived by the JCHS Archives. house history researchers. McGee Family Photo Album. The McGee family was instrumental in the develop-

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Intern Spotlight Digitizing the Strauss Peyton Collection Efforts at the JCHS Archives have been greatly as- Photographer Bruce Matthews is currently digitizing sisted by the work of several interns, one of which is JCHS’s Strauss Peyton Collection so we may better highlighted here. preserve the images. JCHS maintains a large collection of the glass plate Kevin Ploth is a graduate student at the University of negatives from the famous photography studio, Missouri- Kansas City obtaining his degree next which was located on the Country Club Plaza. spring. JCHS acquired the Strauss-Peyton Photographic Stu- Ploth earned his Bachelor’s degree in history and po- dio Collection in late 1969 after learning they were litical science with a minor in theology at Rockhurst about to be disposed. University. The collection includes stylized large-format glass plate negatives of many of Kansas City’s leading Currently, he is pursuing a Master’s degree in history families as well as photographs of actors and per- and writing his thesis about 20th century American formers who were in Kansas City on the vaudeville diplomatic history. circuit. Ploth interned for JCHS for the summer semester and Images include the Marx Brothers, Charlie Chaplin, will stay on for the fall semester. Jean Harlow (a Kansas City native), Mary Pickford and other leading personages. So far, he has created two finding aids that we pub- The earliest Strauss-Peyton Portrait Studio negatives lished on the website and he is working on a third conserved in the Jackson County Historical Society finding aid so we can better assist researchers. Archives date from Strauss-Peyton's origin in 1900 and span through the 1950s. 1859 Jail, Marshal’s Home and Museum Of the 80,000+ existing original sitting cards detail- We are happy to report record summer attendance for ing the Studio's the 1859 Old Jail. daily portrait schedule during The past month has seen several significant improve- this time, only ments at the 1859 Jail. The projects have included: about 29,000 imag-  New carpet installed in museum es survive.  Fresh paint in the museum gallery They comprise an  Updated signage throughout the building estimated five tons  Deep cleaning to entire house of very frag- ile, glass-plate neg- Special thanks to Dusk 2 Dawn Paranormal for help- atives (and later, ing with the painting and deep cleaning. acetate or “safety film” negatives), JCHS and Social Media which in them- JCHS is actively working to increase its online pres- selves reveal as- pects of the history ence through FaceBook, Twitter, and our website. of photography. This includes posting interesting historic photographs Matthews has also and sharing prior Journal articles which are timely Strauss Peyton photograph of contributed to nu- because of the anniversary of an historic event or cur- actress and Kanas City native merous JCHS pub- lications in the rent community issues. Jean Harlow. past. We want to increase our online presence as a way to A full article about the Strauss Peyton Collection is share our rich regional history and also to engage online at www.jchs.org/summer2016. folks who are interested in history, but are currently not members.

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Last Chapters Jesse Clyde Nichols Sr. (1880 — 1950) This section shares information on where prominent The Kansas City real estate developer is buried in individuals mentioned in this Journal are buried. Forest Hill Cemetery in Kansas City, Mo. His other civic contributions include helping create the Nelson- Names are listed alphabetically by last name. Atkins Museum of Art and a leadership role in the The extremely useful website www.findagrave.com Kansas City Art Institute. was an invaluable resource to find and confirm these “last chapters.” Mary Rockwell Hook (1877 — 1978) Hugh Oliver Cook She is buried next to her husband (1873 — 1949) in Mount Washington Cemetery in Independence, Mo. Cook died April 15, 1949, and was buried in Rosedale Ceme- A miniature Washington monu- tery Lawn in Los Angeles, Calif. ment marks the plot. Rosedale was the first cemetery in Los Angeles to serve people of all races.

Gabriel Nelson Grisham (1856 — 1930) Grisham died on Sept. 12, 1930, in Kansas City, MO. and is buried in Highland Cemetery, a cemetery lo- cated in Kansas City, Mo., off Blue Ridge Blvd. where African-Americans were buried. It has been neglected in recent years. Washington Irving (1783 — 1859) Helen Keller (1913 — 1923) Irving died on Nov. 28, 1859, and is buried in Sleepy Hollow The young child died Feb. 15, 1923, from pneumonia Cemetery located in Westchester County, N.Y. while living at Mercy Hospital. Her death certificate described her as an “invalid child.” She is buried in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is one of Irving’s Forest Hills Cemetery. best-known short stories.

