KC Black History Project 2024: Profiles of dedication and excellence
The KC Black History Project in 2024 features (clockwise from the left) Vincent O. Carter, writer; Nora Holt, composer/singer; Myrtle Foster Cook, educator/suffragist; Annetta Washington, songwriter/poet; Dr. Samuel U. Rodgers, physician; and Phil Curls Sr., legislator/activist.
The Kansas City Black History Project has returned with an eight-page booklet and poster set featuring profiles of six area men and women who enriched, entertained, strengthened and even saved lives.
The free collection has become a staple for many schools, libraries, community groups and families in sharing Kansas City’s rich history during Black History Month and throughout the year with the inspiring biographies of people who are well known, or deserve to be known.
LINC has partnered since 2010 with the Kansas City Public Library and the Black Archives of Mid-America to provide the annual booklets and posters. The profiles and links to many more Black history resources are also published online at kcblackhistory.org.
The 2024 collection adds the following cast of Kansas Citians:
Learn more and find out where to pick up or order the 2024 KC Black History booklet and posters at:
Connect to the KC Library ‘s full compilation of Black History materials at:
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Vincent O. Carter, an author and novelist, inspired by his East-Side upbringing and his service in France in World War II.
Myrtle Foster Cook, an educator and suffragist who devoted her life to enhancing the political and economic lives of African Americans, particularly Black women and girls.
Phil Curls Sr., a longtime legislator and political activist who championed Kansas City issues and was a co-founder of Freedom, Inc.
Nora Holt, a renowned composer, singer, pianist and music critic who broke many boundaries both as a woman and a person of color.
Dr. Samuel U. Rodgers, a physician who dedicated his life to providing health care to people who needed it the most, including through the health clinic that now bears his name.
Annetta “Cotton Candy” Washington, a songwriter, musician and poet who was a performer as well as a mother figure in Kansas City’s blues community.
Booklets are available at branches of the Kansas City Public Library and the Black Archives of Mid-America, 1722 E 17th Terrace, in Kansas City.
To order a copy of the booklet, go to kclinc.org/blackhistory. The site also has links to download digital copies of the new set, plus prior booklet and poster sets, including the special 48-page book from 2022.
Larger requests for the booklet and printed copies of the 2024 poster set are available for pickup at the LINC offices, 3100 Broadway Blvd., Suite 1100, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. For more information, email communications@kclinc.org.
This image, from the 2024 KC Black History booklet, is a circa 1938 photograph of the Black Elks parade crowd on south side of 18th Street, between The Paseo and Vine Street, Kansas City, MO. Source: Black Economic Union. Photo: Goin’ to Kansas City Collection courtesy of the Kansas City Museum