By Abby Hoover

In celebration of Black History Month, the Kansas City Public Library (KCPL), in partnership with the Local Investment Commission (LINC) and Black Archives of Mid-America, has unveiled the updated Kansas City Black history website, kcblackhistory.org. 

The partners have worked for the last 12 years to illuminate the impact Black Kansas Citians have had on the metro area throughout history. Last year’s project culminated in an award-winning booklet, Kansas City Black History: The African American story of history and culture in our community, featuring more than 70 biographies and essays from current Black leaders in the metro area. 

The new website features even more biographies of Black Kansas Citians who blazed trails, broke barriers, and shaped the city’s history. Visitors to the site will also find lesson plans, developed by historians and teachers, for those hoping to examine Kansas City’s history more broadly. 

In addition, the website features a Black history program archive with dozens of interviews, lectures, and panel discussions focusing on such topics as African American life and culture, civil rights and activism, and politics and community leadership. 

“I’m proud to share the excellence of those who came before me, and for one day, to have future change makers use those stories as future inspiration to continue our march toward a more perfect union,” former Kansas City mayor and current U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver said.

The site will be updated regularly to meet growing demand to learn and examine untold parts of Kansas City’s history.