(originally published 9/8/20) With something as auspicious as a 100th anniversary, one doesn’t want to limit celebrations to a single date. If any anniversary is worth spreading it out over a year, surely it is the centenary. A lot of us had high hopes for the types of celebrations and events that might come outContinue reading “Brookside’s Birthday Close-Out Special”
Category Archives: Brookside
BKS 100: Shaggy Dog Stories
(originally published 3/19/20) To my dear readers: As you may know, I write a post a week here. To do so, I create a calendar of topics, some coinciding with real events or dates, but most just slotted somewhat randomly. Two weeks ago, I moved up a piece planned for later in the year, theContinue reading “BKS 100: Shaggy Dog Stories”
From Trash to Treasure: Kansas City’s 1940 Tax Assessment Photos
(originally published 7/18/19) On the home front, we’re in the midst of a taxpayer revolt in Kansas City/Jackson County over what appears to be at a minimum a poorly administered property assessment. That event took my thoughts to the story of another tax assessment that almost 80 years after its completion has turned into aContinue reading “From Trash to Treasure: Kansas City’s 1940 Tax Assessment Photos”
The Independence Day Popsicle Parade
(originally published 6/27/19) On the surface, history and tradition might seem opposites. History is the record of the past, static and fixed. Tradition continues and evolves. But the truth is, traditions are history as performance art. Tradition brings history into our lives, connecting who we once were to who we are today. In some cases,Continue reading “The Independence Day Popsicle Parade”
Un-Welcome to the Neighborhood: Brookside’s “Blue Goose”
(originally published in 2017 in the book, One Hundred Years’ Journey: The Greenway Fields Neighborhood,” and in KC Backstories 6/13/19) This version is adapted from the KCB post) I may be one of the few people in midtown that doesn’t have a strong opinion about the “Blue Goose.” To me, it’s just a part ofContinue reading “Un-Welcome to the Neighborhood: Brookside’s “Blue Goose””
Another Refugee’s Story: Leon Goodhart and the Country Club Shoe Store
(originally published in 2010 in The Brookside Story: Shops of Every Necessary Character, and in the original KCBackstories FB page, 5/23/19. The following is adapted from the book version) The Country Club Shoe Store – A Family Enterprise This bit of history is not distant to me, though it grows more distant with each passingContinue reading “Another Refugee’s Story: Leon Goodhart and the Country Club Shoe Store”
Faith and Trust Part I: The Case of the Missing Houses
(originally published 4/25/19) This week’s post is the first of two parts, but was originally a feature in my 2017 book on the history of the Greenway Fields neighborhood – the neighborhood just west of Wornall Road between 61st and 65th Streets. The piece looks at the often-times complicated relationships neighborhoods have with their institutionalContinue reading “Faith and Trust Part I: The Case of the Missing Houses”
Brookside’s St. Patrick’s Day Warm-Up Parade: The Origins of a Tradition
(originally published 3/7/19) The 1980s were a precarious time in Brookside’s life, when securing Brookside’s future would require the tenants to take the lead, to come up with new ideas, to find the energy to get things done, and to refuse to give up or be told no. The merchants association needed more than someoneContinue reading “Brookside’s St. Patrick’s Day Warm-Up Parade: The Origins of a Tradition”
Keeping the Past in the Present: The Brookside Shops
(originally published 2/21/19) With this post, KCBackstories began the celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the Brookside Shops. In 2010, the shops were the subject of my first KC history book, and there had been sufficient and significant changes in the subsequent decade for my publisher, Arcadia Publishing/History Press, to support a revised special anniversaryContinue reading “Keeping the Past in the Present: The Brookside Shops”
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