Mary Davidson, the long-time President of the Kansas City Museum Foundation Board of Directors  passed away Monday morning, December 6th. Davidson, and her husband Barton Cohen were active in a number of civic organizations linked directly to Kansas City’s cultural history including President of the National WWI Museum , sitting on the Board of the Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area and most recently, serving as chair of the Kansas City Museum Foundation Board of Directors during the Museum’s recent $22-million restoration and renovation project.

Davidson sadly was not able to attend the recent ribbon cutting at the Museum heralding its grand re-opening.

Davidson was a staunch historic preservationist. During our June,  2021 interview with she and fellow Museum Foundation Board member Shomari Benton, Davidson was extremely proud of the museum’s receiving of the 2021 Missouri Preservation Award, citing the monumental restoration work done to bring Corinthian Hall literally back from the brink of ruin.
“Historically speaking, preservation is a very, very important part because the Long house was in desperate condition for an awfully long time, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be brought back to life,” Davidson said. “I think that preservation award states loud and clear what the Parks Department, the city of Kansas City, the museum foundation, the Northeast area, the neighborhood, have done to say, ‘We can bring this back to life, we can make it what it was once.’ It was a house to be treasured, to be admired and to be looked at by the community and the citizens of the five county area.”

Davidson was also a staunch supporter of Community Journalism and often spoke about the importance of having a local news source in communities such as The Northeast News. She was a good friend to The Northeast News and will be missed greatly.

Kansas City Parks Commissioner Scott Wagner spoke to Davidson’s ability to speak truth to power and get things done. “Throughout the history of getting the Kansas City Museum back on track, it has taken certain individuals at certain times to bring this project to fruition,” Wagner noted. “There is no doubt Mary Davidson is that person, at this time to get the Kansas City Museum back on a firm footing again.”

We’ve included a link to our interview and podcast interview with Mary and Shomari Benton here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/88569/8606310-186-kansas-city-museum-foundation-board-members
Funeral arrangements are being handled by the Louis Memorial Chapel at 6830 Troost Avenue in Kansas City, MO. A link to the full obituary can be found here: https://www.louismemorialchapel.com/obituaries/Mary-Davidson-22/