This Week in Kansas City History
Tripping the Light Fantastic, and Then Some
May 19, 1907: More than 53,000 people attend the opening day of the newly relocated Electric Park at 46th and The Paseo, which features a bowling alley, Living Statuary, bandstand, alligator farm, swimming pool, dance pavilion, and a roller coaster.
Heeding the Call
May 6, 1919: Chester Franklin publishes the first edition of the Kansas City Call, a weekly newspaper and will go on to advocate for Kansas City’s African American community.
"Her inspiration certainly came from heaven"
May 1, 1894: Elizabeth Bruce Crogman, who will establish the Florence Home for Colored Girls, which provided shelter for single black mothers in Kansas City, is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
A Beer Baron Is Born
April 24, 1833: George Muehlebach, who will develop his brewery at 18th and Main into one of the most successful businesses in Kansas City, is born in Argau, Switzerland.
Drawn from the Heartland
April 15, 1889: Thomas Hart Benton, a painter who will go on to lead the regionalist movement in American art in the 1930s from his studio in Kansas City, is born in Neosho, Missouri.
