Clarence Wesley Wigington, architect, was born April 21, 1883 in Lawrence, Kansas to Wesley Wigington and Jennie Mary Roberts. He was the fourth of twelve children. Between 1884 and 1908 the family moved seven times finally settling in Omaha, Nebraska where young Wigington was raised … Read MoreClarence Wesley Wigington (1883-1967)
The Kansas City (Missouri) Monarchs were the most prominent baseball team to play in the Negro Leagues. Formed in 1920, they were also the longest-running team in the Leagues, disbanding in 1965. Many famous players were on the Monarchs roster, including the hall of fame … Read MoreThe Kansas City Monarchs (1920-1965)
William Lewis Eagleson published the Colored Citizen, the first black-owned newspaper in Kansas. He was born a slave August 9, 1835 in St. Louis, Missouri. The Colored Citizen originated at Fort Scott, Kansas, January 1878. Eagleson moved the paper to Topeka, Kansas in July1878 because … Read MoreWilliam Lewis Eagleson (1835-1899)
In the following article historians Bruce Glasrud and Cary Wintz discuss their new book, The Harlem Renaissance in the American West which argues that the literary and artistic outpouring by African Americans during the third decade of the 20th Century was a national phenomenon which … Read MoreThe Harlem Renaissance in the American West
CHAPTER 248 KANSAS ACT AGAINST DISCRIMINATION AN ACT prohibiting discriminatory employment practices and policies based upon race, color, religion, or country of ancestral origin; providing for a commission on civil rights, providing for the enforcement of the provisions of this act, defining certain words and … Read More(1961) Kansas Fair Employment Practices Act
Image Ownership: Public Domain The Kansas Emancipation League’s primary goal was “to bring about emancipation throughout the whole land.” It was initiated at the First Baptist Church in Leavenworth, Kansas in 1862. It also pledged to “support the war until its successful termination,” put an … Read MoreKansas Emancipation League (1862)
Cornel West is one of the most recognizable and preeminent intellectuals of his generation. West has authored 19 books and edited another 13. He is best known for his book Race Matters (1994) and in his role as a public intellectual. West graduated Magna Cum … Read MoreCornel Ronald West (1953- )
William Bolden Townsend, a journalist, educator, lawyer, and politician, gained fame through his campaigns against racist violence. He was born into slavery in Huntsville, Alabama in 1854. His white, maternal grandfather, Samuel Townsend, emancipated him. William Townsend and his mother, Margaret (Richardson) Townsend, moved to … Read MoreWilliam Bolden Townsend (1854-1917)
Quindaro was an abolitionist town on the border between the slave state of Missouri and free state settlers in Territorial Kansas. By its existence, Quindaro undermined the attempted blockade of the Missouri River by proslavery advocates against additional free state supporters flowing into Kansas. Quindaro … Read MoreQuindaro, Kansas Territory (1857-1862)
Western University was the first African American University in Kansas. The school originated by the work of Presbyterian minister Eben Blatchly, who began educating free blacks in the Territorial Kansas Town of Quindaro in 1857. After the Civil War, Blatchly expanded his school, calling it … Read MoreWestern University (1857-1943)