John Robert Edward Lee (1864 — 1944) Lee died in Tallahassee, Fla. following a pneumonia attack. He is buried in Powder Mill Cemetery in Mar- shall, Texas — the community where he attended college.

The Neff brothers

The three Neff brothers are all buried in Forest Hill Cemetery in Kansas City, Mo., along with other fami- ly members. Jay Holcomb Neff (1854 — 1915) George North Neff (1856 — 1933) Walter Prescott Neff (1866 — 1950)

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About our authors Have an article for Jan Bentley The Journal? Bentley is a Jackson County Historical Society member who breathes history, The Jackson County Historical art and architecture in her free time and writes contracts by day. She serves on Society welcomes submission of the board of Historic Kansas City Foundation and is the founder of the Kansas articles relating to the history of City Bungalow Club, which meets in historic homes monthly to hear the Jackson County, Mo., and the home’s story and drink good wine. Kansas City area. Cathy Callen Materials should be written for an interested general audience. This article has been condensed and revised from a chapter on Jay Holcomb Neff in Running out of Footprints, a set of biographies about various Neff Manuscripts should be between relatives, by Cathy Callen, published in 2013. There were six Neff brothers: 1,500 to 2,500 words and include Jay, William, Theodore, George, Walter and Frank; Cathy is a granddaughter sufficient notes and sources. of the sixth brother, Dr. Frank Chaffee Neff. Another article, “Reconstituting Authors should submit Allen,” about the Neff brothers’ uncle Allen Herbert Neff, also by Cathy manuscripts electronically. Callen, appeared in the fall/winter 2012 edition of Connections, a journal of the Indiana Historical Society. JCHS does not accept responsibility for statements of John Arthur Horner facts or opinions made by authors. Original articles are preferred Horner is a writer/researcher in the Missouri Valley Room of the Kansas City though articles previously Public Library’s Central branch. He has a Ph.D. in theatre from UC-Santa published may be considered if Barbara and explored the historical context of an 1879 production in his reprint rights are secured. dissertation. He is an award-winning playwright and a member of the Dramatists Guild. He was involved in the award-winning website Civil War An editorial board will review and on the Western Border: the Missouri-Kansas Conflict 1854-1865. select articles for publication based on subject, quality and LaDene Morton sharing a broad view of the Morton is an author of both fiction and nonfiction. Her third book on Kansas region's history. City History. The Country Club District of Kansas City, released in 2015, was Send your manuscripts to a Merit recipient of the Historic Kansas City Foundation's George Ehrlich [email protected]. award for a publication on preservation. She is also the author of two other works on local history, The Brookside Story: Shops of Every Necessary A note on sources Character, and The Waldo Story: Home of Friendly Merchants. Her historic This is a general regional history fiction What Lies West was a past finalist in the WILLA Awards, and a publication and not a scholarly Preservation Award from the Historic Kansas City Foundation. She is a journal. former board member of the national organization Women Writing the West, and a current board member of The Writers Place in Kansas City. We have chosen not to provide notes on sources and citations in R. James Stilley, Jr. the print publication, but do share Stilley is a fifth-generation Jackson County resident who loves local history. author’s notes on sources on our He is a retired attorney and the immediate past president of the Jackson website. County Historical Society. Additional information related to the articles is available online at Michael Sweeney www.jchs.org/summer2016. Michael Sweeney earned his Ph.D. in American studies from the University An apology of Kansas in 2010 and a M.A. in library and information science from the This edition of the revived JCHS University of Missouri in 2013. Sweeney currently serves as Director of Journal is long overdue. Collections at the American Jazz Museum. He previously served as collection Apologies are due to our patient librarian at the Black Archives of Mid-America and senior research specialist authors who provided excellent at the State Historical Society of Missouri-Research Center Kansas City. articles and have been waiting to see them in print.