The Rev. Wallace Hartsfield, Kansas City pastor and civil rights leader, dies at 90
The Rev. Wallace S. Hartsfield, a longtime civil rights leader and preacher in Kansas City, died Thursday at age 90.
Hartsfield, dubbed the “Godfather of Ministers” by Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, was known for holding many posts and engaging in political activism that touched a variety of issues and policies in Kansas City over the years.
“He is the minister everyone in town looks up to,” Cleaver said in a 2008 ceremony naming a post office after Hartsfield. “He is a preacher’s preacher.”
Hartsfield grew up in the segregated South. During his time as a pastor he was a leader in the African American community and in Kansas City politics. He became known as a bridge builder within the city and advocated for the marginalized and disadvantaged, said Dr. Vernon Howard Jr., president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Kansas City.
“Dr. Wallace Hartsfield was a unique clergyman who was able to effectively bridge divides within the African American community and bridge divides across demographics such as race, and culture, and geography. This ability to bridge was in the context of his passion for social justice which included lifting his prophetic voice to dramatize the plight of disadvantaged Kansas Citians,” Howard said.
In a lot of ways, Hartsfield was “a legendary pioneer who was ahead of his time,” said former councilman Jermaine Reed. Reed wrote a Twitter post on Saturday sharing one of his fondest memories: a meeting with Hartsfield, Rev. Jesse Jackson and Ollie Gates, owner of Gates Bar-B-Q, over dinner in 2016.
While considering a run for a seat on the city council, Reed once sought out Hartsfield for advice in 2009.
Reed recalled Hartsfield’s words, “Don’t run for office to be something, but run for office to do something, and that is to make an impact in our community.”
In one example, Reed said Hartsfield later led the effort to revive the Linwood Shopping Center in the Prospect Avenue corridor to ensure residents had access to a full-service grocery store.
Mayor Quinton Lucas also called Hartsfield “a legend” in a post on Twitter on Friday.
“I was honored to have known him. He is a legend who moved mountains in the fight for justice and equality in Kansas City,” Lucas wrote. “My condolences to his family and the Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church.”
While he was most well-known for his advocacy for the African American community, Hartsfield cared about all people, said his son Wallace Hartsfield II.
The younger Hartsfield said his father was focused primarily on unity.
“He was always concerned about how can we work together in order that all people could reach and realize their creative potential,” he said. “He was never one who — at least from my perspective — that would just put one group above another he was always searching and asking groups how can we work together.”
Hartsfield was born in Atlanta in 1929 and grew up in Jacksonville, Florida. In Kansas City, he served as senior pastor at Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church from 1962-1968 and 1972 until his retirement in 2008.
Hartsfield served on many local, regional and national boards throughout his career including as chairman of the Congress of National Black Churches, an organization that at the time had over 15 million members nationwide.
The United States Congress recognized him for his achievements in 2012.
In an interview with The Star in 2007, Hartsfield reflected on the ways growing up in the South shaped his life and career.
“Growing up in Georgia during the days of horrific segregation and seeing my grandfather and other black men treated as nonpersons was one of the hardest things for me,” he said. “I have learned to never treat anyone like that. And I have refused to let those negative experiences cause me to hate and to negatively respond to the majority community.”
Love, respect, reconciliation and righteousness were among Hartsfield’s guiding principles, his son said.
“Even though we may disagree we never should feel as if we have the right to disrespect others or degrade or dehumanize others,” Hartsfield II said.
Hartsfield II said he remembered many times throughout his childhood when his father would respond to the scene of a crime and cry with a family. And other moments when he would travel with his father in the city or nationally and witness his impact on others.
“I was very young, not able to understand everything. One thing I was clear on was people were being helped because I could hear them constantly saying thank you, thank you,” he said.
Those close to Hartsfield will remember him for his sense of humor. He was a man, they said, who enjoyed laughing and cracking jokes.
Hartsfield II said he believed his father needed “to laugh because there were so many tears in his life and in his work.”
“(His) shepherding and care for the least of those who are the most vulnerable in our society that just cannot be overstated and hopefully we will carry that lesson forward,” Howard said.
Funeral services for Hartsfield are scheduled for 11 a.m. Feb. 7 at Macedonia Baptist Church, according to his obituary.
This story was originally published January 25, 2020 at 4:43 PM.
