Kansas City history and culture explored through community voices

Kansas City’s KCQ project shows how community curiosity drives fresh storytelling. Residents’ questions fuel explorations into local heritage, like the search for meaning behind a monument to Charles Carroll Spalding in Penn Valley Park. Crowdsourced journalism also celebrates people reshaping the city, from therapists breaking mental health stigmas to bakers blending Thai traditions with KC flavors.

Many stories reveal how neighborhoods shape the city’s future, such as the debate over proposed highways or the rediscovery of hidden cinema history. Each article highlights how neighbors’ questions and lived experiences connect and preserve Kansas City’s evolving identity.

The Charles Carroll Spalding memorial in Penn Valley Park.

NO. 1: HOW A ‘BORDER RUFFIAN’ WHO SUPPORTED SLAVERY GOT A MONUMENT HONORING HIM IN A KC PARK

A reader asked about the history behind a memorial to Charles Carroll Spalding in Penn Valley Park. We unearthed the complicated story behind Kansas City’s first historian. | Published May 22, 2024 | Read Full Story by Michael Wells

The What’s Your KCQ? project has answered questions about local statues, holiday traditions, famous Kansas Citians and bygone industries in 2024.

NO. 2: STAR COLLABORATION WITH KANSAS CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY WINS HISTORIC PRESERVATION AWARD

Over six years, the project has published more than 130 pieces, examining everything from bells on the Plaza to Prohibition-era mob bosses. What question should we answer next? | Published November 13, 2024 | Read Full Story by The Kansas City Star

Tamara Vang, a therapist with Kansas City Black Mental Health Initiative, turned life experiences into career helping people with addiction, substance abuse.

NO. 3: KC THERAPIST GREW UP IN A HOUSE OF ADDICTION: NOW WORKS TO BREAK CULTURE OF SILENCE

“So many of us have these experiences and being able to tell someone I have gone through this struggle and this is how I dealt with it makes a difference.” | Published November 23, 2024 | Read Full Story by J.M. Banks

The Isis Theater, which was open from 1918 to 1970.

NO. 4: WHAT WAS THE FIRST MOVIE EVER SHOWN IN KANSAS CITY? KCQ BREAKS DOWN CINEMA HISTORY

When movies were first made and shown in Kansas City, they were curious phenomena and not the cultural staples they would become. | Published February 28, 2025 | Read Full Story by Sarah Biegelsen

A 1964 highway engineering study provided residents with a preview of what a modern highway through Southtown neighborhoods might look like.

NO. 5: KANSAS CITY CONSIDERED A HIGHWAY FROM DOWNTOWN TO THE PLAZA. THEN RESIDENTS FOUGHT BACK

Many of the fears raised by neighbors did come to fruition — but in neighborhoods a couple of miles to the east. | Published March 9, 2025 | Read Full Story by Michael Wells

Prisoners of war found “a surprisingly pleasant experience” in Missouri during World War II. These Germans picked potatoes near Atherton and loaded them onto train boxcars.

NO. 6: KANSAS CITY HOSTED HUNDREDS OF NAZIS AND OTHER ENEMY SOLDIERS DURING WWII. HERE’S WHY

What’s Your KCQ? looks back at the prisoner of war camps that were scattered across the KC region during World War II. | Published March 30, 2025 | Read Full Story by Dan Kelly

Kannika Costello, 42, owner of Mooyuie Baker, turned her passion for baking into a business, featuring ube cakes and more.

NO. 7: SHE WAS RAISED ON SPICY THAI. NOW HER CAKE-MAKING BUSINESS IS A HIT IN KC

“Before I started baking I didn’t eat dessert that much. “ | Published May 13, 2025 | Read Full Story by J.M. Banks

The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories listed were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.