Dictionary of Missouri Biography
Author: Lawrence O. Christensen
Publisher: University of Missouri Press
Published: 1999-10
Total Pages: 860
ISBN-13: 9780826260161
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Kansas City and How It Grew, 1822–2011
Author: James R. Shortridge
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
Published: 2012-11-07
Total Pages: 262
ISBN-13: 0700618821
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThink of Kansas City and you'll probably think of barbecue, jazz, or the Chiefs. But for James Shortridge, this heartland city is more than the sum of its cultural beacons. In Kansas City and How It Grew, 1822-2011, a prize-winning geographer traces the historical geography of a place that has developed over 200 years from a cowtown on the bend of the Missouri River into a metropolis straddling two states. He explores the changing character of the community and its component neighborhoods, showing how the city has come to look and function the way it does—and how it has come to be perceived the way it has. Proximity to Great Plains ranches and farms encouraged early and sustained success for Kansas City meatpackers and millers, and Shortridge shows how local responses to economic realities have molded the city's urban structure. He explores the parallel processes of suburbanization and the restructuring of older areas, and tells what happens when transportation shifts from rivers to railroads, then to superhighways and international airports. He also reveals what historians have missed by tending to focus attention only on one side or the other of the state boundary. The book is a virtual who's who of KC progress: without selective law enforcement under political boss Thomas Pendergast, Kansas City would not enjoy its legacy of jazz; without the gift of Thomas Swope's namesake park, upscale residential expansion likely would have gone east instead of south; and without J. C. Nichols, Johnson County suburbs would have developed in a less spectacular manner. Its insight into important molders of the city includes nearly forgotten names such as William Dalton, Charles Morse, and Willard Winner, plus important figures from more recent years including Kay Barnes, Charles Garney, and Bonnie Poteet. With more than 50 photos and dozens of maps specially created for this book, Kansas City and How It Grew is unique in treating the entire metropolitan area instead of just one portion. With coverage ranging from ethnic neighborhoods to development strategies, it's an indispensable touchstone for those who want to try to understand Kansas City as both a city and a place.
Wide-Open Town
Author: Diane Mutti Burke
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
Published: 2018-11-29
Total Pages: 368
ISBN-13: 0700627065
DOWNLOAD EBOOKKansas City is often seen as a mild-mannered metropolis in the heart of flyover country. But a closer look tells a different story, one with roots in the city’s complicated and colorful past. The decades between World Wars I and II were a time of intense political, social, and economic change—for Kansas City, as for the nation as a whole. In exploring this city at the literal and cultural crossroads of America, Wide-Open Town maps the myriad ways in which Kansas City reflected and helped shape the narrative of a nation undergoing an epochal transformation. During the interwar period, political boss Tom Pendergast reigned, and Kansas City was said to be “wide open.” Prohibition was rarely enforced, the mob was ascendant, and urban vice was rampant. But in a community divided by the hard lines of race and class, this “openness” also allowed many of the city’s residents to challenge conventional social boundaries—and it is this intersection and disruption of cultural norms that interests the authors of Wide-Open Town. Writing from a variety of disciplines and viewpoints, the contributors take up topics ranging from the 1928 Republican National Convention to organizing the garment industry, from the stockyards to health care, drag shows, Thomas Hart Benton, and, of course, jazz. Their essays bring to light the diverse histories of the city—among, for instance, Mexican immigrants, African Americans, the working class, and the LGBT community before the advent of “LGBT.” Wide-Open Town captures the defining moments of a society rocked by World War I, the mass migration of people of color into cities, the entrance of women into the labor force and politics, Prohibition, economic collapse, and a revolution in social mores. Revealing how these changes influenced Kansas City—and how the city responded—this volume helps us understand nothing less than how citizens of the age adapted to the rise of modern America.
K.C.
