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50 years ago thousands of people took over the small town of Sedalia, Missouri, for a party full of nudity, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll music that is often remembered as Missouri’s Woodstock. People still talk about the lore from that hot wild weekend. Local filmmaker Jefferson Lujin walks Suzanne Hogan through how it all went down. Depending on what side of the festival fence you were on it was thre...

Most of Kansas was once covered by an ocean of grass and wildflowers. But that diverse prairie biome is collapsing, partly because of our obsession with trees. Humans have unleashed an aggressive “Green Glacier” that’s swallowing the Great Plains , and for these ranchers, saving the environment means being a tree killer — not a tree hugger. (This episode comes to us from the new KCUR Studios podca...

70 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional in its landmark decision Brown v. Board of Education. But the case may have played out differently if it hadn’t been for a tenacious group of women in Johnson County, Kansas, who led their own integration lawsuit five years earlier. As Mackenzie Martin reports, the case centered around a two-r...

Once seen as a musical relic, audio cassettes have survived the eras of CDs and streaming to win over music lovers of a new generation. That’s in large part thanks to the National Audio Company in Springfield, Missouri, the largest cassette manufacturer in the world. Support this podcast by becoming a KCUR member!: https://kcurwebdonate.umkc.edu/alleg/WebModule/Donate.aspx? P=F13SOCIAL&PAGETYP...

Oreo is the best-selling cookie in the world today. But few people remember the product that Nabisco blatantly ripped off: Hydrox. A creation of Kansas City’s Loose-Wiles Biscuit Company, Hydrox was billed as the “aristocrat of cookies,” with a novel combo of chocolate and cream filling. So why, more than a century later, is Hydrox still mistaken as a cheap knockoff? Support this podcast by becomi...

Before she even had the right to vote, Lyda Conley went to law school, conducted an armed occupation, and took a lawsuit all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in order to protect the Wyandot Cemetery from being sold and excavated. Support this podcast by becoming a KCUR member!: https://kcurwebdonate.umkc.edu/alleg/WebModule/Donate.aspx? P=F13SOCIAL&PAGETYPE=PLG&CHECK=8cudlVFocLfjxn40cNGmM...

A historian says Kansas City "blew it" in the 1918 flu pandemic. How a corrupt political system and the end of World War I led to a bungled response and an overwhelming loss of life. Support this podcast by becoming a KCUR member!: https://kcurwebdonate.umkc.edu/alleg/WebModule/Donate.aspx? P=F13SOCIAL&PAGETYPE=PLG&CHECK=8cudlVFocLfjxn40cNGmMa1gzMC6uhq5nDjkJobrCdg%3d See omnystudio.com/lis...

In the late 1970s, a group of musicians in Topeka, Kansas, formed what became one of the first all-women mariachi bands in the country. Mariachi Estrella broke down barriers in a male-dominated music scene, before a deadly disaster almost ended the group for good. Decades later, the band’s descendants are ensuring their legacy shines on into the future. Support this podcast by becoming a KCUR memb...

When hip-hop first hit Kansas City streets, the effect was immediate. The new sound took over record stores, local high schools and underground dance parties. As America celebrates a half century of hip-hop, KCUR’s Lawrence Brooks IV honors Kansas City’s own contributions to the culture. This episode of  A People's History of Kansas City  was reported by Lawrence Brooks IV, produced by Mackenzie M...

In 1948, Phillip Sollomi debuted an Italian vinaigrette at his Kansas City fried chicken restaurant, the Wishbone. An immediate hit, the salad dressing formed the foundation for an empire: For 75 years, Wish-Bone Italian dressing has helped bring people together around the dinner table, but few Kansas Citians know their connection to the iconic bottle. KCUR’s Jenny Vergara and Natasha Bailey  trac...

After dying suddenly under mysterious circumstances, Kansas City philanthropist Thomas Swope became the focus of one of the most publicized murder trials of the early 20th century. It’s long been suspected that Swope’s nephew-in-law murdered him and other members of his family as part of a plot to steal their fortune — but the events remain unresolved more than 110 years later. Support this podcas...

Alvin Brooks has served as a bridge in Kansas City for decades — as one of the city’s first Black police officers, an educator, a civil rights leader, a founder of Ad Hoc Group Against Crime, and almost a Kansas City mayor. Today he’s still on call 24/7 for whenever anyone needs help. As he asks everyone to mark their calendars for his 100th birthday in 2032, he looks back to his earliest days in...

