Everything that’s motivated the 12 years of work in the Kansas City Black History Project — the research, the storytelling, the teaching and sharing — has gone fully digital.

As Black History Month opens, an enhanced webpage at kcblackhistory.org captures the stories of more than 80 Black men and women and unleashes their life’s work into sortable lists, school lesson plans, poetic video, essays and links to recorded oral history.

“I think of storytelling,” U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II writes in his introduction for the new website, “where traditions and history are preserved to reflect self-love, the overcoming of great obstacles, and appreciation for those who blazed a trail for us today.”

The Kansas City–area trailblazers honored in the ongoing collection were educators, politicians, scientists, musicians, artists, athletes, innovators, activists and business leaders who shaped not only Kansas City, but the nation and the world.

“ Without telling their stories,” Cleaver said, “we in turn erase our own. We risk critical misunderstandings of American history, along with the context of black strength and perseverance.”

The KC Black History Project, a joint endeavor of the Kansas City Public Library, the Black Archives of Mid-America and the Local Investment Commission (LINC), was launched in 2010 as a collection of biographies that were packaged as posters, booklets and calendars to distribute during Black History Month and throughout the year.

The project added a half dozen biographies every year and became a regular source of inspirational materials for schools, libraries and communities, with deliveries sent even around the world.

In 2021, the project collected what had grown to more than 70 biographies into an award-winning book that included original poetry by Glenn North and essays from Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, Black Archives of Mid-America Executive Director Carmaletta Williams, Negro Leagues Baseball Museum President Bob Kendrick and community activist Justice Horn.

All of this — along with a new essay by former Mayor Pro Tem Alvin Brooks — is gathered on the website, with so much more, said Jeremy Drouin, the Kansas City Public Library’s manager of Missouri Valley Special Collections.

It will be a living and growing website, adding essays and school lesson plans, along with links to oral histories, programs and other research collections in the library files and elsewhere.

"I see kcblackhistory.org as an important resource for exploring, learning, and celebrating Black history in our community,” he said. The site will spur “more in-depth discussion and study of Kansas City's Black history” as a resource that thrives “beyond Black History Month.”

Here is why the stories — including more to come — are so important, said Williams at the Black Archives of Mid-America.

“This project illuminates the lives of a few of the African Americans in the Greater Kansas City area who dedicated their time, committed their energy, and invested personally, physically, and financially to build, restore and improve the Black community,” she said. “History honors their legacies.”

Even at more than 80 profiles, the project still captures just pieces of the story.

That’s why, Williams said, the collection will grow.

“Our partners, The Kansas City Public Library and Greater Kansas City LINC, have that same deep commitment,” she said. “The Black Archives of Mid-America feels privileged to partner with them to celebrate these amazing people.”

By Joe Robertson/LINC Writer