Author: Andrew Theodore Brown
Publisher:
Published: 1978
Total Pages: 334
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAn interpretive history covering the early 1800s to present that details the success story behind Kansas City's exciting growth.
The Kansas City Meningitis Epidemic, 1911–1913
Author: Margaret R. O’Leary MD
Publisher: iUniverse
Published: 2019-02-22
Total Pages: 229
ISBN-13: 1532062303
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIn The Kansas City Meningitis Epidemic, 1911–1913: Violent and Not Imagined, two physician authors present the dramatic medical history of a monstrous midwestern disease epidemic. The authors bring the events to startling life by skillfully drawing on original texts that evoke the resolute efforts of the Kansas City medical, nursing, and health department communities to care for the horribly stricken while inoculating the still well to prevent spread of the epidemic.
A Splendid Ride
Author: Monroe Dodd
Publisher: Kansas City Star Books
Published: 2002
Total Pages: 228
ISBN-13: 0972273980
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIllustrated history of Kansas City's streetcar system, beginning with horse drawn cars in 1870. In the 1880s, Kansas City built the country's third-largest cable car system. By the turn of the century, cable and horse cars were rapidly replaced by electric streetcars. The streetcar network grew to more than 300 miles of track, not including interurban lines that stretched in six directions, some more than 40 miles. In the 1930s, competition from automobiles and growing expenses caused the operators to begin converting to buses. Streetcars enjoyed a brief resurgence during and just after World War II, but then were increasingly replaced by gasoline and then diesel buses. Kansas City's last streetcar ran on June 23, 1957.
The Pursuit of Local History
Author: Carol Kammen
Publisher: Rowman Altamira
Published: 1996
Total Pages: 246
ISBN-13: 9780761991694
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIn this work readers can discover the role local historians play, find out what the experts see as the values of the local history while exploring their theories, and see how local history has been practised by those who have dedicated their lives to it.
Strong Towns
Author: Charles L. Marohn, Jr.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Published: 2019-10-01
Total Pages: 262
ISBN-13: 1119564816
DOWNLOAD EBOOKA new way forward for sustainable quality of life in cities of all sizes Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Build American Prosperity is a book of forward-thinking ideas that breaks with modern wisdom to present a new vision of urban development in the United States. Presenting the foundational ideas of the Strong Towns movement he co-founded, Charles Marohn explains why cities of all sizes continue to struggle to meet their basic needs, and reveals the new paradigm that can solve this longstanding problem. Inside, you’ll learn why inducing growth and development has been the conventional response to urban financial struggles—and why it just doesn’t work. New development and high-risk investing don’t generate enough wealth to support itself, and cities continue to struggle. Read this book to find out how cities large and small can focus on bottom-up investments to minimize risk and maximize their ability to strengthen the community financially and improve citizens’ quality of life. Develop in-depth knowledge of the underlying logic behind the “traditional” search for never-ending urban growth Learn practical solutions for ameliorating financial struggles through low-risk investment and a grassroots focus Gain insights and tools that can stop the vicious cycle of budget shortfalls and unexpected downturns Become a part of the Strong Towns revolution by shifting the focus away from top-down growth toward rebuilding American prosperity Strong Towns acknowledges that there is a problem with the American approach to growth and shows community leaders a new way forward. The Strong Towns response is a revolution in how we assemble the places we live.
K.C.
Author: Andrew Theodore Brown
Publisher:
Published: 1978
Total Pages: 330
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAn interpretive history covering the early 1800s to present that details the success story behind Kansas City's exciting growth.
Kansas City Then and Now
Author: Darlene Isaacson
Publisher:
Published: 2007
Total Pages: 0
ISBN-13: 9781592234875
DOWNLOAD EBOOKPhotographs of Kansas City landmarks, with vintage b&w photos next to new color photos. Features landmarks such as the Scout statue, Union Station, JC Nichols fountain in the Country Club Plaza, City Market, Coates House, Municipal Auditorium, Downtown's Boley Building, and much more.