At the turn of the 20th century, a self-taught caterer in Columbia gained national acclaim with her sought-after biscuit recipe. Fisher’s famous beaten biscuits made it onto the plates of presidents and Hollywood stars alike — making her one of the wealthiest Black women around. But her story may have been lost if not for a few determined Missouri women. Support this podcast by becoming a KCUR mem...

In the 1900s, the Neck neighborhood was the center of the Black community in Independence, Missouri. But by 1969, the neighborhood  had been demolished  — thanks to urban renewal policies put into place by President Harry S. Truman, who lived nearby. Today, it’s the site of McCoy Park, a vast green space that connects the Harry S. Truman Library to the Independence Square. This episode of  A Peopl...

Read more about  how Parade Park offered Black Kansas City families a path to home ownership  from KCUR's Bek Shackelford-Nwanganga. This episode of  A People's History of Kansas City  was reported and produced by Bek Shackelford-Nwanganga, with editing by Suzanne Hogan, Barb Shelly and Mackenzie Martin. Sound design and mix by intern Paris Norvell. Support this podcast by becoming a KCUR member!:...

With more shoreline than the coast of California, the Lake of the Ozarks in mid-central Missouri is a popular tourist destination for land-locked Midwesterners. For decades, it's provided financial opportunities for locals and outside interests alike — but at what cost? The story of how this man-made body of water came to be involves corruption, jail time, communities torn apart, and displaced fam...

Kansas City’s first Pride Parade in 1977 was spearheaded by Lea Hopkins, whose organizing sparked a wider gay rights movement that continues today. But it was only a few weeks after that successful event that Hopkins found herself on the defense again, when a prominent anti-gay activist came on a crusade through town. Support this podcast by becoming a KCUR member!: https://kcurwebdonate.umkc.edu/...

Independence, Missouri, was the door to America’s westward expansion in the 19th century. At its center stood Hiram Young, a formerly enslaved man who carved out a fortune, lost most of it, and whose influence on the region is beginning to spread. Support this podcast by becoming a KCUR member!: https://kcurwebdonate.umkc.edu/alleg/WebModule/Donate.aspx? P=F13SOCIAL&PAGETYPE=PLG&CHECK=8cud...

A 1975 protest at a McDonald’s restaurant in Kansas City emerged from years of growing tension: Between Black community members and their city, and between McDonald’s and the neighborhoods it occupied. But this particular location on Prospect Avenue had a historical significance: It was one of the first Black-owned fast food franchises in the country — an accomplishment born from its own struggle...

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Support this podcast by becoming a KCUR member!: https://kcurwebdonate.umkc.edu/alleg/WebModule/Donate.aspx? P=F13SOCIAL&PAGETYPE=PLG&CHECK=8cudlVFocLfjxn40cNGmMa1gzMC6uhq5nDjkJobrCdg%3d See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Support this podcast by becoming a KCUR member!: https://kcurwebdonate.umkc.edu/alleg/WebModule/Donate.aspx? P=F13SOCIAL&PAGETYPE=PLG&CHECK=8cudlVFocLfjxn40cNGmMa1gzMC6uhq5nDjkJobrCdg%3d See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Support this podcast by becoming a KCUR member!: https://kcurwebdonate.umkc.edu/alleg/WebModule/Donate.aspx? P=F13SOCIAL&PAGETYPE=PLG&CHECK=8cudlVFocLfjxn40cNGmMa1gzMC6uhq5nDjkJobrCdg%3d See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Support this podcast by becoming a KCUR member!: https://kcurwebdonate.umkc.edu/alleg/WebModule/Donate.aspx? P=F13SOCIAL&PAGETYPE=PLG&CHECK=8cudlVFocLfjxn40cNGmMa1gzMC6uhq5nDjkJobrCdg%3d See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Support this podcast by becoming a KCUR member!: https://kcurwebdonate.umkc.edu/alleg/WebModule/Donate.aspx? P=F13SOCIAL&PAGETYPE=PLG&CHECK=8cudlVFocLfjxn40cNGmMa1gzMC6uhq5nDjkJobrCdg%3d See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.