By Paul Thompson
Northeast News
October 19, 2016
KANSAS CITY, Missouri – A pair of books released this fall highlight the rich history of the Kansas City area.
Just last week, Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences released a comprehensive history of its first 100 years of existence. The book, written by Jeff Barnes, is entitled A Century of Triumphs. The book details the university’s rise to prominence as one of the first highly qualified, non-profit osteopathic schools in the country. The work highlights the history of the Northeast community that surrounds the campus, details stories about notable alumni, and reflects upon the past, present, and future of the Northeast institution.
Dr. Douglas Rushing, a Professor of Biomedical Sciences and former Dean of the College of Biosciences at KCU, is currently in his 44th and final year at the university. Rushing said that he and many others worked closely with author Jeff Barnes to ensure that the full history of the university was covered in the book, warts and all.
“We’re very pleased with how it came out, and we’re pleased to talk about our relationship with the Northeast,” said Rushing. “I’m no longer teaching, so I had some time to devote to this. My biggest concern, and I don’t think I was alone in this, was that we wanted to tell the story honestly: ups and downs both.”
Some of the downs included the closure of the university’s hospital in 1987, a painstaking decision that threatened the financial security of the institution. The school also faced controversy caused by 11th University President Karen L. Pletz, who was indicted by a federal grand jury on 24 counts of embezzlement in 2011. While Dr. Rushing acknowledged that the story of the KCU’s history could have been called A Century of Tribulations and Triumphs, he noted that the university is in better shape than ever as it finishes its 100th year of operation. He cited the development of the university’s new campus in Joplin, the creation of the Biosciences University, and the continued development of new buildings on the Independence Avenue campus as examples of the university’s recent growth.
“Nobody’s worried that we’re not going to be able to make payroll,” said Rushing. “In terms of just the number of physicians that we graduate each year, we’re the 12th-largest medical school in the country.”
Another recently-published work is a new illustrated history of Kansas City told through the memories and photographs of real Kansas City residents. On Tuesday, October 11, local photographer and historian Bruce Mathews joined co-author Steve Noll, the Executive Director of the Jackson County Historical Society, at the Kansas City Public Library’s Plaza Branch to discuss the pair’s new book, Kansas City: Our Collective Memories. The book takes readers on an illustrated stroll through Kansas City’s unique 178-year history, featuring a litany of photographs, souvenirs, and personal items from throughout the city’s existence.
Co-author Bruce Mathews spoke with the Northeast News about the development of the unique project, which he now envisions as the first of five volumes.
“It kind of grew. I was approached by Steve Noll to help him publish a book about souvenirs of Kansas City. As soon as we got into it, we found out that we were getting more treasures that souvenirs,” said Mathews. “My goal was to have more stuff that came out of private collections, rather than museums. About 75% of the items shown in the book do come out of private collections.”
Mathews noted that his favorite “treasure” discovered during the process of creating Volume I was a group of 15 glass-plate negatives owned by former Northeast resident Glenn Kubis. The negatives, taken between 1910 and 1920, depict Kubis’s family from the early years of his life. Mathews was able to develop high resolution photos from the negatives, allowing the then 99-year-old Kubis to clearly see the priceless family memories for the first time. What’s more, one of the negatives depicted a two-year-old Glenn with his one-year-old sister Bernice Lela, who would tragically succumb to diphtheria shortly thereafter.
“His little sister Bernice was one-year-old at the time, and she died at the age of two,” said Mathews. “He had never seen a photo of his little sister before, for 99 years.”
To submit souvenirs or treasures for the next volume of the Kansas City: Our Collective Memories series, contact Steve Noll at kccollects@gmail.com or Bruce Mathews at bmathews2@kc.rr.com. To purchase a copy of Volume 1, go to historickc.org.
Meanwhile, the Northeast Kansas City Historical Society is hard at work on Volume II of its collection, Kansas City’s Historic Northeast Neighborhoods. The collection features photographs and historical information about structures throughout the Northeast, one of Kansas City’s oldest and most distinguished neighborhoods. Volume 2 is tentatively schedule for an early 2017 release. For more information or to get involved, visit nekchs.com.