Readorama: KC’s Pendergast, jazz, Depression era will be explored in library gathering

During much of the 1920s and 1930s, Kansas City:

A) Was dominated by a political machine

B) Arguably escaped the worst of the Great Depression, with that same political machine dispensing jobs

C) Nurtured a jazz culture that remains internationally celebrated today

D) All of the above

Scholars continue to be drawn to Kansas City’s Depression era, when some of the community’s most troubled years still produced stories of integrity and uplift, with personalities such as William James “Count” Basie, Charlie Parker, Harry Truman and Thomas Hart Benton.

Many of those who study the era will speak in Kansas City next weekend as part of “Wide Open Town: Kansas City During the Pendergast Era.”

The Kansas City Public Library, with the University of Missouri-Kansas City history department and its Center for Midwestern Studies, has organized the two-day symposium starting Friday. The event will feature authors and experts from across the country; the keynote address, titled “The Great Depression: Causes, Impact, Consequence,” will be delivered by David M. Kennedy, history professor emeritus at Stanford University.

Kansas City-area authors and experts also will be present, including Diane Mutti Burke, Chuck Haddix, Stuart Hinds and Henrietta Wood. (Correct answer, by the way: D)

The free symposium begins at 9 a.m. Friday at the library’s Plaza branch, 4801 Main St., and continues Saturday. For more info, go to KCLibrary.org.

This story was originally published March 26, 2016 at 8:34 AM with the headline "Readorama: KC’s Pendergast, jazz, Depression era will be explored in library gathering."