This Week in KC History
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Separate but Equal?
March 2, 1930: A grand opening ceremony commemorated the new General Hospital No. 2, which soon became known as one of the nation's finest public hospitals serving African Americans. The new hospital unveiled intense divisions…
The Great Indoors
November 24, 1927: The Pla-Mor Ballroom, the largest indoor amusement center in the country, opened at 3142 Main Street to a crowd of 4,100 who reveled at its unprecedented size and modern style. The facility followed in the…
Let There Be Lights
December 25, 1925: A string of Christmas lights hung over the doorway of the Mill Creek Building at the Country Club Plaza for the first time, beginning a tradition that today is one of the most extravagant Christmas light…
Kings of the City
October 6, 1922: The Kansas City Monarchs and the Kansas City Blues baseball teams embarked on a six-game series that would end with the Monarchs being crowned "The New City Champions" by the Kansas City Star. The…
Take One
May 23, 1922: When strolling through Disneyland or Walt Disney World, few visitors would remember that Walt Disney first started his animation career in Kansas City, Missouri. Disney pursued that dream as he opened his first…
Heeding the Call
May 6, 1919: The first edition of the Kansas City Call was published. It was one of 22 newspapers published by Kansas City’s African American community near the beginning of the 20th century, but the only one that…
The Dean of Women Lawyers
November 8, 1917: Mary Tiera Farrow and 20 other female lawyers formed the Women's Bar Association of Kansas City. Farrow was one of the few women in the United States who successfully practiced law in the early 1900s despite the…
Dr. Hyde and Mr. Swope
May 16, 1910: In one of the most notorious trials in Kansas City's history, a jury found Doctor Bennett Clark Hyde guilty of murdering Kansas City real estate developer and philanthropist "Colonel" Thomas H. Swope. Despite strong…
To Promote the General Welfare
April 14, 1910: The City Council approved the creation of the Board of Public Welfare to provide aid to the city’s poor. As the brainchild of Kansas City philanthropist William Volker, the Board of Public Welfare was the first…
Tripping the Light Fantastic...and Then Some!
May 19, 1907: 53,000 people attended the opening day of the new Electric Park. Originally conceived as a ploy to bring customers to visit the Heim Brewing Company in 1899, the park had grown into an attraction in its own right.…